The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) has boasted that farmers are not doing poorly despite various challenges facing rice production and supply in the country, adding that the price of rice would soon reduce.
The national president of RIFAN, Aminu Goronyo, along with RIFAN vice presidents from various geopolitical zones, made this known while assuring journalists that despite the flood, lockdown and other challenges across the country, farmers were still planning to produce 9-11 million metric tons of rice this year.
According to Goronyo, “Nigerians should not panic, in the next few weeks the prices of rice will come down, the CBN has done their best for us. We have started harvest, and between now and four weeks the prices of milled rice will come down.”
RIFAN Assures Nigerians of Rice Production, Supply Despite Flooding
Mohammed Auwal, RIFAN vice president for North West, said rice production in the region has been massive in spite of banditry and flooding, emphasizing that farmers will have two cropping seasons within the dry season to take care of all their losses.
RIFAN’s South West vice president, Victor Korede, meanwhile said his region experienced drought instead of flooding, which also affected its rice production.
“Rather than being affected by the flood, South West was affected by drought, in the South West, we have been expecting rain, but it came in September so a lot of our farmers recorded losses.”
Cross River Battles to Sell, Evacuate Mature Rice Seedlings
By contrast,RIFAN’s South East Vice president, Ejim Nnenna, said the region experienced four weeks of sunshine, weather that generated a lot of dust., This dust was then washed into rice farms with later rain fall.
“So, for us it’s counting of losses, but we know that no matter what, we still have something to come home with no matter how small,”, she said.
