Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development says it’s committed to fast tracking the attainment of self sufficiency in quality rice production in the country.
Director agricultural services of the ministry Hajiya Karima Babangida stated this at the end of a three day training of women rice parboilers on a modern and simple technology of rice parboiling, held in Sokoto state.
The director who was represented by the assistant director rice value chain, Alh. Usman Bashir said the participants were drawn from the seven states in the north west geopolitical zone of the country.
Hajiya Karima said the ministry accord priority to the rice value chain in view of the ban on rice importation and to meet the high demand of quality processed rice in the country.
She said the training became necessary stressing that about seventy percent of the rice consumes is processed by small and medium scale millers who relies on women parboillers in the rice value chain.
The director noted that the adoption of the new method would boost stones free rice production locally in the country.
In his speech, the state Coordinator Federal Ministry of agricultural and Rural development in Sokoto, Alh. Suleiman Abdulmajeed said the major quality issue affecting Nigerian milled rice arise from poor parboiling system.
The coordinate assured that the adoption of the new technology with the name , Rice False Bottom Technology would seen the end of rice smuggling in the country.
He added that the beneficiaries are expected to step dawn the training to local rice processors in their various States.
NASIR MALALI