The Chairman of the association, Mr Bitrus Joshua, made the remark in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Tuesday.

‘’RIFAN commends the Federal Government for closing the land boarders and other efforts it has made to locally motivate rice farmers to boast rice production, ‘’ Joshua said.

He said rice farmers had recorded bumper harvest in 2019 during which enough of the commodity was produced to meet local demand, adding that the ban on importation of rice into the country was, therefore, timely.

He said that rice farmers in the country were capable of meeting the needs of Nigerians and even neighbouring countries.

The chairman, therefore, appealed to the federal government to provide rice processing machines, especially for polishing and removal of stones from rice to the producers.

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’’If we are given everything we need we can do better than any country in the world and Nigerians’ demand for foreign rice would drastically reduce, ‘’ he said.

He said continued closure of the boarders coupled with the necessary provision of the required rice processing machines would make local production of the commodity to reach its peak soon in the country.