Farmers News - FG Approves N13.920billion for Rice and Cassava Mills

N13 billion has been approved by the Federal Government for the purchase of 10 integrated rice mills and 6 high quality cassava flour mills to boost rice and cassava production in the country.

During a briefing of journalists after the weekly federal executive council meeting, the Minister of Agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina said the rice mills will be located in 10 states of the federation.

The 10 rice mills each have a capacity to mill 36,000 metric tones of paddy rice, with a total of 360,000 metric tones of paddy rice expected to be processed across the country. The rice mills will be located in Kebbi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Ogun, Bayelsa, Niger, Kogi, Anambra, Benue and Bauchi states while the cassava mills will be located in Ondo, Ogun, Abia, Delta, Cross River, Nassarawa states.

Adesina said the council deliberated extensively on the need for more integrated rice mills across the country as it is currently working at the total blackout of the importation of rice.

He said, “the mills will not be owned or run by government, they are going to be owned managed and operated by the private sector, it’s part of government’s way of making this available at a term of financing that can be afforded by the private sector. The acquisition of this will be done by the bank of industry. It will select the private sector people, they will have the down payment, and the plants are going to be constructed and they have a financing facility for them to own it. Government is just doing its job which is to get things to happen, but the private sector will do every single thing about it.”

He added that government will no longer fold it’s arms and watch the private sector do the job, rather it is taking the lead and doing the right thing. “There are still those who go around trying to get waivers to import rice and throw us into poverty, this will no longer be possible” he said.

Source:  http://ynaija.com/fg-approves-n13-920billion-rice-cassava-mills/