As some people might have known by now, the is an ongoing Rice REVOLUTION taken place in Nigeria presently, only one in what are very positive developments in most Aspects of the nations Agricultural Sector- Cocoa, Oil palm, Cassava, Cotton, Hides and Skins, Sorghum, Corn, Fish, Poultry, Yam, Meat, Cashew,etc- led by the Remarkable Minister for Agriculture, Dr Adewumi Adesina (Forbes African Personality of the year, 2013).
Arising from the well-thought policies/measures been rigorously implemented by the FG and some State Govts, at least 15 NEW Rice Mills have been opened in Nigeria within the last 3 years. Some of these Mills include Ebonyi Agro, Labana Mills in Kebbi, IRS Mills in Kano, Umza Mills in Kano, Ashi Mills in Benue, Mikap Mills in Benue, Ebonyi State Mills (3), Imota Intergrated Mills Lagos, Quarra Mills in Kwara, Attajiri Rill Mills in Sokoto,Integrated Grain Rice Mills in Eke Enugu, Adani Mills in Enugu, etc. Some other Mills are in the process of been completed, and include the Atahi Rice Mill in Jigawa State, Dominion Rice Mills and Farms in Taraba, Al-Uma Mills in Taraba, Omor Mill in Anambra, Kare Hi-tect Mill in Zamfara, etc. Other Mills have been Resuscitated/Expanded during this period like Abakiliki Mill, Badaggi Mill in Niger, Flour Mill Golden Pen Rice Mill. Then there are also the 100 Mills the FG is expecting from China in colla with some State Govts and Private sector players.
Here, are VIDEOs, Pics and Links of some of these Rice Mills.
Enjoy.
Government has disclosed that in the last 12 months, 13 new rice mills with a total capacity of 240,000 MT, have been set up by the private sector. It also disclosed that Miva and Ashi rice in Benue, Ebonyi rice in Ebonyi State, Umza rice in Kano, have all hit the market and getting popular among Nigerians because of their high quality and affordability.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, who disclosed this at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) workshop on Financing Nigeria’s Agricultural Revolution, said that a new investor, Dominion Farm is currently investing $40 million in commercial rice production in Taraba State and that this rice farm will use small holder contract farmers and out-growers to produce close to 300,000 metric tons of rice within 24 months and create close to 15,000 jobs. This investment will replace 15 per cent of rice being imported. The minister also disclosed that at current level of consumption, by 2050 Nigeria will be spending close to $150 billion (N23.4 trillion) to meet annual rice demand in the country through imports. “Nigeria currently imports five million metric tonnes of rice and the figure will increase to an estimated 36 million metric tonnes by 2050, the minister said. “Nigeria is now the largest importer of rice in the world. As our population rises, demand for rice is projected to rise from the current level of five million MT to 36 million MT by 2050. Unless Nigeria begins an aggressive import substitution programme for rice, it will spend $150 billion annually importing rice by 2050 and the nation will be broke”.
He disclosed that government’s policy for now is to make Nigeria self-sufficient in rice production by encouraging the production and milling of local rice. To guarantee this happens, government has raised tariffs on imported brown rice and finished rice.
A very Interesting and Informative Recent Article on Daily trust(less than 2 weeks ago) on the interesting Interview by the owner of Umza Rice Mill, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakakar, in Kano State.
