FG Deploys Solar Power For Rice Millers In Adamawa…

The Federal Government has initiated the deployment of mini-grid solar power installations in communities with potential for agricultural production activities across the country.

This is to boost agricultural production as well as cushion the effects of the high cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) as a result of fuel subsidy removal, the government said.

There are 40 power distribution systems in Adamawa targeted at rural communities which are predominantly farmers.

This disclosure was made on Tuesday by the Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) Ahmad Salihijo while on a routine inspection tour of project sites in Adamawa State.

According to the executive officer, the mini-grid solar power is to provide power for processing and to reduce the rice miller’s dependence on petrol.

Salihijo and his team visited Gurin, a farming community in Fufore Local Government Area (LGA) on the Nigeria-Cameroon border known for its rice farming activities.

It is one of the 16 other mini-grid solar power installations provided by the REA under the Federal Government’s Mass Electrification for Poverty Reduction Programme.

First, he paid a courtesy call to the District Head of Gurin, Abubakar Abbo, before proceeding to inspect one of the installation sites where he gave insight into the project, just as Abbo applauds the Federal Government intervention.

One of the rice millers, speaking in the Hausa language, lamented the challenges associated with power supplied by the national grid, adding that business had picked up since with the provision of solar power.