FG to stop rice importation by 2015 —Official

The Federal Government is putting structures in
place with a view to stopping rice importation by
2015, an official has said.
Mr Amos Afowowe, Deputy Director, Agro-Processing
and Marketing, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, said
this in Kaduna when he paid a courty visit to
Governor Patrick Yakowa.
Afowowe said he was in the state to explore the
possibility of the state hosting the Staple Crop
Processing Zone.
"Nigeria has been spending much on agriculture and
by 2015, Nigeria must stop the importation of rice."
He said the country had the natural, human and
material resources to achieve this goal.
According to him, stopping rice importation would
improve the nation's economy, provide job
opportunities and boost local production.
In his response, Yakowa commended the Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi
Adesina, for his efforts to transform the nation's
agricultural sector.
Yakowa noted that one of the outcomes of the recent
meeting with stakeholders in the agricultural sector
in Washington, U.S., was the proposed establishment
of the Ferguson Tractor Companies to be located in
Kaduna and Port Harcourt.
The governor called for the utilisation of the country's
vast land mass for agricultural purposes such that
the resources being used for rice importation would
be utilised for other vital sectors.
"Most pre-and post-independent development in
Nigeria were made possible through agriculture," he
said.