FG set to unveil 200 tonne/day rice mill 

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, has said the 200 metric tonnes per day capacity rice mill in Suleja, Niger State, will soon be inaugurated.

Kyari disclosed this, yesterday, when he led directors in the ministry and the Managing Director of Bank of Agriculture, Alwan Hassan, on a tour of the Mabeli Rice Mill in Suleja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the rice mill, which is one of the 10 integrated rice mills across the country, is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

Two are in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – Suleja and Gwagwalada, while the other eight are spread across the country.

Kyari said the project would attract investors to the country, and by doing so, local production would be enhanced.

He said: “In the eight-point agenda of President Bola Tinubu, number one is food security and this project is one of them. What we always stress is not only on production but also processing.

“In the past, we always relied on imported foods, but what we have seen today is a rice fully grown in Nigeria and processed in Nigeria and can stand with other imported rice.”

The minister, therefore, encouraged rice farmers to be ready, as they would be contacted to double their efforts on rice cultivation, especially in the dry season.

On his part, Hassan said the project was not completed because of the challenges of foreign exchange to pay for the balance of the project.

The Managing Director, MV Agro Engineers Nigeria Limited, Jamu Dan’agundi, said the rice mill had a double capacity compared to the other mills across the country.

Dan’agundi also explained that the mill with four sessions, such as the intake, parboiling, milling and packaging, was put in place to enhance the nutritional value of rice.

Afterwards, the minister proceeded for a tour to the Nigerian Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centre in Bwari, where he expressed satisfaction at the level work, saying it would advance seed production and extension service for farmers.

“We have seen the kind of advancement they have done, especially in seed production. We are impressed with the Gawal R1 rice that can produce up to eight tonnes per hectare. So, this is a very good development. The Gawal R1 variety is sought after by our farmers, so we implore them to give us more of the seed.

“The President has directed that we must produce as much rice in this dry season. So, we are going to assiduously ramp up the production of rice and we are going to invest a lot of money into it,” he said.

He, however, said the demonstration equipment would be handy for smallholder farmers.