Price of Rice will fall in Nov, says FG
Distributes palm seedlings to farmers
In recognition of the suffering in the land by prices of food commodities and other services sky rocketing, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Chief Audu Ogbe has assured that price of rice and other food items would begin to fall from November as more Nigerians have responded to the call to return to Agriculture as a result of government’s policy on importation.
He also said the Federal Government is ready to distribute 900 million seedlings of high yielding Palms to farmers in the coming weeks to boost palm oil production in the country.
The Minister made this revelation in his office on Monday when the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development paid him a visit as part of its oversight functions.
The Minister stated that currently, there is 250,000 tons of palm oil shortage to meet local demand, adding that the planed distribution is to meet and surpass the current shortage.
He emphasized that Government could not be involved in rice importation, as being speculated in some quarters, adding that the Ministry would not encourage such a thing that would be detrimental to local production.
“We will not encourage rice importation, and there is no way the Ministry or Government can be involved in importing rice, when we are working hard to be self sufficient in local production. By November, when full scale harvest starts, rice prices will fall”, he said.
The Minister further informed that the late passage of this year’s budget had slowed down budget implementation. He however added that capital expenditure has begun, and about N80 billion was waiting to flow into the economy through contracts to be awarded soon.
Chief Ogbeh used the opportunity to call the Senators to impress it on State Governors to encourage agriculture in their States to complement Federal Government’s efforts in the sector.
He said, “You may be surprised to know that only six to seven States in Nigeria are showing enthusiasm in agriculture. Some, by nature do not seem interested, while others just cannot connect with what we are doing at the federal level”.
On his part, The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, stated that the $22 billion annual food import bill had led to the astronomical rise in the cost of rice and other commodities. He cautioned that if Nigerians fail to produce some of the items being imported by December this year, the prices of such items could skyrocket.
