1, 000 Kogi rice farmers get boost for dry season farming

Over 1000 rice farmers in Kogi state have benefited from the dry season rice cultivation programme initiated by the National Rice Producers, Processor, Millers and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NARPPMMAN) to boost rice production in the state.

Speaking during the flag-off of the dry season rice cultivation programme for 2022 at the Kogi state Ministry of Agriculture in Lokoja Friday, the president of the association, Mustapha Ahmadu, said the effort was to assist farmers to improve rice production.

He disclosed that the association had decided to take the bull by the horns by mobilising its members across 14 states that were mostly affected by the 2022 floods and to benefit from the 15, 000 hectares dry season project initiated and sponsored by the association.

He charged the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development to intensity effort in attaining food sufficiency through viable interventions.

Ahmadu, who said the federal government’s agricultural interventions “are not yet enough considering the population of the country,” noted that more effort “is still required to boost food production for the nation to attain the desired food security.”

The national president of the association charged farmers in the state to maximise the opportunities to improve rice production.

Earlier, the state chairman, NARPPMMAN, Ikani Davidson, appealed to the state government and commercial banks for financial support in order to actualise the 2022 wet season rice production.