By Francis Ogwo
In 2021, Nigeria is expected to export a total of 1.75 million metric tonnes of local rice valued at N402billion ($855.7million) to Burkina Faso and Niger and some neighbouring countries.
This was part of a projection by the United States Department of Agriculture for 2021 released recently in which it noted that a tonne is projected to cost $489 or N229,830.
The report stated that Nigeria exported 1.2 million in 2020 production year.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government had said that rice production would reach 10 million metric tonnes in 2021 through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Private Sector-Led Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (P-AADS).
This was in contrast to USDA observing that rice production output may be hampered in 2020-2021 marketing year due to the harsh effects of the COVID 19 pandemic on the economy.
Currently statistics reveal that grain consumption is put at 6.7 million metric tonnes out of which 57 per cent are consumed locally.
Recall that the Federal Government has said that a total of five million metric tonnes had been produced in the wet season, while five million metric tonnes will be produced during this dry season.