NB: Pay attention to the highlighted Section plz:
[size=15]Nigeria can Compete with India, Thailand in Rice Production[/size]
When Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar started his Umza rice mill in Kano State two years ago, banks were running away from him. After building the 75,000 metric tonnes multi-million naira mill, he needed N500 million working capital, which the banks refused to give to him. But now, with his business flourishing and a credit line in billions of naira, he has become the darling of many banks. In this interview, Abubakar who was a member of the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2011 speaks on the prospects and challenges of rice milling in Nigeria. Excerpts:
How did you come about this rice mill? Whenever somebody is thinking of development he chooses which aspect of life he wants to follow. As a business man before I joined politics, I always thought about how I can impact on my people and the society in general. I have travelled to different places; I have been to India, Thailand, and I have seen how they grow their rice that we have been buying for more than 50 years. So, I started thinking on how I can delve into the area and that was how we started. I started it with a rice mill here in Kano. Because I learnt the rice we have here is the same with the ones in the countries I visited. When did you start? Actually I started building this place around 2008, but it was officially commissioned in 2011. It was commissioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and many other important dignitaries. What is the capacity of this mill? Presently it is 75,000 metric tonnes per annum rice mill. What were the challenges when you started the mill? So many challenges; for example, securing the land and building it, infrastructure, electricity and water. It may interest you to know that we have a water treatment plant close to us, but when we received the bill for connecting the water we could not pay. So, we have to go and drill our own boreholes. We have about five industrial boreholes here because we use about 200,000 litres of water per day. So, these are part of the challenges. We have 1 million litres water treatment plants in the factory. Then after building the factory, the biggest challenge is how to run the factory, you know it is capital intensive. We need to buy from the farmers, process it and sell, that is how you circulate the money. The very challenging issue is that the paddy comes once in a year; after the harvesting season you cannot buy it as much as you could, so you need a lot of money at a particular time of the year. That is the most challenging aspect of it. How many tonnes of paddy do you buy from farmers annually? If you are talking about sufficient quantity, you have to buy about 75,000 metric tonnes but you cannot get it for now. When we started, to get even 10,000 tonnes was challenging, but now we can buy up to 20,000 tonnes every year and it comes with a price also. When we started, the running cost came from the CBN, we had to see them and the Ministry of Agriculture with our initiative on this commercial agriculture for loan. That was how we were able to secure N500 million to start with; to buy paddy rice, process and sell. We got this through the help of Fidelity Bank, so we have to thank them for that, because when we started, we approached many banks but they all refused to grant us credit facility. Your rice mill is located in Kura, a town famous for the cultivation of rice, one is surprised to hear that you are finding it difficult to get paddy. Why? In fact, even the 25,000 metric tonnes we are buying, we are not getting it from this area because of the challenges; price and activities of middlemen. We are getting most of our paddy from Adamawa and Taraba states because it is cheaper and the activities of middlemen there are not like in this place. The preference of Nigerians for foreign rice is negatively affecting our GDP. Is it that the rice you people are producing locally is substandard? That is why we are competing with them; some people are even saying our rice is better than the imported rice. Because our rice is produced, processed in the same year, not like imported rice that in most cases are about five years or so old. Then, because we are handicapped we have no choice than to patronize it, but now people have choices. It may interest you to know that most of the big men in the country now prefer our locally milled rice to the imported rice. Is the foreign rice cheaper than yours? No, ours is just N8,000 but of course, foreign product can be cheaper than ours if it is smuggled into the country. As it is now, the main challenge is smuggling. The government has increased tariff and levy in order to encourage local millers but due to the smuggling we can’t achieve that. How do you market your rice? [b]Before I come to the marketing, let me tell you why I said we can compete with India and Thailand. Presently, we have a Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who is so much interested in our field of paddy farming. Before this minister came on board, we hardly produce one million tonnes of paddy all over the country. Not only that, the quality of paddy we were producing at that time was far below standard. With the help of this minister, within three years, he has transformed the sector so much that today we can produce two to three million tonnes of paddy every year and the quality of the grain has changed drastically. Now we have so many varieties and the quality of farming and yield has also changed. So, we have to give special thanks to this minister of agriculture and we hope he will continue in this line. Let me tell you, if we will have this effort sustained at least for another four years, we will have no business importing rice into this country.[/b] What is your turnover annually? Our turnover for last year was about N4 billion. How about your profit? No, I will not talk about that. What is your staff strength? We have about 260 staff; among them we have five expatriates who are Indians. What are your future plans? Our plan is to start our own farming activity. As I am talking to you now, we have requested a piece of land from Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority (HJRDA) under the Ministry of Water Resources and we have discussed with partners from India to start our farming activity. We want to start with 5,000 hectares of land. All arrangements have been concluded, they are just waiting for us to secure the land so that we can start farming. Our future plan is to produce our own paddy, process it and sell. Do we have the capacity to meet our rice requirement in this country? If there is dedication we can do it because we have the capacity; what are the capacities? We have the land, we have the manpower, we have millions of youths roaming the streets, these are the people that are supposed to go back to the farm to produce the rice. And the water is there, so you don’t need anything more than that to produce rice. What are the challenges that you are facing now? The general challenge is that of electricity; that is energy. We are buying diesel of N60,000 to N70,000 daily. That is, we are spending about N9 million every month on diesel, basically this is the common challenge. So why did you quit politics for farming? Because I want to feed you. (Laughter)
The one billion naira agricultural loan disbursed by Fidelity Bank to large scale farmers in Sokoto State early this year is having positive effects on many farmers, as Attajiri Rice Mill, one of the beneficiaries of the scheme, has commenced processing rice for local consumption, writes Mohammed Aminu
“I am a beneficiary of the Fidelity Bank agricultural loan scheme disbursed to farmers in partnership with the Sokoto State government. This financial assistance is yielding tremendous benefit, as it enabled me to move from production to processing of rice in the state”.
