The Kebbi State government on Tuesday said it has procured 250 rice milling machines for women rice millers at Takalau area of Birnin Kebbi in Kebbi State.
The state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, who announced this said the objective was to ensure the women rice millers embrace the modern method of rice processing and production and be able to compete with bigger rice milling companies operating in the state.
He said to make their rice processing easier, over 200 rice threshers have been procured for them.
“Kebbi has the capacity to produce 20 million tonnes of rice annually. The activities in rice production in the last three years now has shown that Kebbi can achieve the same feat in wheat production,” he said.
Earlier the Commissioner for Agriculture, Barrister Attahiru Maccido said Kebbi has never recorded successes in rice production before the advent of the present administration.
He said the farmers in the various communities in the state have moved from peasant to commercial farming and now taking rice and other crops production as a full time business.
“Kebbi is now a household name because of its rice production and other agricultural activities and my ministry has spearheaded the industrialization of Kebbi State,” the commissioner said.
He said because of the growing rice production in the state WACOT Rice Mill was planning to establish another rice milling factory in Yauri area of the state.
“WACO is now to sign agreement with 50,000 farmers with capacity to farm 10,000 hectares of rice farms and 10 km of roads are to be constructed to link farm locations across Kebbi State”, he said.
