Nigeria’s  Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has lamented the huge amount of money spent on importation of food into the country as against its domestic production.

Speaking recently during the flag-off of the dry season wheat and rice production in Kano State for 2015 in Kura , Chief Ogbe decried the whooping N1.3 trillion expended annually on importation of assorted food commodities into the country saying more efforts will be made to boost its local production by increasing the capacity of the farmers.

Also speaking at the occasion, the state governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, promised to help the farmers improve productivity and objected to the idea of continuing to use agriculture to manage poverty.

“In Kano State, agriculture is now to be treated as a business,” he said, adding that the state is trying to transform agriculture into viable economic activities.