By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
A technical team from the Republic of South Korea has completed installation of modern rice processing mills in Bayelsa State, in furtherance of the bilateral relationship between both parties.
The installation of the state-of-the-art mills, with capacity to process 40 metric tonnes of rice paddies per day, was completed at the state-owned School-to-Land Farm in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Speaking to journalists after a demonstration exercise on how the mills operate, leader of the delegation and Managing Director, Deta Sung Machinery and Construction Company Limited, Mr. Byung Chul Son, said the team has worked with the state Ministry of Agriculture since its arrival to train their staff in soil preparation, land irrigation, rice cultivation and milling.
Mr. Son said the mills would refine the process of rice production and that the state would require additional farming machinery such as dryer, per boiler and colour selector equipment to match the capacity of the milling machines.
The Bayelsa State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Prof. Beke Sese, explained that the South Korean government donated to the state four units of rice mills with a production capacity of 10 tonnes per day each.
A four-man Korean delegation also visited the state governor, Senator Douye Diri, in his country home, Sampou, in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area.
During the visit, Governor Diri expressed gratitude to the Korean government for donating the rice mills, farming tractors as well as for providing technical support to the state.He said his administration was committed to strengthening the bilateral relationship between the state and the Korean government in the area of agriculture.
Governor Diri, who expressed his government’s vision in making the state a hub for rice production, urged the Korean engineers to also explore the possibility of providing more technical support in training the state’s engineers to manufacture tractors and other farming equipment.
