Survey Ranks Niger Leading Rice Producing State in 2017

Olawale Ajimotokan The Agricultural Performance Survey (APS) for 2017 has rated Niger State as the leading producer of paddy rice in the country.

The report was produced by National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in conjunction with Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) and the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension.

It was presented yesterday by Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri.

Providing highlights to the 2017 APS,

Prof. Muhammed K. Othman, the Executive Director, NAERLS, noted some constraints to agricultural production in the year included, severe flooding, poor farm input provision, and poor extension support amongst others.

Rice is the commonest food staple consumed in almost all households in the country. Niger produced 545,700 metric tonnes (MT) of rice to top the national production output for the 2017 wet season.

The total land area cultivated by the state for the period was 229,080 hectares. All the 36 states of the federation, including FCT, were assessed in the survey certified by National Technical Committee on Agricultural Statistics.

Kogi State followed with an output of 512,610 MT cultivated on 235,521 hectares.