The Nation Newspaper

Tag: rice mills

  • We’re taking delivery of N10.7b rice mills Dec 2019, says minister

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Chief Audu Ogbeh said yesterday that the N10.7 billion integrated rice milling machines procured by the Federal Government will be delivered in December, 2019.

    Ogbeh spoke yesterday at the pact signing with MV Agro Engineers, suppliers of the farm equipment, in Abuja.

    He explained that the benefiting states would indicate interest as off-takers, make 10 per cent down payment and express technical capacity to own and operate a mill.

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) in April approved N10.7 billion for the establishment of 10 new rice mills in the six geopolitical zones.

    The 10 participating states include Kaduna, Anambra, Kogi, Benue, Bayelsa, Niger, Bauchi, Kebbi, Ogun and Zamfara.

    The mills are expected to produce 100 tons of rice per day.

    The Bank of Agriculture (BoA) is expected to take over the loan repayment in the next 10 years.

    “As these people arrive, they will install these mills and the BoA will take over the loans repayment over a period of 10 years,” Ogbeh said.

    Asked if the 18 months deadline could be reviewed upward, the minister noted: “Building machines is not cheap. It’s a scientific thing. These people say they may do it faster but we give the suppliers 18 months. So, there won’t be issues for delays.”

    According to him, there are about 16 existing large rice mills from the already procured 100 mills.

    The minister added that 16 large machines would mill 100 tonnes of rice paddy daily and others could mill about 300 tonnes daily.

    “Dangote just brought in 10 milling machines, which will produce one million tonnes of rice per annum but there are smaller ones we gave out. About 200 mills of 10 tonness and 20 tonnes per annum operating in villages and small corners equipped with the stoners.

    “We are buying smaller mills and giving them out because the smaller mills produce more rice than the big mills added up, but they are scattered all over the country. Virtually every state has small rice mills somewhere – Niger, Bayelsa, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Katsina and Jigawa,” he stated.

    He hailed the contractors, advising them to supply adequate quality spare parts.

    Managing Director, Bank of Agriculture Kabir Mohammed restated commitment to ensure the project is successfully completed while meeting the delivery targets.

    He said the project financing would not be a challenge.

    The firm’s Managing Director, Jamu Babba Dan’agundi, who was the leader of the delegation, hailed the Federal Government for the gesture.

    He promised to deliver the machines as scheduled.

  • Nigeria responsible for collapse of our rice mills – Thailand

    Nigeria responsible for collapse of our rice mills – Thailand

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh says Thailand has accused Nigeria of being responsible for the collapse of its seven rice mills following the drastic fall in rice importation from the country.

    The minister made this known at a meeting of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative ( PFI ) and leadership of the Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers of Nigeria ( FEPSAN ) held at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.

    The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Ogbeh said Thailand’s Ambassador to Nigeria made the “accusation’’ when he visited him in February.

    According to the minister, the ambassador lamented that the collapse of the rice mills has increased the unemployment rate in his country from 1.2 per cent to 4 per cent.

    “Just like two weeks ago, the Ambassador of Thailand came to my office and said to me that we have really dealt with them.

    “But I asked what did we do wrong and he said unemployment in Thailand was one of the lowest in the world, 1.2 per cent, it has gone up to four per cent because seven giant rice mills have shut down because Nigeria’s import has fallen by 95 per cent on rice alone.

    “So, Mr President we thank you for the support and we thank all the agencies and those of you in the private sector for your resilience,’’ he said.

    The minister, however, alerted the nation on what he described as alarming smuggling of fake fertilizer and rice along the western borders of the country.

    He, therefore, called on the Federal Government to take drastic measures to check the trend as all previous diplomatic measures had failed to address the menace.

    “But one last request Mr President, we have to take one strong measure against our neighbour to the West. The smuggling is really compromising our capacity on our result.

    “Too much rice, too much fake fertilizer is still coming across the borders into this country in spite of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) we have with them they are not listening.

    “Maybe if the Federal Government take one tough action, they will come and renegotiate the terms because good neighbourliness means reciprocity.

    “We can’t be allowing them to survive at our own expense and I believe that we will do something about it,’’ he said.

    Ogbeh appealed to FEPSAN to adjust their blending formula using little more micro nutrients for some crops like cocoa, cashew, plantain, banana and others that would soon be revived by his ministry.

    The minister noted that the agricultural sector had created millions of jobs for Nigerians in the last two years.

    He said: “People may say what they like about jobs. Recently I heard that we lost four million jobs. Nobody has calculated the millions and millions of jobs created on the farms.

    “So, this programme as it grows can only make us stronger.

    “As soon as more dams and lakes are put in place, you begin to sell fertilizer all year round and not wait for the rainy season alone.”

    NAN

  • Rice mills

    • Lagos, Kebbi consolidate gains towards self-reliance 

    IT has always been the accepted conventional wisdom that diversification of the Nigerian economy is a sure way of breaking the unhealthy addiction to, and dependence on oil. The country is blessed with other  largely untapped sources of revenue, yet we seem not prepared to curb the chronic import dependency that exerts undue pressure on the country’s foreign exchange, with unsavoury consequences for the larger economy. Indeed, we had in the past been faced with a pathetic situation whereby we mouthed slogans of economic diversification during recessionary periods caused by the fall in international crude oil prices only to relapse to our old oil-dependent ways when the market for the fabled ‘black gold’ picked up again.

    There are, however, encouraging signs that governments at various levels are seizing the current drastic fall in oil prices and the attendant economic recession characterised by a severe downturn in industrial productivity, mass layoff of workers and the inability of most state governments to meet their salary obligations to their workers to go beyond rhetoric on the issue of economic diversification. Last year, for instance, Lagos and Kebbi states went into a collaborative effort to jointly produce ‘LAKE Rice’ to make the commodity available to thousands of Nigerians who were unable to afford imported rice.

