rice

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the ongoing border drill that has largely curbed foreign rice smuggling into Nigeria has boosted rice production while fast-tracking the country’s quest to achieve rice self-sufficiency

The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) on Tuesday assured Nigerians of availability and affordable poultry products and livestock during the yuletide in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari says he has not given any date for the reopening of Nigeria’s land borders.

The Eastern Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy has seized 16,320 bags of smuggled rice following the closure of the nation’s land borders.

The $57 oil benchmark adopted by the Federal Government in the 2020 budget may be unrealistic as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has called for its downward review.

The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘C’ of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in Owerri said it impounded 1,343 bags of foreign rice and other contraband worth N492 million and made six arrest within the month.

Senator representing Nasarawa West Senatorial District, Adamu Abdullahi, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, to resist pressure on him to open the nation’s land borders for now.

The Senate on Thursday urged the Federal Government grant tax holidays to investors in the solid minerals sector to enhance investment.

Santuscom Agro-Hub Investment Nigeria Limited, producer of Ogoja Rice, has said it will crash the prices of local brands as it begins harvest at its 1,000-hectare farm in Okpoma, Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State.

Rice millers in Gombe State have called on both the Federal and State Governments’ support for acquisition of modern rice drying machine to boost production of the commodity in the state.

Some rice traders at Ota in Ogun on Friday attributed the current hike in the price of local rice to unregulated activities of middlemen distributing the commodity across the country.

Not fewer than six smugglers of rice and other smuggled items have been arrested by men and officers of the Nigeria Custom Service.

In August this year, the Federal Government shut down the country’s land borders in a bid to check smuggling of goods, especially rice, light arms, automobiles and other contraband cargoes from neighbouring West African countries into the country. This, it said, was aimed at facilitating the growth of local investment in rice production as well as checking the consumption of unhealthy food products by the citizenry.

Rice importers would be ordered to cease their trade in three years if everything goes as planned, Ghana’s Agriculture Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie-Akoto, has said.

The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) has appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reschedule its loan repayment plan for rice farmers in Adamawa, following recent flooding which ravaged rice farms in the state.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, on Monday insisted that neighbouring countries must engage with Nigeria before the Nigerian border is reopened.

The Benue Police Command has confirmed the killing of two suspected armed bandits along Ugbema -Jato -Aka axis in Kwande local government area of the state.

Some rice farmers have appealed to the Federal Government to provide them with affordable loan facilities to boost production to reduce the price of the commodity as they described the closure as a welcome development.