SHUKROH BUSARI
The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor, Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola, has explained why the price of locally made rice is high, stating inconsistency in rainfall as one major factor affecting the production of rice in Lagos State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that Mr. Fashola also stated that intermittent drought, high cost of fertilizer, flooding, insecurity, reduction in land cultivation, poor irrigation system, and diesel were contributing factors affecting rice production too.
He explained that the land areas being used for rice cultivation in 2023 had reduced at the production level leading to an increase in price.
“From 2022 to early this year, Lagos sold Eko rice at N33,000 per 50kg bag but now, it is N43,000.”
“The cost of diesel has risen from N750 to between N1,300 and N1,500 in the North and production has reduced considerably.”
“The land area that we’re growing rice in 2023, right now its production level has reduced. Our land level has returned to what we had in 2015 and 2018 because of insecurity, drought, and flooding,” he explained.
Fashola explained that the above factors had contributed to the high cost of production in addition to the increased cost of fertilizer.
“Farmers cannot even afford fertilizer. Fertilizers that used to be between N10,000 and N15,000 are now about 40,000 per bag.”
Fashola also made it known that paddy was not an imported rice but locally produced.
He said that in Nigeria generally, rice was being cultivated in one production cycle as against three circles due to a lack of a proper irrigated system.
”The production of paddy has reduced considerably, we do not have an irrigation system and we now have inconsistent rainfall patterns as well as intermittent drought that affects rice production.”