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Tag: Rice production

  • Jigawa to expand dry season rice production to 500,000 hectares by 2030 — Governor Namadi

    Jigawa to expand dry season rice production to 500,000 hectares by 2030 — Governor Namadi

    Jigawa State Governor, Malam Umar Namadi, has announced plans to expand the state’s dry season rice cultivation from the current 200,000 hectares to 500,000 hectares by the year 2030.

    The governor made this known while addressing stakeholders during the launch of the 2025 Dry Season Rice Production Programme held in Jura village, Auyo Local Government Area.

    Namadi noted that the expansion is part of the state’s broader agricultural transformation agenda. 

    He recalled that dry season rice farming in the state grew from less than 100,000 hectares to 200,000 hectares in the 2023/2024 season.

    “Our goal is to scale up dry season rice production to 500,000 hectares, and ultimately cultivate 1.2 million hectares during the rainy season. This would enable Jigawa to produce up to 3.6 million metric tonnes of rice annually,” he said.

    The governor also revealed that under the current programme, the state will empower 58,000 dry season rice farmers through soft loans, with subsidies of 30%, 20%, and 10% to ease their financial burden.

    He said the government would distribute 20,000 solar and gasoline water pump machines, improve Rice seedlings, NPK and Urea fertilizer, herbicide and pesticide to be paid after the season.

    Malam Umar Namadi maintained that under the programme over fifty eight thousand farmers will benefit from the subsidised agricultural input.

    He stated that the move is part of the present administration’s commitment to improve Agricultural production and food security in the state. 

    According to him, “We have established an ambitious target of 3.6 million metric tonnes of annual rice production, and I am confident that with diligent farmers, committed stakeholders, and supportive partners, this goal can be achieved”. 

    “For the current dry season alone, over 58,500 farmers across 27 localities will cultivate more than 130,000 hectares using improved seed varieties, modern cultivation techniques including fertilization, weed control, and irrigation”.

    “This initiative aims not simply for increased output but complete transformation. Through the Rice Value Chain Development project, we will roll out full mechanization, processing hub development, and improved access to local and global markets. We pledge to transform Jigawa into Nigeria’s leading rice producer and a vibrant agribusiness and rural prosperity center”.

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    “As we advance, I urge all farmers to make the most of this opportunity. You have my assurance that this administration will sustain the necessary backing and policies for success” 

    “Working together, we will build a stronger, self-reliant Jigawa powered by agricultural growth and lasting community development”.

    He warned against selling or diverting Agricultural inputs meant for the 2025 rice dry season farming programme in the state and urged farmers to continue supporting government policy and programs aimed at diversifying the state economy, also promised to take action against anybody found selling or diverting the inputs.

  • Expert seeks reduction of rice production costs through biofuels

    Expert seeks reduction of rice production costs through biofuels

    The Chief Executive, Green Energy Biofuels, Femi Oye, says lowering production costs is the key to increasing rice availability and lowering its price.

    The current price of a 50kg bag of rice ranges from N70,000 to N80,000 depending on quality.

    Oye underlined how important it is to reduce rice production costs if the government is to achieve economic stability and food security.

    He underscored the necessity for government’s intervention to empower local farmers to produce rice competitively, particularly in light of imported varieties that benefit from reduced tariffs.

    Oye emphasised that lowering these costs is vital for ensuring food security and economic stability.

    He reiterated that the reduction of tariffs and the government’s direct sale of imported rice should significantly decrease the retail price of rice but that efforts must be channeled into protecting the local industry.

    By substituting costly fossil fuels with more economical biofuels, he indicated that farmers can significantly lower their operational expenses.

    He said that his company has successfully produced biofuel from water hyacinth and that it is ready to work with the public and private  sectors to further explore new forms of  biofuels.

    He went on to say that the availability and renewable nature of biofuels contribute to a reduction in the use of fossil fuels and the stabilization of energy costs.

    According to him, biofuels can effectively operate rice plantations, milling operations, and essential farming equipment such as harvesters and tractors.

    To this end, he called upon the government to support  initiatives that aim to harness renewable energy for rice farmers.

    Oye highlighted the potential of rice waste to generate substantial quantities of biofuels.

    He stated that millions of tonnes of rice straw are incinerated post-harvest, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.

    He explained that palm oil  can be converted into biofuel which can subsequently be utilised to operate various machinery.

