The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Borno Chapter, on Wednesday said over 18, 000 rice farmers in the state will cultivate their farms in 2016 after four years of insecurity.
The state AFAN Secretary, Salihu Aliyu, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri.
He said that many farmers had returned to their farms as a result of the relative peace being enjoyed in the state.
Aliyu, who lamented that the strangulating challenges of insecurity in the state and environs, said insurgency had before now virtually crippled farming activities in the state.
He explained that the association was discussing with government officials on how its members could access part of the N4.9 billion loans to rice farmers under the CBN Anchor Borrower programme.
“We know that 78, 000 farmers have benefitted in Kebbi. We want the same in Borno, we have over 18, 000 rice farmers alone.
“We have areas like Damboa, Askira uba, Konduga, Dikwa, Munguno where civic authority is already fully restored.
“The Borno state government had also invested a lot in agriculture as part of efforts to revolutionise the sector during post insurgency period,” he said.
The secretary disclosed that the state government had already imported about 500 rice mills from Thailand as part of efforts to boost rice production in the state.
“The mills will be distributed to our farmers’ to improve the quality of local rice production in the state,” he said.
According to him, the state government had also purchased about 1,000 tractors that would be distributed to peasant farmers across the 27 Local Government Areas in the state.
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