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Tag: rice

  • DFID, KACCIMA to promote local rice

    The retailsector project of Growth and Employment in States (GEMS), a Department for International Development (DFID) funded  project in Nigeria, in collaboration with Kano Chamber of Commerce Mines and Agriculture (KACCIMA) , has organised the first Kano made- in- Nigeria Rice Fair.

    Rice fair, aimed at creating a link between rice producers and rice marketers, is to discourage the importation of foreign rice to the country the Federal Government.  It is to also encourage promoting locally produced rice, creating market for it and also raising the awareness of the public on Nigerian rice brand.

    Addressing participants at the fair, the Head, GEMS4 Wholesale Retail Sector Project, Mr. Tunde Oyerinde, said the project is a market development initiative and that the project has the mandate to stimulate market system changes that encourages growth and access to funds which  will in turn result into the creation of 10,000 new jobs as well as  increasing the income level of 500,000 people, especially the poor, rural  dwellers and women.

    According to him, it is disheartening to note that despite the increase in the consumption of rice, integrated commercial mills are not producing at full capacity. Oyerinde noted that it is also good to hear that the mills have started processing local rice rather than processing imported rice. “We would like to see new relationships developed and also wish to see supply chain deals signed between commercial rice mills, major distributors and the banks,” he said.

    Earlier in his welcome address KACCIMA president Farouk Rabi’u Dansulaika stated that the initiative will strengthen the chamber’s support to local rice market with the zeal of making it a center for export as against importation of rice.

  • Sultan distributes bags of rice

    The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Jamatul Nasir Islam (JNI),  Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, yesterday launched the distribution of relief materials.

    They included 18,000 bags of rice, to Internally- Displaced Persons (IDPs), from Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Kaduna, Kano, Gombe and Bauchi states.

    The Sultan said the materials, which also included 250 tins of vegetable oil, were to alleviate the sufferings of the IDPs.

    He said the items were not to be sold by the beneficiaries, stressing that they were meant to assist them in their trying moments.

  • Enriching lives of small rice farmers

    Enriching lives of small rice farmers

    As a result of government and donor-supported development programmes, Nigeria is making efforts to grow more rice than ever before. However, there are challenges facing farmers in their quest to perform at optimum level. As a way out, experts have called for partnership between farmers and researchers in developing locally suitable farming practices, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Musa Basa (not real name) lives in the North with his wife and children. They grow rice and other crops. But they have to contend with a harsh soil type.

    Typically, when Basa and other farmers prepare their land at the start of the rains, they hope that the rains would be abundant and evenly spread throughout the season.

    When the rains start, he plants seeds. The challenge however is that when the rains stop, the farms return to degraded lands.

    While  rainfall may  be  short and intense,  sometimes ,  the challenge  is minimising run-off and increasing infiltration which  are crucial.  Since they are not achieving this, many farming families don’t plant more rice on and around their fields.

    There are   situations where farmers have suffered   huge losses in quantity and quality of rice after harvest. This is also because dry soils don’t help rice growth and so producing enough is an enormous task. While  this is  an  example  of  what   some farmers suffer  in  the North, the case of Abdul Ganiyu Alabi Ojolowo,  a  rice  farmer  in Lagos  is different.

    An accountant by training, Ojolowo sells locally milled rice (ofada) that is of high quality. But the same cannot be said of few of his colleagues. There are circumstances were bags of rice were fraught with stones and debris.

    Added to this, he said, is  consumer’s perception of local rice as inferior, making it less competitive against imported varieties.

    Another constraint he highlighted, is the long distance between the villages where  the rice  farms are located,   and the supply  towns. The  towns  are  filled with  good  suppliers of  imported rice than  locally grown  ones.

    If the  government  must  change  the situation,  Ojolowo said, there is a need to  improve  infrastructure such as irrigation, milling and processing facilities and farm-to-market roads to boost rice  production.

    To some stakeholders, while  that is the  reality on ground,  researchers  and the government are  making    efforts  to boost   crop yields and improve  the soil.