These were the words of Nura Attajiri, a large scale rice farmer and entrepreneur, who recently established a rice mill for the processing of rice meant for local consumption at the Kalambaina area of the Sokoto metropolis. Attajiri like other farmers, have hearkened to the clarion call made by Governor Aliyu Wamakko to local investors to engage in large scale farming to generate employment, fight poverty and enhance the growth of the state’s economy.
Nigeria remains the largest importer of rice in Africa and one of the largest importer globally, despite the abundance of natural resources, agricultural potential, arable land and dams scattered across the country. Rice is a basic staple in the country and production is increasing, but continues to lag behind demand.
Nearly all of the country’s rice imports come from Thailand and India, thereby providing jobs in these countries at the expense of Nigeria’s teeming youths roaming the streets in search of provervial white collar jobs.
The nation spends about 100 million dollars on rice importation annually, despite the country’s huge potentials in the area of rice production. This has become a huge drain on the economy, as Nigeria earns foreign exchange through oil and throws it away by importing rice while Nigerian rice farmers are being run out of business.
Thus, with the expected increase in population, it would be difficult for the country to sustain such importation in the long run. Moreover, with the uncertainties in the global oil market, the nation can no longer continue to depend on importation of rice and other food items from other countries without looking inwards to boost rice production and meet local needs.
Disturbed by the ugly trend, the Federal Government this year identified and selected 10 states for an accelerated dry season paddy rice production which included Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Katsina, Kogi and Taraba States. The states were selected due to the availability of water in their areas during the dry season and to augment existing integrated rice mills in the country. Government approved the provision of 50 kg of seeds of improved rice varieties to each farmer that would lead to cultivation of 230,000 hectares of land across the 10 states while new varieties of rice like the ‘New Africa Rice’ with high yield that will outperform the local variety, was provided to farmers to enable them produce more. It is expected that with the accelerated programme currently in place, Nigeria would be self sufficient in rice production while a full ban would be placed on the commodity by 2015.
It was in view of the need to meet the set targets, that the Sokoto State government, in partnership with Fidelity Bank, disbursed N1 billion agricultural loan to large scale farmers in the state to boost food production, especially rice and cassava.Thus, Fidelity Bank acted as the intermediating institution in channeling the funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria for the purpose of lending to cooperative farmers and other agro allied enterprises along the agro value chain business.
Attajiri, like other beneficiaries of the loan scheme, has been a large scale rice farmer at the Bakalori Irrigation Project for over 27 years. But with the financial support Attajiri recently received from the state government, he was able to move from mere producer of rice to processing. This gave him the ample opportunity to engage 25 youths to work at the rice mill apart from the large number of youths that work in his farm.
Speaking with THISDAY at the rice mill in Sokoto recently, the Managing Director of Attajiri Rice Mill, Alhaji Nura Attajiri, said he engages in rice farming all year round through irrigation but decided to establish the rice mill following plans by the Federal Government to ban importation of rice in 2015. He disclosed that N20 million was given to him by Fidelity Bank as agriculture loan to improve production, adding that over N45 million was spent in the establishment of the rice mill.
He explained that after planting of crops, it usually takes between three and four months before harvest. Subsequently, the commodity is transported to the mill for processing and packaging for onward sale at the market. “Of course, we produce an average of 1000 bags of rice after each harvest. We usually take the raw paddy rice to the mill where it is washed to remove the chaff. It is then soaked in a tank filled with hot water and parboiled for two hours. After that, the rice is dumped in a steaming machine and later taken for drying. Thus, it is then processed in the rice milling machine to remove stones and impurities and after that the rice is bagged. So, it takes at least two days for paddy rice to be processed at the mill before it reaches the market for sale”, he said.
