Plans are on to construct 100 large-scale mills to boost rice production in the country, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, has said.

Adesina said this in Abuja on Monday at the National Agricultural Commodity Chain Development seminar organised by the Ilorin-based Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria.

He reiterated the Federal Government's determination to meet its target of making the country self-sufficient in rice production by 2015.

Adesina said, "These rice mills, not owned by the government, but owned by the private sector, will put in place the capacity of 2.1 million tonnes.

"That means that the rice value chain in Nigeria will, for the first time in our nation's history, make us to have full industrial capacity, be internationally competitive and capable of exporting to the rest of West Africa."

According to the minister, 13 new rice mills with total capacity of 240,000 tonnes, all owned by the private sector, have been created in the last 12 months.

In his remarks, the Executive Director, ARMTI, Mr. Samuel Afolayan, said the institute had embarked on a study of the prevailing situation in selected agricultural commodity value chains.

He said the aim was to provide "a veritable launching-point for a knowledge-based take-off of the commodity value chain development in Nigeria".

According to Afolayan, the value chain development involves partnership, relationship, trust, commitment and governance to ensure the sustainability of agri-business.

"These can be achieved through cost reduction, higher quality of products, more social responsibility and new ways of coordinating activities in agriculture," he said.

Afolayan also said he was optimistic that the outcome of the programme would yield the desired results, especially in the progress of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda.

"I know that the outcome of this two-day session will produce a harvest that will form a solid base on which to leverage the achievement of the progress and success we desire through the value chain development process under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda," the executive director said.

He said the presentation of the findings, as well as inputs collected, discussions and deliberations that would follow, would go to ensure that efforts were harnessed and channelled appropriately to yield a common goal.

NAN reports that the two-day programme attracted more than 200 participants, including Fadama and IFAD project coordinators from the 36 states of the federation as well as other stakeholders in the agriculture sector.