    While Kebbi has a comparative advantage in the area of rice production, Lagos has the largest consumption market in the country for the commodity. Governors Akinwunmi Ambode and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Lagos and Kebbi states, respectively, thus seized the opportunity to enable the two states produce and make available to the market, rice that was not only fresh and safe for consumption but was also cheaper than the imported varieties. The 50kg bag of ‘LAKE Rice’ sold for N12,000, the 25kg bag for N6,000 and the 10kg bag for N2,500.00. This no doubt brought a lot of relief to hundreds of families in December, last year.

    The Lagos State government took this initiative a step further when Governor Ambode last Friday in Zurich, Switzerland, led a team of the state executive council to sign an agreement with Buhler, a leading global rice producer, for the acquisition by the state of a rice mill capable of producing 32 tons of rice per hour. Incidentally, Kebbi has also been reported as acquiring a mill with the capacity of boosting its rice production capacity, for about N10billion.

    Pointing out that the new rice mill will help further his administration’s vision of enhancing food security and creating employment in the state, Mr. Ambode said the investment would create about 200,000 new jobs across the agriculture value chain while also facilitating the cultivation of 32,000 hectares of farm land to produce about 130 million Kg of processed rice per year, which is approximately 2.6 million 50 kg bags. Expected to be delivered within 12 months, the mill will be the single largest facility of its type in Nigeria.

    Apart from creating the opportunity to partner with other South West states in the region’s renewed bid for economic integration, Lagos State’s partnership with Buhler reportedly incorporates supplies and installation of the rice mill, including silos; maintenance and technical support as well as technical training of Nigerians in diverse areas of this critical sector of the country’s vast but largely untapped agricultural sector.

    The goal should ultimately be for Nigeria’s self-reliance in all aspects of the rice production chain. The Kebbi State governor has said that the Lagos/Kebbi rice collaborative initiative can also be replicated with other commodities like cocoa, soya beans and sorghum. We expect his colleagues to follow up on this suggestion as another key step towards making a truly diversified economy a reality.

  • FG to procure 200 rice mills for farmers

    FG to procure 200 rice mills for farmers

    The federal government will introduce 200 rice milling machines to farmers across the nation, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Audu Ogbe has declared.
    This, he said, would boost production of rice and ensure high quality of rice in the country.
    Audu spoke to newsmen during the FG/IFAD Assisted Value Chain Development Programme Learning Route tagged ‘Maximise dry season production and innovative tools for value chain’ at the Kanko Rice Production Cluster in Wushishi Local Government of Niger state.
    The minister, who was represented by his Senior Adviser International Donor Partners, Appeh Auta, expressed confidence Nigeria will soon achieve self-sufficiency in food production with ongoing efforts by agencies.
    National Coordinator International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), Dr. Ameh Onoja, said N6 billion has been earmarked for rice production.
    He added Nigeria has scaled up its rice production capacity to over 400 million metric tonnes through collective efforts of the federal government, IFAD/ Value Chain Development Programme and CBN Anchor Borrowers Scheme.
    Onoja said this was achieved through the combined effort of 12 rice producing states, currently making Nigeria the second world largest producer of rice.
    If the states embrace dry season farming, importation of the commodity would be a thing of the past, he assured.

    He commended Niger state Government for paying the sum of N63.5m as part of its counter funding for the IFAD programme.
    The Niger State IFAD Programme Coordinator, Dr. Mathew Ahmad said the purpose of the six states coming together under the IFAD programme was to allow for cross fertilisation of ideas to enhance rice production in the country.
    He explained 300 hectares of rice had been cultivated by rice farmers in Kanko.
    Last year, Ahmad stated Niger produced 15, 000 metric tonnes of paddy rice with production expected to increase to 25, 000 tonnes in 2017.

  • Govt, firms, sign pact on rice mills

    Govt, firms, sign pact on rice mills

    THE Federal Government, has signed an agreement with Flour Tech of Indian and Alvan Blanch, UK to acquire and instal 10 integrated rice mills across the country.

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, made this known at the agreement’s signing at the Ministry’s Headquarters in Abuja.

    Dr. Adesina said the deal with Flourtech Engineering PVT, India, is to engineer, procure and construct 10 rice processing plants under EPC contract, while that of Alvan Blanch was on the establishment of 25 Grain Aggregation Centres (GACs).

    He said the rice mills would be owned and managed by the private sector, adding that several states have provided land for the establishment of the proposed rice mills with full certificate of occupancy (CO) and commercial rice farms to be established to produce and supply rice paddy.

    He said: “The capacity of each of the rice mills is 36,000 tonnes per annum, with the processing capacity of the 10 integrated rice mills totaling 360,000 tonnes.”

  • LCCI decries planned importation of rice mills

    LCCI decries planned importation of rice mills

    The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has taken a swipe at the Federal Government’s plan to import 100 rice mills from China for distribution to states.

    LCCI, through its President, Goodie Ibru (OON) said the plan, if implemented, will spell doom for the local industries.

    Ibru said: “The proposed acquisition of rice mills raises a number of specific concerns, some of which are the way the rice mills will be distributed, how will they be managed and operated alongside the existing rice processing mills owned by small scale operators without creating the challenge of unfair competition?”

    He advised the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, to engage local operators in the plan so as to avoid any unforeseen difficulties that might arise. “The minister’s vision and programmes must align with the needs of the agricultural community since they are the operators that would ultimately translate the vision to reality. This can only happen if there is meaningful engagement with the operators in the sector. The agricul.tural transformation agenda will be better enriched through a better consultative process,” he stressed.