Birnin Kebbi -The Kebbi Government said it would support farmers to access N5billion loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to boost commercial rice production in the state.
The permanent secretary in the State’s Ministry of Agriculture, Alhaji Yahaya Jega, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Birnin Kebbi on Tuesday.
He said that farmers would be encouraged to obtain the loan through financial institutions that would not attract more than nine percent interest.
Jega said the state had prepared 600,000 hectares of land to be utilised for rice farming across the state.
“We would ensure that we produce enough rice for the country by supporting our farmers to expand the scope of their production,” he said.
He said solar energy would be introduced to power generators for irrigation farming, adding that the solar power would reduce the high cost of operating the generators with petrol.
The permanent secretary said commercial rice millers had inspected the variety of the commodity produced in the state and had expressed satisfaction that commercial production would be viable.
He said silos, marketing strategies and transportation would be provided to assist the farmers to expand their rice production.
Jega said the agriculture would be transformed to attract the unemployed youth to engage in commercial farming.
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According to him, government is fully prepared to encourage mechanized farming, provide improved seedlings, extension services and fertiliser at low rates. (NAN).