    A Professor at the Department of Crop Protection, University of Maiduguri,Daniel Gwary, said  there are  tremendous  efforts  to   improve  food security with focus on rice production. The measures include improving harvesting and postharvest practices and equipment to achieve high-quality grain.

    Gwary advised however,  that  farmers  should  be  assisted  with inputs such as improved seeds, fertiliser, agrochemicals and  to benefit  from extension services.

    He said improving   rice production under rain-fed lowland and irrigated lowland should be  a priority, while  attention should  be  paid to rain-fed upland rice in some key states, adding that Nigeria  has huge potential, to not only achieve rice self-sufficiency but also to  become the rice granary of the continent.

    From  what  experts  have  observed ,  addressing the challenge in  rice  production  is crucial considering   that Nigeria spends billions of naira annually on the importation of rice

    This, they warned is not in the interest of the economy.

    According to Africa Rice Center, reliance on imported rice and limited efforts in increasing domestic production is costing sub-Saharan Africa almost $5billion annually, its new appointed Director-General, Dr. Harold Roy-Macauley, has  said.

    “Africa is losing about five billion dollars in the consumption of imported rice due to the high demand for the produce. However, even with the limited supply regionally, there are high chances for African countries to close that gap if the crop is given a lot of priority by the governments and scientists who play big roles in developing solutions for the challenges hindering massive rice production in Africa.”    Roy-Macauley said Africa’s rice growing countries must invest more resources to support more production of the cereal crop.

    To this end, scientists from the center are developing climate-smart rice varieties and   intends  to   field-test a number of flood-tolerant varieties in Nigeria. The center has been collaborating with local and international partners to develop improved rice varieties and technologies to increase rice productivity across the continent.

    A major partner of the centre in Nigeria is the National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI), Badeggi, Niger State.

    NCRI has the national mandate for the genetic improvement, production of breeders’ seeds and development of production, processing and utilisation technologies of six crops which include rice, soybeans, beniseed, sugar cane acha and castor. The institute had been able to develop 62 varieties of rice since inception.

    Supporting the institute is the West African Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), a World Bank assisted programme.

    WAAPP Nigeria has entered into collaboration with National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI), Baddegi to boost rice production. Niger State is among the few states selected for the programme.

    Speaking at  an event recently, the  National Project Coordinator, WAAPP, Nigeria , Professor Damian Okey Chikwendu,  said that WAAPP is targeting root crops in the state.

    Chikwendu who was represented by the Environmental Focal Point Officer, Shitu Hussaini, listed its collaboration role with NCRI  to include  production of breeder and foundation seeds, as well as  implementing  System for Rice Intensification Initiative (SRI) in the state.

    According to the Coordinator, the seeds being targeted for production by WAAPP are the high yielding and drought resistant varieties.

    WAAPP-Nigeria in collaboration with some research institutes, has produced and released a total of 434 metric tonnes of rice.

    Chikwendu reiterated that the objective of WAAPP is to produce enough genetic materials in form of certified and foundation seeds in the priority agricultural commodities of rice, maize sorghum, yam and cassava to enable farmers increase their productivity.

    He said seeds would be provided to farmers through States’ Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs), the research institutes and colleges of agriculture, as well as universities collaborating with WAAPP, which are the immediate hosts to the farmers in the adopted villages and the agricultural innovation platforms.

    He said the project is interested in producing certified seeds to go round to farmers.

    The project is currently targeting 1.5 million farmers.

    On SRI, he  said the programme is  sponsoring the promotion of an integrated menu of agronomic and soil management practices known respectively as System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) in Ebonyi, Niger and Jigawa states.

    The project involves sponsoring 20 Demonstration Rice Plots in each state, and an additional 10 plots in Jigawa State under the management of a partner-NGO called Green Sahel Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative (GSARDI).  The project which  involves the provision of training, utilise both theoretical presentations and practical sessions at the  demonstrations plots.

