NIGERIA – Kogi State government in central Nigeria is set to commission a Rice mill factory worth N4 billion (about US$11.11m) before November to boost rice production in the State.

The rice milling plant which has been under construction for the past three years is set to have a processing capacity of 80 tonnes per day of paddy rice which after processing gives an output of 50 tonnes of rice per day.

According to the state governor Alhaji Yayaha Bello, once the factor commences full operation it will be injecting over N300 million (about US$833k) into the economy of Kogi State every month while generating additional over N120 million (about US$333k) revenue to the state IGR monthly.

In addition to that it is set to provide over 5,000 direct and indirect jobs adding to the current 300 direct jobs of individuals working at the government’s 800 hectares nucleus rice farm which is set to feed the plant.

The government started rice production in the 800 hectares land way a head of time in readiness for the commencement of operations of the factory.

The rice milling process will not only produce finished international standard quality rice, but its by-products such as the rice bran will be used to produce fish and poultry meals.

”The rice mill will also be producing fish and poultry meals because we are presently having over 500 fish ponds in this Omi Dam. We have the capacity to produce cassava and all agro-allied products in this particular location,” stated the governor.

In addition to that the rice husk will be used as 100% fuel to power the 500 kWh biomass generation plant. This will drastically reduce operation cost of the plant.

Having 500 kWh generated from the independent power generation plant and the rice milling plant having a capacity of 200kWh at every processing line, the excess 300 kWh will be used to power strategic locations in the host community.

For the broken rice it will be sold to the open market or used to make rice flour debut ‘ Kogi Confluence Rice Flour.’

In 2017, the state government launched ‘Kogi’s Confluence Rice’ in bid to boost local rice production which will now be processed in the new factory when it starts operations.