Attajiri maintained that the quality of rice being produced in the state was more nutritious than the imported rice from Thailand which has preservatives. He however, noted that the major challenge was getting adequate paddy rice to be able to meet up with the demand of local consumption.
He said: “We have a lot of customers and there is high demand for our product because our rice has nutrients and no preservatives. But we are facing the challenge of meeting up with local demand”.
Attajiri noted that the plan by the Federal Government to ban rice importation in 2015 may not feasible, as local production by farmers was low compared to the demand for the commodity. He said ban on importation of rice in 2015 would be counter productive, pointing out that out of the 50 million metric tonnes of rice being consumed in the country annually, 21 million was imported from China, India and Thailand.
He emphasized that banning rice importation in 2015 would make life difficult for Nigerians due to inadequate production of the commodity by local farmers.
“As a large scale rice farmer that has been in the business since 1983, I know the negative effects of importation of rice on the economy. But the truth of the matter is that banning importation of rice in 2015 without commensurate local production would be counter productive.
“Most of the people that collect agricultural loans from government for paddy rice production are not genuine farmers. I strongly believe that it will take some time for Nigerian farmers to meet local demand and this can be achieved only if government is determined to put in mechanisms to ensure that only genuine farmers are empowered,” he said.
He stressed the need for the Federal Government to provide incentives and empower small, medium and large scale farmers in order to achieve the desired targets. Attajiri said to this end, government should empower local producers and processers of rice with loans, grants and other forms of assistance to produce more. The Managing Director stated that government should also sensitize Nigerian youths on the need to engage in farming activities and also see it as a profitable venture while capacity building should be conducted regularly for farmers on how to use fertilizer and improved varieties of seeds.
He opined that concrete and genuine efforts should also be made by the Federal Government towards mechanized agriculture in the country and expressed the readiness to commence the exportation of rice to neigbouring countries soon. Attajiri appealed to wealthy Nigerians to invest in the economy, adding that they should move from the level of dealers and distributors of goods to manufacturers and producers of commodities.
“We cannot develop as a country if we rely on importation of food and goods without producing it locally. We have tomatoes, onions, pepper and sugar cane in Sokoto which can be processed to have multiplier effect on the economy. So, we cannot fold our arms and allow other countries to feed us when we have arable farmlands and the resources to improve our economy. It is high time our people engaged massively in local production of goods to create wealth, generate employment and fight poverty,”Attajiri enthused.
I Expect the usual ''Never see anything good with anything'' folks from the other side of the Niger to begin frothing @ the site of this thread. Good one from the Agric Minister. I love the way Ebonyi is tapping into it's Agricultural potentials. Countrie like thailand, Laos and and to an Extent Indial largely depend on Rice Cultivation to keep their economy robust. I see no reason why Nigeria should'nt do the same.
With works nearing completion on the ultra-modern Tara Agro rice processing mill, the agrarian Adani Community in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, is on the threshold of transformation from largely subsistence agriculture into a commercial hub for agribusiness and rice production.
According to a statement issued in Lagos at the weekend, it was stated that the 42,000 tonnes Tara Agro mill, which will be the biggest rice processing mill in South East Nigeria, is expected to be completed by January 2014.
The statement further stated that the mill, which is a private sector investment, is being built by Tara Agro Industries Limited, owners of the Ebony Agro rice processing mill in Ikwo in Ebonyi State, and the producers of International quality rice brands namely Ebony Super and Ebony Gold. Larger than the Ebony Agro mill, the Tara Agro mill is also said to be fully integrated to produce, package, grade and export quality brands of rice-under a new Brand-Queen of the Niger.
An impact investment, Tara Agro mill is being set up to process locally sourced paddy rice from small holder farmers in Adani Community into parboiled polished rice of international quality. When it begins operation, the mill will raise demand for paddy, and is projected to increase the acreage of rice cultivation from 1,400 hectares one-crop per year in Adani to about 5,000 hectares of three crops per year cycle, thereby expanding the number of financially viable primary producers.