    Recently, to boost rice production, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development demonstrated the use of locally fabricated rice threshing machine to farmers in Lavun Local Government Area of Niger.

    The Director, Rice Value Chain, Dr Victor Onyeneke, who introduced and demonstrated the machine to over 100 farmers, said the idea was to remove impurity associated with paddy rice.

    Represented by Mrs. Ihecherem Nneka, an Assistant Chief Agricultural Officer, Onyeneke said the machine saves time compared to using manual method of processing the paddy rice. “Most of our processed local rice cannot compete favourably with foreign rice because of impurities such as stones and others from the farms. “The introduction of thresher cleaner machine will ensure that our local rice compete favourably with any foreign rice,’’ he said.

    Onyeneke said the programme was part of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government introducing the mobile rice thresher to rice farmers across the country, adding that the idea behind the fabrication of the machine with local content was in collaboration with  the Ministry, Africa Rice and the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM), Ilorin.

    He said the machine which would be put into use by the farmers for one month, would be sold to rice producing communities in the state at between N300, 000 and N700, 000 each.

    The State’s Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Bello Salihu, said  the machine is capable of threshing one tonne of paddy rice per hour.

    Salihu said the manual labour would have taken between eight hours for the same processing.

    He said that the introduction of the machine was to address the challenges of production and processing faced by rice farmers in the country.

  • WAAPP collaborates with entrepreneurs on rice production

    WAAPP collaborates with entrepreneurs on rice production

    An agro-entrepreneurial group made up of the agriculture graduates in Nigeria have successfully piloted a three-cycle rice production programme in Niger State in a bid to avail rice seeds to farmers.

    Agriculture Graduates Association of Nigeria (AGAN), a private sector-driven extension programme and an assemblage of young knowledgeable farmers, achieved this by introducing organic farming using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI),

    SRI is an initiative of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) assisted rice value chain innovation platform that enables improved yields, reduce the cost of production, improve rice quality and ensure sustainable cropping/mitigation measures.

    According to the leader of the association, Mr Hassaini Ilyasu, who spoke at the inauguration of the second cycle (dry season) for rice farming and the raising of nursery for the third cycle held at Sheshi Bikun in Niger State , the journey towards sustainable food security began with a successful collaboration with the WAAPP-Nigeria and a few other supporting partners like the Niger State Agricultural Mechanisation Agency (NAMDA).

    He said the association had successfully piloted three cycles of rice production scheme and increased the productivity of rice from the usual two tonnes to a new high of 5.5 tonnes per hectare. It had also started promoting community seed production to make improved seeds available and affordable to farmers, noting that the provision of free seeds by the government fell short of farmer’s demand.

    He acknowledged the special contribution of WAAPP-Nigeria to their projects in terms of supply of improved rice seeds, which had enabled them to attain their present level of success.

    Mr Ilyasu appealed for more assistance such as would enable their private sector extension programme to scale through its teething problems, adding that it would enable them to multiply benefits in the areas of food security, job creation, empowerment of farmers and ensuring sustainable agricultural development.

    The Managing Director of the Niger State Agricultural Management and Development Agency (NAMDA), Alhaji Baba Kutigi Madugu, challenged Nigerian youths to emulate the examples of the young agro entrepreneurs in the state by exploiting various windows of opportunities open to them, such as keying into the programme of seed multiplication, among others.

    The representative of the National Seed Council, Mr S. Idowu, eulogised the young farmers for their involvement in the seed multiplication programme, which, he said, had made labour more beneficial to the local farmers.

    Last year,WAAPP, entered into collaboration with National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI) Baddegi and Niger State Agricultural and Mechanization Development Authority (NAMDA) to boost rice production and other cereal crops in the state.

    Niger State is among the few states selected for the programme, considering its rich potential for rice and other cereal crops. The areas of collaboration from the recent tour of the farm fields centred mostly on supply of improved seeds and multiplications.