    Meanwhile, the Food and Agricultural Organisation(FAO), report titled, “Food Outlook: Biannual Report on Global Food Markets released recently noted that though Africa has been projected to expand its production of rice, the outlook in Nigeria is dampened as escalating energy costs and difficulties in marketing produce are reducing milling operations in the country.

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    The report stated that Africa appeared to be headed towards its third successive production expansion, with 28.4 million tonnes forecast to be gathered across the continent in 2024/25, up 4.0 per cent year-on-year and a record high.

    But in the case of Nigeria, the report said the production outlook is dampened by hikes in input costs and difficulties marketing produce following reductions in milling operations caused by hikes in energy costs.

    According to the report, supplies of most of the world’s major food commodities are expected to be adequate in 2024/25, although extreme weather, rising geopolitical tensions, sudden policy changes and other factors could all potentially tip the delicate global demand-supply balances and impact prices and global food security. 

    The FAO Food Outlook stated that the, “World outputs of rice and oilseeds are expected to be at record levels, while those of wheat and maize will likely decline modestly.”

    The report further projected that world rice trade would fall to a four-year low in 2024 from an estimated 52.9 million tonnes in 2023 to 51.4 million tonnes this year.

    It stated that this would represent a four-year trade low and, from a regional perspective, would be largely imputable to expected import cuts in Africa. The contraction would be consistent with the positive harvest results attained on the continent.

    It added that, “persistent cost pressures stemming from weak local currencies, elevated international prices and, in some cases, also higher transport and insurance costs, Nigeria, as well as Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar and Sierra Leone, could also slash purchases or keep them at comparatively reduced levels.”

  • Rice production to hit record high in 2023

    Nigeria rice production could hit 16 million tons in 2023 if all the participating states under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrowers Programme convert their pilot programmes into massive  production, the  Executive Director, Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute, Dr Olufemi Oladunni, has said.

    He said the nation’s rice production is expected to set a new record with increased cultivated area, which will increase paddy production to 16 million tons in 2023. The figure is now four million tons.

    According to him, Nigeria can produce more than 12  million tons over four-year with the support of President Muhammdau Buhari’s administration, adding that  increasing support to the paddy crop is likely to keep the country’s rice production high.

    He expects Nigeria to retain its ranking as the leading rice producer in Africa. Although most rice projects embarked by states are in pilot forms, Oladunni said the projects are  showing positive results.

    He said such projects, should be part of the nation’s strategy to stabilise and  increase the production of rice on a sustainable and economically viable basis. He urged more states to key into the CBN anchor  borrowers programme.

    Director-General,Africa Rice Center, Benin Republic, Dr Harold Roy-Macauley has said Nigeria has overtaken Egypt as the largest rice producer in Africa with four million tons a year

    Egypt was producing 4.3 tons annually, but it reduced by almost 40 per cent this year owning to the Egyptian government’s decision to limit cultivation to preserve water resources. Egypt’s rice cultivation requires about 1.8 billion metres of water in evaporation, transpiration and irrigation each year.

    Africa produces an average of 14.6 million tons of rough rice annually.

    He said there are efforts to increase overall rice production in Africa, but expressed doubts that it will curb rice importation as population has increased across the continent. Consumers, he said, are looking for safe and certified rice.

  • Ondo to partner Lagos on rice production

    The Ondo State government has said it will partner its Lagos State counterpart on rice production.

    Commissioner for Agriculture Adegboyega Adefarati, said this while inspecting Fadama III Additional Financing projects in Akure North Local Government Area.

    Adefarati said the state government had secured over 4,000 hectares of land in Ogbese, Okitipupa, Ese-Odo and Ilaje for rice production.

    “The Lagos State government, as it is doing with Kebbi State, is coming to Ondo State to partner with us on rice production,” he said.

    The commissioner said a Fadama-sponsored rice factory would produce the state’s branded rice.

    Inspecting the installation of the 14-tonne per day rice mill funded by the Fadama project at Ogbese, Adefarati said farmers got necessary support due to government’s intervention through prompt payment of counterpart contribution.

    Adefarati, who also visited the 20-hectare cassava farm of Iju-Ifedapo cluster in Akure North Local Government Area, urged farmers to continue to support the administration to enjoy more dividends of good governance.

    The commissioner assured farmers that the state government would soon enact enabling laws that would prevent incessant farmers-herders conflict in the state.

