The N3.8 billion Tara-Shonga irrigation project of the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, Ilorin, would service more than 3,000 hectares of rice and sugar farms when completed in  2015.

The Managing Director of the authority, Engr. Jimoh Afolayan, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday that the farms would yield more than 36 million tonnes of rice annually.

It would also create jobs for more than 2000 people, he said.


The managing director said that the Federal Government's plan to stop rice importation would come into fruition when its various irrigation projects were completed.


Afolayan added that many commercial farmers and rice merchants were already showing interests in the irrigation scheme.


He said that the irrigated farmlands would be shared among interested corporate and individual farmers by the authority.


The managing director also told NAN that another 4,000 hectares of irrigated farmlands were being developed by the authority at its Kampe Dam in Ejiba, Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi.


Afolayan stated that, already 1,000 hectares of the Ejiba gravity irrigated scheme were being actively cultivated by farmers, noting that the project had impacted greatly on the economy of the area.


The managing director said that the gravity irrigated scheme was cheaper to run and to maintain since it did not require electricity to function.


He said that the nation's agricultural potentialities were enough to sustain its economy if fully harnessed for food production.


Afolayan said that the flood plains in the lower ends of River Niger were enough to produce the nation's rice needs and even for export if maximally utilised.


He enjoined Nigerian youths to embrace the agricultural opportunities of the various river basin authorities instead of chasing elusive white-collar jobs in cities.


The managing director also said that the authority had re-opened its area office in Omu-Aran, Kwara, with tractor hiring services. (NAN)