By Ayodele Oni
As prices of commodities continue to soar, especially imported grains, Ondo State Governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to consider lifting the ban on rice importation.
Governor Akeredolu insisted that the country has the capacity to produce rice for job creation and exportation.
He was speaking in Akure while inspecting harvesting of rice at a farm facilitated by the state government in collaboration with the National Centre For Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM) using a Japanese technology known as Sawah Eco-technology for rice farming.
The Governor was optimistic that Ondo state would be self-sufficient in rice production if the technology was fully harnessed.
He stated that the state government would not venture into rice cultivation, but partner with rice farmers to use the Sawah technology to boost production.
According to him, the technology would encourage cultivation of rice in three cycles within a year and therefore more profit for the farmers.
“We have swampy or low lands across the state. All the swampy lands are over 20,000 hectares and this technology has shown what we could produce from one hectare.
“A farmer can make up to N1.8million annually from one hectare using this technology.
“It was courageous for President Buhari to ban rice importation. We have no business importing rice.
“We were creating jobs for other countries, but now the jobs are here and youths have to key into the project instead of looking for white-collar jobs.
“We will also be introducing fishery into the rice fields. There will be more training and sensitisation of farmers.”
National Coordinator of Sawah Eco-Technology, Dr. Ademiluyi Yinka, said President Buhari approved the training for rice farmers in some selected states through NCAM.
Dr. Ademiluyi explained that the technology encourages the use of low land for rice cultivation and produces more yields per hectare more than the conventional methods of growing rice.
