60,000 rice farmers to benefit from CBN agric loan in Kano

No fewer than 60, 000 rice farmers in Kano State will benefit from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme.

Alhaji Isa Bawa, the Organising Secretary, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in Kano State, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Sunday.

According to him, the programme will take off before the wet season farming to enable the association to raise the required number of farmers.

He said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) required no fewer than 100,000 registered farmers before disbursing the fund.

He recalled that the Federal Government inaugurated the programme in November 2015 in Kebbi as part of effort to boost rice and wheat production in the country.

“The CBN has set aside N40 billion for the implementation of the programme in the state. We are trying to register at least 60,000 rice farmers so that the programme can start before the wet season,’’ Bawa said.

He said the association had also discussed with officials of the bank on the implementation of the programme “which is expected to begin between now and May.

“We are expected to have a minimum of 10 farmers and a maximum of 25 farmers in each cooperative.’’

According to him, each farmer cultivating one hectare of rice would collect fertiliser, herbicide, pesticide and equipment chemical worth N250,000.