It will also provide supply to meet the growing national demand for high quality rice. Over 5,000 direct and indirect employments will be created in the community. These factors combined will raise household incomes in Adani Community, creating sustainable wealth for the people. Chairman, Tara Agro Industries Limited, Mr. Charles Ugwuh, said, “Our increased investment in rice production is a testament to our firm commitment to the growth, development and proper coordination of rice production and processing value chain in Nigeria. The choice of Adani rice producing community as the location of the Tara Agro rice mill is as a result of our commitment to building an empowering rice value chain from which small holder farmers can reap social/ economic benefits.
“We are committed to fostering a value chain with shared economic, social and environmental values in which producers, buyers, processors, and others collaborate to create value. It is our belief that this will accelerate the transformation of small holder farmers from subsistence levels into commercially viable enterprises.”
According to Ugwuh, Tara Agro will unlock the huge economic potential of Adani Community by bridging the existing rice processing gap, and by dividing the usually combined functions of producer/processor/seller assumed by thousands of small holder farmers in a way that is most efficient and beneficial to the value chain.
“Tara Agro mill will enhance the productivity of thousands of subsistence farmers through paddy off-take agreements, and by fostering the emergence of input suppliers, storage and logistics providers, as well as technical support, credit and market linkages, among others, which were formerly non-existent on the rice value chain in Adani.”
Project Director, Tara Agro rice processing mill, Mr. Reuben Malcolm, said, “The huge investment in the new rice processing mill in Adani is a courageous one born of patriotic zeal, and commitment by its promoters to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy, in spite of the evident infrastructure deficit in Uzo Awani Local Government Area. The mill site is not connected to the national grid, and the construction of the factory has been wholly dependent on the use of heavy duty generators procured for that purpose.”
Malcolm urged the State and federal government to fast track development of infrastructure such as roads, standard bridges, power supply, storage facilities as well as rectification of the broken down Adani irrigation system, if the potential of Uzo Awani as the leading staple crop processing centre of the South East must be unleashed.
He also called for the state government’s intervention in promoting mechanised farming, agricultural extension services and ensuring access to credit by farmers’ co-operative societies to create an enabling operating environment for private sector players like Tara Agro.
Investment in the Tara Agro integrated rice mill by the promoters of Ebony Agro Industries Limited aligns with the Federal Government’s current policy focus of re-diversifying the economy and re-positioning the agricultural sector to play the lead role in economic development.
Once it is operational, the mill will further boost the quantity and quality of rice production in the country, revitalise and harness the enormous potentials of the developing rice sub- sector to create food security, stimulate job creation, and wealth creation for farmers.
While stressing that the mill would significantly boost rice production, Fashola said the state planned to expand its rice production of the present 250 hectares of rice land annually to about 500 hectares. He appealed to the the Federal Government to help the state in its quest for increased production by allocating to it farmland around Ogun River Basin. Earlier, Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adeshina, represented by Tijani, commended the Lagos State Government for building the rice mill, saying it would enhance the production of rice in the country. Tijani, disclosed that Nigeria’s need for rice which sadly is largely supported with importation, will hit five million metric tons by 2015. He said the Federal Government would continue to collaborate with states, especially Lagos in boosting rice production capacity and ensure total local sufficiency by 2015. The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, giving an insight into the rice mill, first of its kind in southwest Nigeria, said the mill was built with Korean technology to the highest operational standards to process 20,000 tons of paddy rice per annum, with additional 10,000 ton storage facility and 45,000 ton capacity storage for finished rice. “We have completed the test-run of the factory and are pleased to report that the main product (well polished rice) compares with the best quality rice from any part of the world. Operating optimally, the rice mill is estimated to produce between 350,000 and 400,000 bags of rice per year, Lawal said The Imota integrated Rice Mill was completed in January 2012 built by a team of experts from South korea. A study conducted in August 2007, where it was found out that Lagos State population of over 20 million as at then consumes 600,000 metric tonnes of per boiled milled rice that is 12 million bags of 50 kg rice, Also of significant was that the consumption per head in Lagos was put at 34 kg per person per year, which was the highest in Nigeria. In 2008 when the cost of imported rice jumped in the international market from $5000 to $1000 per ton, domestic price bag jumped from N7,000.00 to N16,000.00. As expected Lagosians were most affected. All these support the fact that Lagos is a Megacity with predominately urban population and the consumer preference of staple food is rice which is in line with urbanization.It is estimated that half of all imported rice from sea port are sold in Lagos and that all rice brought in legally and illegally through the land border are consumed in Lagos. Going by these assumptions, it can be said that current consumption in Lagos State can be as much as 1million metric tonnes per year considering our current population estimate of 20 million. The mill processes 2.5 tons per hour paddy rice which consist of huller, de-stoner polisher, grader, colour sorter and automated bagging and weighing bridge. The following are inclusive in the package: 10 ton soaking tank, a set of per-boiler and steamer, 15- ton capacity drier and 60-ton silo attached to the factory. The factory was built with two other structure for paddy rice storage of 10,000 tons capacity and finished rice store cum office space. The complex has 600KVA generator, an industrial borehole and two sets of water tanks; a steel over head tank of 55,000 litres capacity and sets of ground plastic tanks with a total capacity of 45,000 litres. The mill with optimum operating capacity can process up to 20,000 tons per year and was estimated to generate at least 50,000 different employment opportunities. Apart from the whole grain table rice, the following by products are equally money earners; Broken rice, used for rice pudding, tuwo, ground rice and rice flour. Rice ban; highly sort after for livestock feeds, oil extra and the cosmetic industry. Rice husk; used as energy for power generation (with appropriate technology), used in the livestock industry and for briquettes or fuel stock in furnace. In view of the land constrain confronting agricultural development in the state and the need to make maximum utilization of available land resources, the ministry has intensified the establishment of agricultural estate where beneficiaries are better placed to take advantage of their critical mass and attendant economies of scale - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/05/lagos-to-creates-50000-agric-jobs-commissions-rice-mill/#sthash.RMRTfrmG.dpuf
Apologists on the prowl. Beware, soul brothers.They want to bamboozle Nigerians into believing that the very high tariff on rice importation was not taken in the heat of alcohol! They refuse to learn from the past, & never considered the Import Substitution Policy of the 70s.This is certainly another anti-Christians policy, just like the fuel subsidy removal at a time Christians (mainly NdiIgbo) were returning to their bases after the Christmas & New year celebrations. Now, the thoughtless policy on foreign rice is coming at a period that every Christian household would need a bag of rice to celebrate the christmas! And even the local rice is not readily available. The available quantity is grossly insufficient, and so,the price of foreign rice in Port Harcourt has risen from #9000 (in Oct) to #15000 (in Dec). People take hasty decisions only to plung the people into avoidable hardships. Sometimes,i wonder why some people reason through their black "shit-holes".We know Insincere 9gerian is the same as Taharga
There is just something going on in every sector under this administration. It's hard to ignore. Many reforms and policy initiatives are really opening up the Agric sector to serious development. Here we have evidence of rice mills that the Agric Minister keeps preaching about to us on TV. This is good. It shows we are making progress.
diva_tosin: There is just something going on in every sector under this administration. It's hard to ignore. Many reforms and policy initiatives are really opening up the Agric sector to serious development. Here we have evidence of rice mills that the Agric Minister keeps preaching about to us on TV. This is good. It shows we are making progress.
Even the police has undergone massive transformation. I listened to the IGP the other day and you'll be amazed the transformation that has taken place in the Nigeria police in the last 2 years. Among other things they acquired 13 helicopters. I hope I'll have time to create a thread on that soon.
So much progress recorded by Jonathan in Agriculture. Little wonder the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Adeshina won FORBES African Man of the year award. His policies are visible and yielding fruits. The target of this administration is to boost local rice production and ensure that importation of rice which accounts for billions of Naira is reduced. In addition, the minister is establishing silos for storage. It will help to achieve food sufficiency.
Agriculture holds the key to national development and I support what GEJ is doing in that area. Many administrations before Jonathan paid lip service to Agriculture and just saw it as a conduit pipe for siphoning huge funds and grants. Today, there is a marked departure from the past. Most interestingly is the way the minister stopped fertiliser racketeering through the E wallet system. if fertiliser can be accessible in open market, there is nothing else that will hinder Agricutural growth.
Great development...now the next thing is to ensure Paddy is available and in sufficient quantity for these Mills...Can't wait for us milling enough rice for our local consumption and also for exports
