In its bid to add value to rice production and also improve its nutritional values, the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture has trained and empowered 500 rice farmers across the state, as a measure to standardize local farming techniques and also compete with international value.
The honorable commissioner for agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, while delivering her keynote address at the event, stated that the program was designed to discourage the importation of foreign rice so that locally produced rice can gain a good market share.
The commissioner assured the beneficiaries that Lagos state is ready to buy their paddy from them, while imploring them to ensure they put to practice all knowledge imparted on them during the training, adding that the Knapsack Sprayer, Fertilizer and Faro 44 Rice Seedlings they were empowered with will assist them to a large extent if they follow all they have learnt at the training.
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The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Agriculture, Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola, at the program, disclosed that the huge population of Nigeria and Lagos State provides a viable ready-made market for rice production.
Fashola noted that the state government has invested huge resources into the development of the rice value chain, with the training of over 1000 youths in years 2008 and 2015, on modern agricultural rice farming techniques and the establishment of the first Integrated Rice Mill in the south-west at Imota, with the production capacity of about 12,000 tons annually.
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“This therefore calls for huge investment in paddy aggregation, rice production technology, extension services, land opening and mechanization of the production processes as the Imota Rice mill has been planned to commence production by the end of the year.” Fashola said
