Daily Trust - the online edition

As concern over rice scarcity in the country grows, one of the major producers, Olam Nigeria Limited said it has empowered about 9,000 farmers in the North, particularly Bauchi and Kwara States with over N407 million in the last two years.

The company’s Vice President, Prakash Kanth told Daily Trust in Lagos Wednesday that about N107 million was disbursed in 2007 while N330 million would be disbursed in 2008 to support the farmers in growing rice to ensure its availability in the country.

According to Kanth, the company plans to double its efforts in 2008 by increasing rice production on 10,000 hectare of land from the current 6,000 hectare, adding that the company has secured approval from Bauchi state government to expand its operation from the present seven to 10 local governments in the state.

He said Olam has expanded its operation to Kwara state by acquiring over six hectare of lands for rice planting in the state, adding that by the time the projects in both Bauchi and Kwara states are completed over 40,000 farmers would have been gainfully involved in the scheme.

He said the current rice scarcity is compounded by action of Indian government that banned exports of rice from the country.

"But we have moved to Thailand where we are expecting some quantity within the next few days", he said.

Though Kanth lauded the federal government’s efforts at bringing to minimum the impact of rice scarcity on the generality of the public, he said his company has held series of meetings with officials of the federal ministry of Agriculture on how best to tackle the problem.

"The market is very fluid now but we believe it will normalize. We are expecting some arrival but that will not be our usual import because of the problem", he said.

He said the company’s farms in Bauchi can boost of 30,000 tonnes but it can only produce only 30 per cent of its capacity due to obsolete equipment, adding that production from the farm can be comparable with other imported rice around the world.

As parts of the capacity building, Kanth said the company has entered into alliance with USAID.