Gov. Abubakar Bagudu, the Chairman, Presidential Taskforce on Rice and Wheat Production has expressed regret over Nigerians’ patronage of foreign rice because it usually contains preservatives, which are poisonous.
Bagudu, who is also the governor of Kebbi said on Sunday in Birnin-Kebbi said that the imported rice, auctioned by different countries, was not good for human consumption saying three major importers specialise in importing very cheap, auctioned rice into the country.
The governor said that Thailand in April 2017, auctioned 1.62 million tonnes of rice at about $140 per tonne whereas the market price of it was $700 per tonne.
“Countries, particularly Thailand, India, China and Vietnam, buy a lot of paddy from their farmers and keep in storage sometimes, as long as nine years so that by so doing, they are supporting their farmers.
A country like Thailand, for example, may have eight million tonnes of rice in storage; so occasionally, they will auction the ones that are almost going bad that is, the one that is not fit for human consumption.
“They sell the paddy as low as 20 per cent less than the international market price.Those that import rice into Nigeria will go and buy the paddy and clean them up.Because they do not buy rice at the international price, our local farmers who are offering rice for $500 will not be competitive.“If that importer is to buy fresh rice, he cannot bring it into Nigeria below $700 per tonne.
“This is the biggest obstacle to our rice efforts because consumers say local rice is expensive; it is not expensive because we are not comparing it with equivalent rice elsewhere,” the chairman explained.
governor said that out of the 600 million tonnes of rice produced in the world, Nigeria produced about six million tonnes which represented one per cent of the production.
Bagudu said that rice could grow in the 36 states of the federation and called on stakeholders and citizens to come together to significantly advance rice production.
He also called on government at all levels and stakeholders to support smallholder farmers across the country to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat production.
Bagudu, who noted that the country had the capacity to become self-sufficient in wheat production, said the support would boost production and encourage more farmers.
According to him, about 12 states in the country can comfortably produce wheat which grows in all the North Western states.
“As a nation, we have to be very clear what our objectives are.Do we want to be self-sufficient in wheat? If yes, how much wheat do we need to produce in order to be self-sufficient.When you determine that, then you will consider how much land you have to produce it.
It will be recalled that Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on June 7, established a National Rice and Wheat Task Force to set up targets that will yield comprehensible and self-evident results in rice and wheat production.