    The Chairman of the Production Cluster at Ogbese, Mr Ajewole Ajisafe, attributed the success recorded in farm operation to the peaceful and harmonious relationship between farmers and herdsmen.

    Ajisafe said herdsmen in the community had been operating without conflicts, adding that this had been the recipe for mutual relationship

  • Nigeria saves $800m from rice production

    The Bank of Agriculture (BoA) on Wednesday disclosed that the Federal Government has saved about 800 million dollars by encouraging local production of rice in the country.

    Prince NiyiAkenzua, the Executive Director, Finance and Risk Management, BoA, said at a media briefing in Lagos ahead of the “Meet the Farmers Conference” (MTFC) 2018 scheduled for Oct. 10 in the nation’s commercial hub.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference, which is organised by Crenov8 Consulting, is aimed at exposing African farmers to the opportunities in agro-export,  especially to Dubai and other Middle-East countries.

    Akenzua commended the initiative of the government to diversify the economy with special focus on agriculture, urging Nigerians to key into the programmes because of their all-round benefits.

    He said the government restructured the BoA in 2016 to enable it render critical assistance to the agricultural sector in terms of food security  and increased export of agro-products to boost the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    “The Central Bank of Nigeria facilitated a N250 billion intervention fund for the BoA which is being disbursed through the Anchor Borrower’s Programme.

    “In 2017, we disbursed about N100 billion to farmers and we have also disbursed about N50 billion so far in 2018,” Akenzua said.

    He said rice production had increased to a level that people could ever imagined and that the government was targeting early 2019 to fully stop importation of rice.

    Akenzua said emphasis was being placed on standardising and packaging of agricultural products from Nigeria to make them acceptable to the export market.

    Earlier, Mrs Bola Oyedele , a representative of  Crenov8 Consulting, said Dubai imported over 100 billion dollars worth of food in 2017 from Africa and it is expected to rise to about 400 billion dollars in the next eight years.

     

     

     

     

  • Presidency hails Niger Delta rice production initiative

    Presidency hails Niger Delta rice production initiative

    Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (retd) has hailed the rice production initiative of the amnesty programme.

    Boroh, who described the agric rice project as the best initiative so far, said production would be expanded next year.

    He spoke yesterday in Abuja when he received the first 500 bags of amnesty rice.

    Boroh said expansion in production of amnesty rice by next year would provide jobs for thousands, contribute to food self-sufficiency and national security as well as grow the economy.

    He recalled that prior to the new policy on agriculture, the country, from January  2012 to May 2015, spent  $2.41 billion on rice importation.

    Boroh said the amnesty rice, cultivated in Ogoja, Cross River State, was the beginning of similar initiatives by the Amnesty Office to produce rice in Niger Delta.

    He said other beneficiaries of the amnesty programme were cultivating rice in Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states.

    Boroh added that the locally-produced rice was tastier and more nutritious than the imported ones.

    “The amnesty rice is  healthier for consumption, as most of the imported rice are stored in warehouses for  long periods before being freighted for months across oceans to our country,” he said.

    The special adviser enjoined people to go into rice cultivation and production, saying:  “With  over 180 million mouths to feed and the growing preference for rice, the country is a huge market and can accommodate more producers. We can  move from being a net importer of rice to a net exporter of rice.”

  • Minister hails Bauchi governor for rice production 

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Audu Ogbeh has lauded Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abubakar for giving agriculture, especially rice production, a boost.

    A letter of appreciation and commendation personally signed by Ogbeh described the development as part of the ‘agricultural revolution of the Buhari Administration’.

    The letter reads: “Undeniably, we, in this ministry, are proud of Your Excellency for joining hands with us to move both the agricultural sector and our beloved nation forward. We celebrate Your Excellency and members of your team for being harbingers of change in the agricultural sector. This positive development is gladdening and motivating”.

    Ogbeh urged Abubakar not to relax but be inspired to do more to consolidate the revolution. He described a modernised agricultural sector as the key to the future well-being of the country.

    The minister assured Abubakar of the ministry’s continued cooperation and partnership towards resolving the myriad of challenges in the agricultural sector for sustainable national development.

    Governor Abubakar’s two-year administration has seen a rebirth of the agric sector, with the rejuvenation of the government- owned fertilizer blending company supplying fertilizer to farmers beyond the state and other farming inputs.

