Border Closure: A Boost To Rice Production In Cross River

Rice farmers in Cross River State are at home with the border closure, as the policy has boosted the production of rice and added value to their trade.

Some of the farmers who are members of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), said with the help of the state government, training of farmers and other supports, they have succeeded in expanding their scale of production through acquiring of more lands to plant and cultivate rice.

One of the farmers, Mrs. Ekaete Okon said before the closure of the borders, she cultivated two plots of lands, mainly for rice but now; she has expanded her farm to four hectares.

Okon, who appealed for permanent closure of the borders called on Nigerians to stop patronising foreign rice and turn to the local rice, which she said is preferable.         

She said: “Before now, I was doing just two plots but last year November, our governor sent us on a training in Nasarawa State, to improve our farming skills. So when we came back, although money was not given to us but through the knowledge we got at the training, we were able to expand our farms, now I have four hectares that I am using to plant rice.

“I saw the impact of the border closure from the sales we are having, unlike before, half bag of rice was N3, 000 and full bag was N6, 000 but now we are selling at N12, 000 a bag, right from the factory and half bag for N6, 500 or N7, 000.

“When the border was not closed, I was somehow discouraged because the price was not encouraging, someone will come and price a cup of rice for N50, but now, some are selling a cup for N100, while some are selling at the rate of N90.  The patronage is overwhelming. When we send paddy to the factory for processing, we’ll be having customers already on ground, waiting to buy from us and you cannot leave your old customers and give to new customers. In fact, the closure of border has really brought in new customers into the business. We should not depend on foreign rice, we should patronise our locally produced rice since we can now cultivate it by ourselves, and I see that local rice is preferable to foreign rice.”

“Federal Government should still keep the borders closed and then empower us more so we can produce larger quantity that will go round the country.”

The State Secretary General, RIFAN, Mr. Oliver Ntui, said with the support of the state government, rice farmers have been trained in various areas of agriculture to enhance farmers in the production of rice.

Ntui who is also the chairman of Cross River State Farmers’ Cooperatives Empowerment (CR-FACE), said the state is set to develop land for farmers that are interested and also promote new farmers that are into rice as new agro premiers.

He said: “For us in the value chain, border closure is a very happy news and farmers jubilated because all this while, the efforts of the farmers were not recognised and because of importation of rice from other countries, they couldn’t have much value for their produce, so we received it with happiness. It also added value in terms of demand of the produce and so we have to commend the Federal Government for the border closure.”