Nigeria can stop the importation of rice by 2015 if the right things are done, the African Development Bank's Chief Operations Officer, Dr Patrick Agboma said yesterday in Abuja.

Agboma said all the federal government needs to do is to triple rice production from the current production figures.

"If you hear about the amount of rice the country imports, you will wonder why it cannot produce its own rice. So the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) is to address this shortfall," he said.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, had announced in 2012 that the country will stop the importation of rice by 2015, as part of the commitment to ensure rice sufficiency.

According to him, the bank is willing to help the federal government attain its food sufficiency target.

He recalled that the bank had earlier received a request from the Federal Government for assistance towards the agricultural agenda. NAN