A’Ibom To Eat Homegrown Rice At Christmas

By UbongAbasi Ise

As Christmas and New Year festivities are around the corner, residents in Akwa Ibom state may not have to look elsewhere for rice other than within as Agriculture Commissioner says harvesting and milling of homegrown rice begins December in earnest.

Speaking in his office with newsmen recently, the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Sufficiency, Dr. Uduak Charles Udo-Inyang, said thousands of hectares of rice cultivated by AGRICON would be ready for harvest and milling in December. According to the commissioner, the company has confirmed that they are going to meet the target come next month.

Dr. Udo-Inyang, who said that the climatic conditions are favourable to rice cultivation in Akwa Ibom, asserted that harvest of rice would take place three times in a year as the state is undertaking swamp rice production.

“We have the rainfall, bodies of water. So we are undertaking swamp rice production. The yield from swamp rice is three times more than the upland rice.

“We have investors who are also boosting rice production in the state. We have AGRICON that are into massive rice production. They have thousands of hectares they are cultivating. In the next three weeks they are going to mount their mill. They have the warehouse in Ikono that has already been fabricated. They are going to mill the rice they have cultivated, and they are also going to mill the rice from Calabar. They have promised me that by December, we are going to eat Akwa Ibom rice. They have confirmed that they are going to meet the target,” the commissioner said.

Concerning vegetables, fruits and legumes, Udo-Inyang said the Akwa Ibom State government is targeting 10 green houses, and each would be about 100 metres in size. According to him, the aim is to cultivate tomatoes and other vegetables four times a year in a quarantined environment that would be free from dew and fungi. He hinted on canning the tomatoes in future.

Culled From The Sensor Agric Suite