LASG to upscale Imota rice milling plant from 2.5to 16 metric tonnes per hour


As part of plans to ensure food self-sufficiency, especially through rice production, the Lagos State Government says it is up-scaling the Imota Rice Milling Plant from 2.5 metric tons to 16 metric tons.

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Toyin Suarau, who made the disclosure on Tuesday at a Ministerial Press Briefing to mark Gov. Akinwumi Ambide’s second year in office, said the plant would be delivered within one year.

Suarau said that the plant would be the biggest in Nigeria when delivered and also drive the state’s major goal to scale up food sufficiency from 12 per cent to 25 per cent in three years.

“The ministry is mandated to facilitate sustainable food production, poverty reduction and job creation through several agriculture projects and programmes.

“The major goal of the ministry is to make the state food secured and scale up food self-sufficiency from the current 12 per cent to 25 per cent within the next three years.

“It is part of plans to ensure that the production of Lake Rice and to stop milling rice paddy in other states like Kebbi, Jigawa and Kano states.

“We have begun plans to up Imota rice milling plant from 2.5 metric tons per hour to 16 metric tons per hour within the next one year,’’ he said.

Suarau said the project was not rocket science because it took a lot of time to set up since the machines would be imported from outside the country.

The commissioner also said that since the state started sales of the Lake Rice in December 2016, 35,647 bags of 50kg, 32,539 of 25kg and 30,786 of 10kg had been sold.

He added that to boost rice production, 100 farmers through the FADAMA III additional financing programme, rice cultivation had improved from less than one ton to about three tons per hectare in the state.

Suarau noted that the state was embarking on several initiatives to boost food production in the areas of input supplies, estate initiatives, Agriculture Youth Empowerment Scheme, Rice for Jobs.
Also, Avia-Badagry Farm Service/Entrepreneurship Center and Coconut Development and Commercial Agriculture Development Project are among the initiatives.

Suarau dispelled the rumour that the sales of Lake Rice had been hijacked by money bags and compelled members of the public to come up with proves for the law to take its course.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tomato disease outbreak: Institute appeals for research funding

The National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, has appealed for funding to carry out research and create awareness on the tuta absoluta pest on tomatoes. The Institute’s Head of Vegetable Programme, Dr Olagorite Adetula, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday that there was an urgent need to tackle the problem to save the economy. Adetula said the institute needed money to do surveillance survey of the pest/damage, ascertain the impact of the damage and proffer solution for eradicating the pest. She appealed to the Federal Government to help the institute get pheromones to lure and trap the pests and distribute to farmers. ``Spraying insecticides is not the best, the pest has high production rate, some of them can escape while spraying it and they will be resistant to the insecticide thereby causing us more cost. ``The pheromones can be used for six to eight weeks before changing it, it is very effective, the pest has short life cycle, wit...
Read more

10,000 women farmers to be engaged in ECOWAS rice project – official

Image
 Mr Richard Olafare, the President, Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN) says 10,000 women will be engaged in the recently inaugurated Rice Seed Up-Scaling Project. This is contained in a presentation on the project made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday. Olafare said 8,000 youths would also be engaged in the scaling project. According to him, the number of women and youths represented 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively of the 20,000 farmers that will participate in the project. NAN reports that the project is an initiative of the West Africa Seed Programme (WASP) in support of the ECOWAS Rice Offensive Programme that was inaugurated in 2014. Among other objectives, it is targeting the production of 60,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice for Nigeria by December 2017, using 1,200 certified seeds. The project is being implemented by SEEDAN in collaboration with the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultura...
Read more

Monsanto Nigeria Launches 3 Conventional Maize Hybrids

Maize farmers across Nigeria now have 3 high yielding conventional maize hybrids to choose from the DEKALB ® brand as Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited launches 3 conventional maize hybrids. The launch held in Abuja on Tuesday May 17 2016 had in attendance farmers, development partners, government regulatory bodies and other stakeholders from both the private and public sectors of the economy. The launch of these hybrid seeds follows their registration by the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds and Fisheries in February 2016. The white maize hybrid, DK234 alongside the 2 yellow maize hybrids, DK920 and DK818 obtained registration approval for use in Nigeria after testing across various agro ecological zones on multi-location farms. The white maize hybrid DK234 with yield potential of 13 tonnes per hectare is well adapted for the Southern and Northern Guinea Savanna ecologies and shows tolerance to Maize Streak Virus, ...
Read more