JICA partners FG on quality rice production

Japan International Cooperation Agency is to partner with Nigeria to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production by 2018.
Nakamura Hirotaka, JICA Chief Representative, made this known at stakeholders’ meeting on “Paddy Grading Standard”, organised by JICA in collaboration with other stakeholders in agriculture sector in Abuja on Friday.
Hirotaka said: “As we all know, the Federal Government of Nigeria is presently diversifying the economy towards agricultural development and one of its focus areas is the rice value chain.
“And this is to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production by 2018, and in addition, to increasing quantity and quality of rice production with a view to meeting internationally acceptable standards.
“Therefore, we are indeed making concerted efforts toward promotion of rice quality production in Nigeria.”
Hirotaka said that the agency had developed the initiative of upgrading paddy used by the local farmers in Nigeria in collaboration with other stakeholders in the agriculture sector.
He said the purpose of the meeting was to introduce all stakeholders to the paddy grading standard and to show them the importance of such standard to the rice sector development globally.
According to him, during the course of JICA’s post-harvest project conducted in March, 2016, the agency realised some unproductive rice quality issues in the country.
Hirotaka identified such issues to include the presence of red rice and mixture of different rice varieties in milled rice.
The JICA official explained that the technical committee had traced the problems back to the paddy and had realised certain steps to upgrade paddy production quality.
He explained that the quality of milled rice would be further improved in Nigeria with the present paddy grading standard.
He said: “A solution to these problems was to use a paddy grading standard drafted by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria in collaboration with JICA.
“JICA has since then convened several meetings and workshops in collaboration with SON and Federal Ministry of Agriculture including sensitisation activities.
‘‘It also developed both paddy grading methods and simple paddy quality checking methods.”
Dabir Jonathan, Rice Value Chain Officer, represented Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
He commended JICA, SON’s technical committee and other stakeholders in the agriculture sector in ensuring that Nigeria had standard paddy rice.
Jonathan said that the initiative would increase farmers’ output, ensuring quality paddy in Nigeria which could be used by Nigerian rice processors.
He said this would also encourage more farmers to approach agriculture as a serious business.
Also, Osita Aboloma, the Director-General of SON, said that the agency was working in view of its mandates to ensure regularity in all food production including paddy grading standard in the country.
Represented by Margaret Eshiett, acting Director, Support Services of the agency, Aboloma said that SON was mandated to work with the ministry to improve on paddy standard to meet internationally acceptable standards.
Aboloma said: “Even during the last administration, I could remember there was a meeting that SON should work with the value chain committee in food production to develop standard to be used by the committee.
“And during this assignment, we have done greater assessment on this project for three years and the thorough work was actually done at various levels between 2015/2016.”
According to him, the investors in rice business are ready to patronise Nigerian rice if the quality meets the global market standard.
The director-general explained that the practice was not limited to Nigeria.
He said that Nigeria was working with Ghana, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Kenya to improve standard of rice production.
NAN.