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Paddy Scarcity May Raise Price Of Rice To N40,000—-Stakeholder

The scarcity of rice paddy in Nigeria may raise the price of a bag of rice to N40,000 by the end of the year, according to a stakeholder familiar with the sector.

Rice is Nigeria’s most consumed staple, but the prices have soared to around N30,000 per bag between 2015 and 2021.

The Muhammadu Buhari-led government had in 2016 targeted 2018 to end importation of rice and for the country to become self-sufficient.

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had last year announced the injection of 27,000 metric tonnes of rice paddy directly to millers across the country with the expectation that it would lead to a decline in the price of the commodity.

But Paul Alaje, a Partner at SPM Professionals on Friday painted the picture of a gloomy outlook for the rice sector due to the shortage of paddy.

According to him,  the soaring price of paddy which is currently put at N230,000 per ton is frustrating production.

He said, “Let me quickly mention this  about rice. You can ask anybody within the value chain of rice today. The biggest challenge that is available is paddy,” he said on Channels Tv.

“You can ask anybody, the biggest challenge from the big names to the small boys is paddy and that is why you are having high prices. If we buy paddy N230,000 per ton, how do you expect millers to sell to the market? How do you expect wholesalers and distributors to sell? How do you expect consumers to buy and by December this year, it might be going to N35,000 to N40,000.”

To boost agric production, Alaje said there is need for massive deployment of NYSC members to farms.

He said, “The NYSC. We have a body that the government can work with maybe through the Ministry of Agriculture, or Ministry of Youth and Sports.

“They will come together, partner and see how we can get more Corp members to farms.

“One of the things the government needs to guarantee is land that will be provided by states; number two security of life of those Corp members; number three tools that they will work with and it will not be hoes and cutlass.

“Go to some local government, you don’t see the presence of any tractor in an area where they should be doing massive farming. I mean farming from time to time but that is not what we see.”

CBNCENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIAMUHAMMADU BUHARI
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