Rice is the most economically important food crop in many developing countries and has also become a major crop in many developed countries where its consumption has increased considerably. It has become necessary to meet the demand of the world’s current population growth rate, and the least costly means for achieving this aim is to increase rice productivity, wherever possible. The main challenges encountered by rice processors in Nigeria are to find appropriate solutions for quality rice processing.
In Nigeria, rice consumption has risen tremendously at about 10% per annum due to changing consumer preferences. However, discovered that most Nigerians prefer to consume imported rice brands as compared to local rice varieties. The reason is that most Nigerian rice processors lack adequate technology of rice processing to meet international standard.
Rice processing involves several steps: removal of the husks, milling the shelled rice to remove the bran layer, and an additional whitening step to meet market expectations for appearance of the rice kernels. This process generated several streams of material which include the husks, the bran, and the milled rice kernel. Nigeria has the potential to be self-sufficient in rice production, both for food and industrial raw material needs and for export purpose. However, a number of constraints have been identified as limiting factors to rice production. These include problems with research, pest and disease management. Addressing at least most of these problems is good first step towards attaining the target of rice self-sufficiency.
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