That a bag of rice is now selling for twenty thousand naira in Nigeria is no longer news!
But a major rice dealer in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, Anthony Ndubuka, has expressed optimism that the price of rice would soon fall in the country.
Ndubuka expressed the optimism in the state capital while speaking on the high price of the grains in the country.
He said the grains would become affordable as soon as farmers began to harvest the grains in the next few months.
He expressed confidence that there will be a bumper harvest this year, especially by November when the price of the commodity will come down.
Ndubuka who expressed concern that the astronomical price of rice have made it affordable in many homes said, rice which is a staple food in many families in Nigeria has become an expensive commodity.
He traced the scarcity of rice to the ban on importation of the grains by the Federal Government and stated that the inability of the local rice producers to fill the gap, caused by the ban equally compounded the situation.
Ndubuka also said the scarcity posed serious challenges to rice farmers and manufacturers in the country however urged the Federal Government to give incentives to rice farmers to boost output and quality of the grains and make them affordable.
In Umuahia, a bag of local rice now sells for between N18, 500 and N20, 000 as against previous price of N5, 000 and N6, 000.
The imported substitutes cost between N23, 500 and N25, 000 against the previous N8,000 and N10,000.
The same applies to Lagos and other States of the federation!