  • Stallion to boost rice production to 1.5 million tonnes annually

    Stallion to boost rice production to 1.5 million tonnes annually

    A sub-division of Stallion Group, Stallion Popular Farms & Mills Limited has hinted of plans to increase rice production to 1.5 million tonnes annually.

    Giving this hint was Stallion Popular farms & Mills Group Director, Hapreet Singh.

    Singh spoke in Lagos at the IBCA-“Outstanding Projects and Business Leaders of the Year Award” recently bestowed on the company in recognition of Stallion Popular Farms & Mills Limited concerted efforts at integrating rice value chain in Nigeria agrarian economy as well as its dogged resolves to humanise farmed rice and self-sustainability in food production.

    Singh, while receiving the award, on behalf of the farm at the occasion in Lagos, said it hopes to increase locally farmed rice to 1.5million tonnes yearly from 450, 000 metric tonnes.

    He said the farm has already deployed enhanced milling activities and set up more milling facilities through structured farming techniques.

    “Our vision has always been to preserve and enhance rice production in Nigeria by ensuring genetic integrity of seeds, encouraging scientific agricultural practices and promoting world-class processing techniques to emerge as industry benchmark for product quality,” Singh said.

    Also noting that part of its sustainable efforts was to integrate rice growing values among the locals, the group director said it has established procurement and collection centers; introduced co-operative associations as well as logistics and post-harvest epicenters and marketing midpoint, while it act as a catalyst for achievable growth.

    A farm division of Stallion West African conglomerate, Popular Farms & Mills Limited recently established collection centers across rice producing states in Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Niger, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi to not only help farmers embrace modern farming techniques but help distribute farm inputs through farmers cooperatives and associations to inspire rice revolution in Nigeria.

    Popular Farm is today renowned for producing premium varieties of rice from farmed paddy, which are branded and distributed nationwide as Royal Stallion Shinkafa, Tomato Aroso and Super Champion.

  • UNDP to boost rice production

    UNDP to boost rice production

    Concerned about rice production, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has moved to enhance local production and boost international acceptance in the global market.
    Agribusiness Specialist, Agribusiness Supplier Development Programme (ASDP), Inclusive Growth Unit, UNDP, Dr Nelson Abila, said the organisation was determined to make local farmers adopt improved and adapted rice varieties, enhance availability of certified seeds and transfer of knowledge.
    He said UNDP was in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) to ensure that rice was produced to boost yields for commercial farmers.
    The JICA Nigeria, he explained, has evolved the standard for paddy quality checking on the fields, aggregation centres and at the reception points and laboratories at the integrated rice mills.
    This involves the use of kits and go through some processes for checking rice quality. Bringing this innovation to the awareness of rice farmers, paddy dealers, rice millers, extension agents among other actors in the value chain is critical towards ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth of the rice sector in the country.
    To sustain the tempo, stakeholders must have the knowledge of paddy and ensure compliances, he said.
    According to him, the intention is to provide opportunities for promoting resource use efficiency, business flows throughout the value chain of the rice sector and deliver real results to the lives of rice farmers.
    The organisations will seek to strengthen partnerships for post-harvest handling, and help farmers and other rice producers add value by developing and marketing rice by-products rich in proteins and micronutrients, and explore the appropriate use of rice by-products to generate energy, animal feed and other agricultural products.

    In addition, they will work together to ensure that farmers can participate in viable, safe and dignified entrepreneurial opportunities in the rice value chain, and that there is an improvement in work conditions in the rice sector.

  • AFAN wants governors to invest more in rice production

    The All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Kaduna State Chapter, on Wednesday urged governors to invest much in rice production to enable Nigeria to achieve self-sufficiency in rice.

    The Chairman of the chapter, Alhaji Nuhu Aminu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Zaria that the investment became imperative in view of Nigeria’s need for food security.

    Aminu urged governors of other states to emulate Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos who invested in rice in Kebbi.

    “The Lagos State Government invested so much in rice production in Kebbi. That gave the state an opportunity to produce enough rice.

    “The rice was processed, packaged and milled just like Thailand’s imported rice, but it is more nutritious and healthy.

    “If our governors, especially northern governors, can take a cue from Lagos State, it will not only boost their revenue bases but also enhance national food security,’’ he said.

    According to the AFAN leader, locally-produced rice is more nutritious than imported rice.

    Aminu pleaded with well-meaning Nigerians to encourage the Federal Government in its diversification efforts by investing more in agriculture.

    He said that investing in agriculture would actualize the diversification and create jobs.