Although agriculture was up against diverse obstacles in 2016, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has expressed determination to ride out the storm in 2017 by embarking on many ambitious projects.
The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, at the inauguration of the National Council on Privatisation Steering Committee on the restructuring and recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture and the Project Delivery Team, said, “The aim is to make sure that we embark on these major projects.
So, agriculture continues to be an all-year-round activity, so that we can continue to provide fresh food.
“Our biggest achievement last year has been that we were able to put the Nigerian rice on dining tables for Christmas and Nigerians are now discovering that their own rice is actually better than what they have been eating from outside.
We believe that, by the end of this year, it should no longer be necessary for us to have to ban rice. It would be an automatic selection by Nigerians.
