Cross River rice seedlings arrive Bayelsa – Chairman

Seedlings
By Benson Ezigwi
Calabar, June 25, 2019 (NAN) The Rice Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in Bayelsa says it has taken delivery of rice seedlings from Cross River Rice Seedlings with the support of CBN, for the South-South Region.

The Chairman RIFAN in Bayelsa, Mr Ezekiel Ogbianko confirmed the arrival of the seedlings in a telephone interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar on Tuesday.

‘‘Yes, we have taken delivery of rice seedlings from Cross River a few days ago and we have started planting,’’ he said.

Ogbianko, however, said that the details of the transactions between the governments of Bayelsa and Cross River were not disclosed to the state RIFAN.

‘‘We do not know much about the transactions but they brought the seedlings to us and asked us to start planting,’’ he said.

NAN reports that Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River recently disclosed that RIFAN had placed N10.8 billion order for the supply of rice seedlings from the state’s automated rice seedling factory.

Ayade, who stated this during the recent inauguration of wet season rice farming for 2019 in Calabar, said the state would provide all the seedlings support services to enable the states succeed.

‘‘This reflects a full realisation of the vision for a rice seeds and seedlings factory in Cross River,’’ he said.

According to him, other support services offered by the factory include mechanisation support and planting services

The governor said that other Niger Delta states were already lining up for the seedlings.

“The payment for the supply is not done by individual farmer or state, but coordinated under the RIFAN-CBN programme, so that is the way to handle it.

‘‘Before we make a supply to a state, we receive an order from RIFAN, go to that state, and do a valuation of the preparedness of the people and farmers to receive the seedlings.

‘‘We then have a list of all the potential recipient farmers and on the basis of that, we compute that into our system and know the quantity that will be loaded to a particular state,” Ayade said. (NAN)
BEN/MOL/GY
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Edited by Mustapha Lamidi/Grace Yussuf