GUSAU – The Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources has said that six aggregation centres would be established in Zamfara as part of its efforts to boost rice sufficiency by 2015.
The Director of ministry in Zamfara office, Alhaji Musa Raji, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau on Thursday.
Raji said the centres would be established at Gusau, Tsafe, Shinkafi, Talata-Mafara, Bukkuyum and Gummi Local Government Areas of the state.
He said the Federal Government, under its Agricultural Transformation Agenda decided to establish the centres to achieve its target of rice sufficiency by 2015.
The director said Zamfara was chosen because the state was one of the rice producing states in the country.
Raji said the centres would serve as collection centres for investors, where farmers would bring their produce and sell it to millers.
He said this would encourage farmers and add value to their produce.
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“We are making arrangements for the establishment of the centres because the Federal Ministry of Agriculture has identified the areas where the centres will be located,’’ he said.
The Secretary of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in the state, Alhaji Sunusi Muhammad, described the establishment of the centres as a welcome development.
Muhammud said that it would enhance the rice farming and production in the state, adding that the farmers would give their support and cooperation to realise the centres.
He, however, called on the farmers in the state to always support government programmes in boosting the agriculture sector. (NAN)
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