Mr Mike Enahoro, the Managing Director of Kuro Communication Ltd, said on Saturday, that no fewer than one million rice farmers would benefit from its ongoing training to boost production in 2017.
Enahoro, who gave this assurance in an interview with newsmen in Yola, said Kuro Communications Ltd was handling farmers training for the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Anchor Borrowers Scheme,
He said that he had the mandate of Mr President to train one million farmers and that already, more than 300,000 had been trained nationwide.
According to him, the remaining ones would be trained before the end of December 2017 to complete the task.
Enahoro said that all things being equal by 2018, any businessman, who imported rice would be doing so at a loss, as Nigerians by then, would be going for cheaper and nutritious local rice.
“The Nigerian rice is 10 times more nutritious than other foreign rice you can find in the market.
“By 2018, if you want to import rice, you can do that but you will find out that Nigerians are no longer interested in your rice because it will be costlier than the local rice due to import duty,” he said.
Enahoro, who is in Yola for the training of 40,000 rice farmers, said the success recorded in rice production in Kebbi and other states so far was encouraging in the nation’s quest for rice sufficiency.
He called for more enlightenment and advertisement by stakeholders on the Nigerian rice, adding that “we need to do more like setting up mills, packaging facilities,” Enahoro said.
Enahoro lauded the commitment of Adamawa Government and farmers to the scheme and urged them to remain focused for the expected breakthrough.
Also speaking, Mr Adamu Ibrahim, the Rural Finance Institution (RUFIN) representative, said the institution was committed to the scheme by empowering the farmers with the basic training requirements for the scheme.
The Rural Finance Institution (RUFIN), provides funding for the training in collaboration with CBN,
Ibrahim also lauded the commitment of the State Government and the farmers, adding that the training of the rice farmers, who were to begin production in the dry season, would go a long way in addressing poverty in the state.
Meanwhile, the State Government had identified the cultivation of rice, maize, soya beans, sesame seeds and fish as its area of priority under the scheme. (NAN)