NARPMAN To Soon Begin Commercial Rice Production In Rivers -Akandu Godwin

Chairman of the National Rice Producers Processors Millers and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NARPMAN), Rivers State Chapter, Mr. Akandu Godwin says the body is ready for commercial rice production in the state but is constrained by lack of equipments.
Akandu made the disclosure in Port Harcourt at a two-day training programme organized by the association in collaboration with stakeholders in agric-business for rice farmers in the state.
According to him, the essence of the training was to brainstorm on enhanced profitability along the rice value chain.
The farmer explained that before now, some rice farmers in the state had adopted crude farming practices and recorded very low yield due to lack of technology and equipments.
“Recently, our collaboration with government agencies and non-governmental organizations in the area of trainings has greatly boosted farmers’ knowledge in rice production and business and this will in turn boost rice yield in no distant time.
“Though we still have our constraints, notwithstanding, some members have started production with one of them operating a 10 hectare rice farm cited in Isiokpo. Other members have their farms in Oyigbo, Abua and other parts of the state.
“These farmers have all been grappling with the challenges of lack of rice mills, taking their produce to as far as Afikpo and Abia State for milling and processing which rather made them incur losses,” he said.
Akandu, however, said the situation is currently getting better as a private entrepreneur has recently installed a rice mill in Oyigbo area of the state, stressing only one functional mill cannot serve the growing number of rice farmers in the state. He pointed out that as some states have over 100 rice mills.
“We want to go into commercial agriculture; we now have necessary technical support but we need equipments to achieve this,” Akandu stressed.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Certification Officer of the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), Mrs Mefor Udadikpo said as a regulatory body in charge of seeds, the agency is committed to ensuring that only highly certified rice seeds are available for farmers in the state.
She noted that though there are different types of seeds, the agency is collaborating with farmers to educate them on the varieties of seeds that will thrive in the state and how to get them as well as identify such seeds.