Flood: Nigeria may experience shortage of rice production in 2019 – Ogbeh
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbe, has stated thàt the country may experience shortage of rice production next year due to recent flood in some parts of the country if appropriate measure is not taken to replant after the incident.
The Minister made this revealation in Abuja on Thursday at the commissioning of the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), Molecular Facility, and the 2018 Seed Fair, Farmer’s field day.
Chief Ogbe maintained that the flood which affected some major rice producing states like Kebbi, Jigawa, Anambra and Kogi states portends risks of scarcity of rice in the country if not addressed, noting that new varieties of rice are been produced at NASC which are flood tolerant.
He said: “We hope to get the varieties which include the Faro 66 and 67, into the field in large quantity for farmers to plant in the near future”.
He, however, advised that farmers should use water that recede from the flood to replant rice to avoid shortage of the crop next year.
“We are also hoping that as soon as the rain recede, we encourage farmers again to replant so that the residual moisture in the soil plus irrigation can give up another crop maybe by the end of December or early January otherwise we may be in serious trouble for millet, rice, maize and sorghum”.
He commended NASC for its commitment to building a market-driven seed industry responsible for the production, distribution and marketing of adequate quantities of quality seeds.
“NASC in its regulating activities has put in place a Molecular Laboratory for diagnosis of prevalent diseases limiting crop yields, especially those that are not visible to the naked eye.
We as a government is thanking the Bill and Merlinda Gates Foundation for sponsoring this laudable project through its BASIC programme on the development of the cassava seed system. I am assuring the public that this facility will be put into judicious use”, he said.
Earlier, the Director General, NASC, Dr. Philip Ojo, noted that the commissioning will address myriad of low quality seeds in the country, urging seed companies to join in creating awareness among farmers in their various locations of operation to demonstrate the potentials of improved seeds that will significantly assist farmers to know the varieties that best suited their ecology.
“Nigeria is now a member of the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) and we have made tremendous progress with the issue of becoming a member of the International Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties (UPOV).
“Our support of the activities of the National Variety Release Committee led to the release of about 21 varieties of crops including rice, maize, sorghum, cotton, cassava amongst others”, he said.
