From Nonye Udumiri,
Diva World Trading Services, makers of Diva Rice has set up a 30-ton digital rice mill in Mgbidi, headquarters of Oru West Local Government Area, Imo State.
Mrs. Ifeyinwa Nnanna Mba, chief executive officer (CEO) of the firm, said the mill, first of its kind in Imo state, will help make the country and the region sufficient in rice production, as well as create jobs.
The CEO of Diva said she is well experienced in rice business, as she has been into the business for many years.
She noted that her motivation to set up the digital mill in Mgbidi, Imo State came because majority of South East rice dealers go beyond the region to get products to sell.
Mba said that the coming of the 30 tons diva digital rice mill, rice farmers within the region now have available market waiting for their rice paddies.
She also stressed that plans for the expansion of the production capacity of the mill are already in place, as more necessary equipment will be brought in.
In her words, “We’ve been into the rice business since 2019 when the president stopped importation of rice into the country. We started our milling from Benue State. We rented a mill in Benue State and we mill there.
“So, last year, 2020 I thought of setting up my own digital mill because the other one was rented and it wasn’t digital. So, I went home bought some lad and started the construction of the mile that’s almost ready now.
“We’ve finished with the first stage of mile which is the main mill and administrative office. Now we’re starting the paddy storage session.
“The raw material for our rice is paddy, so getting the paddy storage session ready is part of the mile. Our mill is a 30 tons milling factory.
“That gives us 25,000kg of rice daily. It was a five tons daily, digital boiler, it also has five tons rice dryer.
“We’re very much open for business in the South East. If anybody wants his own company’s branded rice, they can simply get their branded bags, come to us, we’ll simply deliver without problems. The person must not sell Diva Rice.”
The Diva CEO explained that the mill sources its raw materials, rice paddies (unprocessed rice) for the final production of well processed and packaged rice from local farmers across the South East and in the North.
“We have contractors we buy paddies from. They move it down to Mgbidi now for the mill. We buy mostly from the North and Abakiliki. I’ve also heard that paddies are in Anambra State and we’ll still ho there to see whom to talk to.”
Mba further explained that the current wave of seriousness in local rice production is one of the determinant factors in the location of the mile, as it is important to locate the mile where paddies can easily be accessed.
“It’s important to have places to get paddies in enough quantity because that’s where it’s cheaper. If it’s not where you can readily access it, it’s actually expensive.
“We try to avoid that because it may make the end products to be costly for consumers. We already have our paddy suppliers.”
She said the Diva World Trading Services mill currently gets from 200 tons and above paddies monthly, mills 30 tons daily, but plans to increase its production capacity in the middle of next year from 50-100 tons per day.
Mba said that people of the host community will form the major of the mill’s workers, with few other spaces available for other people from the state.
