Rice production in Lagos has witnessed a significant increase in the last four years as a result of the introduction of technologies which have changed the processes involved in the cultivation and management of rice. DANIEL ESSIET reports.
Abdul Ganiyu has been a rice farmer for a considerable number of years in the grassy area of Ise community, near Epe in Lagos State. He is considered by many local farmers around Ise to be an expert in rice production. Earnings from this occupation help him to take care of his family, especially in training his children in school.
Through passion and dedication, Ganiyu has become successful in his farming venture. He has discovered that rice farming is more economically viable than other forms of occupation.
But what processes does Ganiyu go through in the business of rice production? As if he was giving a lecture in a seminar he said: “The process is simple. Just prepare a nursery bed and plant the seeds. After three weeks, the seedlings are ready for transplanting. Note that it is better to plant them in a swampy area. The distance between the plants is one foot.
“After three months, the rice matures and will be ready for harvesting. From the rice farm, you will harvest bags of unprocessed rice, after which you dry them and then pack them in sacks.”
Ganiyu told The Nation that rice production could help Nigeria wriggle out of the squeezing poverty level. He opined that if everybody shows commitment to farming, there would be no unemployment or food shortage in Nigeria.
According to him, he never had interest in farming, let alone rice farming until he lost his job as a professional accountant. He then met a farmer who introduced him to farming. He is one of the farmers involved in Commercial Agriculture Development Programme (CADP) and a product of the Rice for Job Initiative of the Lagos State government.
His involvement in this gave him good exposure on agriculture, with emphasis on rice farming. He specializes in making ofada rice which has received wide acclaim. His farm produces rice which is processed and packaged into different kilograms ranging from 1kg, 2kg, 5kg and 10kg. The rice is properly par-boiled, milled, de-stoned and winnowed before packaging.
Under the project, farmers receive seeds, fertiliser and other farm inputs. They are trained by extension officers who help in monitoring the progress of their project.
The intervention of the Lagos State government through the Commercial Agriculture Development Project has really helped people. Rice is currently one of the country’s biggest imports. Government spends $450m annually to import 70 per cent of the rice is citizens consume.
Observers have expressed the hope that the intervention could mark a turnaround in the country’s rice fortunes.
Farmers such as Abdul Ganiyu are trained on how to save and re-invest in the business. Investigation reveals that residents of Lagos buy an average of 10,000 bags of rice monthly.
In order to boost rice production, farm settlements are springing up, thereby catering for the needs of Lagosians.
The Lagos State government has inaugurated a rice processing factory at Imota in Ikorodu Local Government Area of the state. The factory has a capacity to produce 20,000 metric tons of rice per year.
Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Co-operatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal has said the rice mill which is first of its kind in South-west Nigeria, was built with the standard based on Korean technology to process 20,000 tons of paddy rice per year, with additional 10,000 ton storage facility and 45,000 tons capacity storage for finished rice.
“We have completed the test-run of the factory and are pleased to report that the main product (well-polished rice) compares with the best quality rice from any part of the world. Operating optimally, the rice mill is estimated to produce between 350,000 and 400,000 bags of rice per year,” he said.
Built by a team of experts from South Korea, the Imota integrated rice mill was completed in January 2012. A study conducted in August 2007 where it was found out that Lagos State population of over 20 million as at then consumes 600,000 metric tons of per boiled milled rice. This translates to 12 million bags of 50 kg rice.
Also of significant was that the consumption per head in Lagos was put at 34 kg per person per year, which was the highest in Nigeria. In 2008 when the cost of imported rice jumped in the international market from $5,000 to $1,000 per ton, domestic price of bag of rice jumped from N7, 000 to N16, 000.
As expected, Lagosians were most affected. All these support the fact that Lagos is a megacity with predominantly urban population and the consumers’ preferred staple food is rice.
It has been assumed that half of all imported rice is sold in Lagos and that all rice brought in legally and illegally through the land borders are consumed in Lagos. Going by these assumptions, it can be said that current consumption of rice in Lagos State can be as much as 1million metric tons per year considering the state’s current population estimate of 20 million.
The Project Officer, Rice for Jobs Project, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Mr. Bola Akinola said the mill processes 2.5 tons of paddy rice per hour which consists of huller, de-stoner polisher, grader, colour sorter and automated bagging and weighing bridge.
The following are inclusive in the package: 10-ton-soaking tank, a set of per-boiler and steamer, 15- ton capacity drier and 60-ton silo attached to the factory. The factory was built with two other structures for paddy rice storage of 10,000 tons capacity and finished rice store cum office space.
The complex has 600KVA generator, an industrial borehole and two sets of water tanks; a steel over-head tank of 55,000 litres capacity and sets of ground plastic tanks with a total capacity of 45,000 litres. The mill, with optimum operating capacity can process up to 20,000 tons of rice per year and was estimated to generate at least 50,000 different employment opportunities.
Apart from the whole grain table rice, the following by products are equally money earners; broken rice used for rice pudding, tuwo, ground rice and rice flour. Rice ban; highly sought after for livestock feeds, oil extra and the cosmetic industry, rice husk used as energy for power generation (with appropriate technology), used in the livestock industry and for briquettes or fuel stock in furnace.
In view of the land constraint confronting agricultural development in the state, he said the government has acquired lands in other states for the supply of paddy.
The improved road to the mill has been a boon to the project. The improvement means that an asphalt-paved highway route is needed between Ketu and Ikorodu roads in the future.
Speaking with our correspondent, the State Project Coordinator, (CADP), Mr. Kehinde Ogunyinka said the project will support the rice mill to improve on its finished products.
With this, investors will be able to create more warehouse storage facilities, buying industrial driers and promoting a brand that stands for quality.
He reiterated that it was the vision of the Lagos State government to become a leading hub for excellent, high-yielding rice varieties that also have good grain quality.
Farmers in Lagos are harvesting at least 3,000 tons of high quality of rice monthly. The benefits of the state government’s interventions are visible as truckloads of rice leave the various farming locations across the state to the market place on daily basis.
Within the farming settlements, the farmers are becoming self-reliant and accepting the responsibilities and rights of land ownership. The government supports the establishment of self-managed, autonomous producer co-operatives. Farmers are being empowered on how to grow rice and where to sell them.
A team member, Staple Crops Processing Zones, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Adamu Ibrahim said Lagos is strategically located, providing foreign investors with an ideal platform to invest in Africa.
He said Lagos is one of the states the government has chosen to site a Staple Crops Processing Zones for rice to enable processors to establish their processing plants. He assured that the Federal Government would prioritise basic infrastructure in the rice zone.
He further said the Federal Government is prepared to support the Lagos State Government to turn its rice capacity up a notch to improve food security by establishing a regional rice development hub.
He said the Federal Government will support the Lagos State government to improve rice production and support the fight against food insecurity.
He said Federal Government shares the same vision to provide sustainable methods of growing rice to improve the well-being of rice producers and consumers.
He was optimistic the regional hub will emerge from Imota to substantially contribute to the development of the rice sector.
He said the government chose to invest in Lagos as a result of multiple factors. The state is socially and politically stable and it has an excellent infrastructure which allows investors to set up operations rapidly.
Ibrahim said the Federal Government wants to support an expansion project within the proposed industrial free zone including Imota rice processing mill to attract private investors to establish improved facilities, collective marketing and high quality machines to process rice.
Watchers of agricultural development, cultivation, processing and commercialisation of the high grade and nutritious rice in Lagos have said that the project has been a success, even as they agreed that the project has changed the landscape of the agro-industry and it is contributing to food security.
