By Fatima Saka
The Niger Delta Chapter of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) has applauded Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, for training over 90 rice farmers in the state, ahead of the 2022 farming season.
The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria State Chairman, Chief Sylvanus Ejezie expressed the satisfaction on Saturday, in Asaba.
According to him that the training will amplify the farmers to get ready for Rice season and to adopt best practices in rice cultivation also to ensure high quality yield.
Ejezie said that adequate knowledge of the soil texture and of the environment was necessary for farmers to understand their terrain and navigate through it to escape the impacts of flood and drought.
“I want to appreciate His Excellency, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and the state Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, for training no fewer than 90 rice farmers on best practices of production recently, ahead of this year’s planting season.
“The trained farmers are expected to cultivate about 180 hectares of land for rice production across the state.
“Besides, the state government has provided a loan support to the farmers and had pledged to off-set 30 per cent of the total costs per hectare to encourage the farmers ,” Ejezie said.
He also blamed the low harvest of paddy rice in the state on farmers’ lack of adequate knowledge of their environment and inadequate farmer support.
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Government needed to also support the farmers by opening up farm lands and land preparations, among others, to enhance production so as to address the rising demand for rice in the state, he said.
“Our farmers are yet to understand the terrain of the land where they farm.
More so, the farmers face either flood or drought each farming season, which informs why we have not been able to produce enough paddy rice to meet the demands of the off-takers and the millers in the state.
“Before now, we talk about flood challenges, but last year it was the issue of drought, and our farmers were terribly affected otherwise, we would have had enough supplies last year, to meet the demands of our off-takers.
“Additionally, that we need government assistance in the area of machinery, as at today, the state does not have combine harvester, not enough tractors for land preparation and no seed planter, among others.
“All these and more are setbacks to rice cultivation and harvests in the state.
“So, if government can help us to prepare at least 2,000 hectares of land with irrigation facilities at various locations across the state, we can farm rice twice a year and by so doing produce more paddy for the millers in the state,” he said.
On the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme, Ejezie said that the association was yet to receive inputs supply for the 2022 farming season.
