The Federal Government has reiterated its irrevocable commitment in deploying technology to drive agricultural development in view of the huge population of the country.

Mr. Bitrus Nabasu, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, stated this –at the weekend in Abuja at a one-day technical meeting on Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) in agricultural sector on rice production.

He said the Nigerian vision of becoming one of the 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020 was only achievable when agriculture, through the required innovation and technology was fully integrated into the nation’s development plan.

According to him, the ministry was one of the most strategic ministries saddled with the responsibility of facilitating the development and deployment of science, technology and innovation (STI), which he said had enhanced the pace of socio-economic development of the country.

Nabasu noted that rice had increasingly become a major staple food for Nigerians, while the local rice in the country had bridged the gap created by ban on imported rice.

He said the prevailing conditions in Nigeria with over 180 million people with an estimated population of 70 per cent living in the rural areas had necessitated the need to encourage rice producers to increase their output so as to meet domestic demands and export the excesses.

He stressed the need for the country to accord high priority to agriculture if the country must take its rightful place among the comity of nations, adding that the technology needs assessment in agricultural sector on rice production was identified as a crucial instrument to systematically facilitate the technology acquisition, adoption, diffusion and transfer.

Source: Independent