Nigerian government has assured Nigerians that the price of rice would soon crash in the market.

Currently, a 50kg of rice costs between N17,000 and N18,000.

But Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, is optimistic that the price will sell for N13,000 in the next few months.

Ogbeh told newsmen in Abuja that efforts were on to see how millers could procure paddy at lower price.

“In July, 2015, one tonne of rice sold for N65,000. Last year June, one tonne of rice went to N150,000″, he said.

“So, the millers said as long as they were buying for N150,000 for a tonne of paddy and milling, they couldn’t sell for less than N17,000 for a bag of 50kg after milling.

“So, we called a meeting between millers and farmers and we are brokering an arrangement now where the price of paddy would drop reasonably to N120,000 per tonne of paddy.

“And the millers say that if they buy at N120,000, they can sell rice at the rate of N13,000 per 50kg”.