(BUSINESS) Nigeria Overtakes Egypt As Largest Rice Producer

   Nigeria has overtaken Egypt as the largest rice producer in Africa, Director-General,Africa Rice Center, Benin Republic, Dr Harold Roy-Macauley has said. Roy-Macauley, told The Nation that Nigeria is now the largest rice producer at 4 million tonnes a year.

  Egypt was producing 4.3 tonnes annually but production has reduction by almost 40 percent this year, attributed to the Egyptian government decision to limit cultivated to preserve water resources. Egypt rice cultivation requires about 1.8 billion metres of water in evaporation, transpiration and irrigation each year.

  Africa produces an average of 14.6 million tonnes of rough rice annually. He said there were efforts to increase overall rice production in Africa but expressed doubts that it will curb rice importation as population has increased across the continent.