Rice, wheat, fish import gulps N1tr annually

Importation of rice, wheat, fish and sugar costs Nigeria N1trillion annually, the federal government has said.

This was disclosed by the Executive Secretary, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Prof. Baba Abubakar, during a seminar on Agricultural Biotechnology in Abuja.

The Executive Secretary who was represented by Yarama Ndirpaya, Acting Director, Partnership and Linkages Programme, said Nigeria was the largest importer of US hard red and white wheat worth N635 billion yearly; world’s number two importer of rice at N356 billion; while it sends N217 billion on sugar and N97 billion on fish importation.

This, he said, was unacceptable, but added that the capacity of Nigerian farmers were limited, explaining that they use techniques that affect soil fertility, water and biodiversity.

He warned that except farmers were empowered with biotechnology, the problem would continue.

“Nigeria spends over N1 trillion on the top four food imports annually. And farmers have limited capacity and use techniques that adversely affect soil fertility, water and biodiversity. Human-induced climate change compounds the issue,” he said.