    The national project coordinator of WAAPP, Prof Damian Okey Chikwendu, who was represented by Mr Shitu Hussaini, environmental focal point officer at the week long tour of the selected fields for the programme in the state, said that WAAPP is targeting root crops in the state.

    He listed the collaboration to include NCRI role in breeder and foundation seeds production as well as (SRI) with emphasis on rice and maize cultivation in the state.

    NAMDA, on the other hand, as  field analysis indicated, was focusing on rice, maize, sorghum and yam through development of improved seedling to boost output as well as improve the well being of the farmers.

  • Rice and wrongs

    Rice and wrongs

    •The Jonathan administration’s abuse of waivers has moved to the farm sector

    Scandalously, the country is reportedly losing N20 billion to discretionary concessions and waivers, especially to lethargic stakeholders under the rice importation  scheme and another N20 billion to smugglers of rice through the nation’s porous borders. The waivers/import allocation quotas impunity to favour investors who have no investments in the industry or rice mill by government is making a mockery of the policy.

    Of the 28 beneficiaries on the list, only 16 have mills, while the other 12 that have no mills surprisingly account for higher imports than the true millers. The disparities in preferential import quotas, quantity of approved rice imports and the corresponding size of performance bond to be submitted are quite alarming. Those powerful armchair rice investors eventually trade their import allocation quotas to interested stakeholders at between 60 to 80 per cent levy, having got the same at 20 per cent levy, thereby short-changing the country with ripple effects of inflation and  pauperisation. This is serious discouragement to those who remain committed to the plan.

    Why should new investors under the present regime, without milling capacity or investments in the country, receive higher allocation quotas unlike real rice millers that received negligible allocation or none at all?  The strategy deployed in arriving at the supply gap equally becomes questionable because almost three million metric tonnes of rice was reportedly smuggled from Cotonou in 2013, while an estimated 1.5 million was accounted for last year. Again, why is it that the backward integration policy plan approved since May 2014 by the president was delayed till December?

    The sincerity of government regarding the backward integration plan is in doubt. For example, it is bewildering that investors that merely expressed interests enjoy higher import quotas which they trade at higher prices to other interested importers. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s new rice policy is geared towards bridging the supply gap of import-grade rice of 1.5 million metric tonnes through proper deployment of rice import quotas as determined by the Federal Government. Invariably, the policy was designed to ensure that existing rice millers and new investors receive a preferential levy of 20 per cent and duty of 10 per cent while other importers pay a higher levy of 60 per cent and duty of 10 per cent. The current wave of indiscriminate waivers has made nonsense of this policy.

    If the nation truly wants to be self-sufficient in rice production and milling, too much reliance on paper criteria, including theoretical Domestic Rice Production Plan (DRPP) by prospective investors will not suffice. For example, it was reported that last year alone, a total of 1.3 million metric tonnes of rice import quotas was issued to 25 qualifying millers, yet 2.74 million metric tonnes of imported rice found its way into the country in the same year through illegal routes. This is possible because of the low tariff on rice in Nigeria’s neighbouring countries.

    The nation is far from self sufficiency in rice production contrary to the nauseating noise and rhetorical egoism of progress in the sector by  Akinwunmi Adesina, the agriculture minister. The sensible path to toe is to jettison indiscriminate waivers while government should also allow rice importation through our ports to augment shortfalls. This will definitely go a long way in discouraging smuggling.

     

  • Rice import waivers to cost Fed Govt N40 billion

    Rice import waivers to cost Fed Govt N40 billion

    The Federal Government’s backward integration plan in the rice industry may cost the nation over N40 billion through indiscriminate granting of waivers and concessions to non-committed investors as well as smuggling of the product unless, The Nation has learnt.

    Many of the non-committed investors, who got the import allocation quotas for rice, are trading it to interested stakeholders at between 60 to 80 per cent levy, after obtaining same at 20 per cent.

    The development, it was learnt, has cost the Federal Government over N20 billion.

    Documents obtained by The Nation showed that investors, who have only submitted expression of interests in the sector without any visible form of investment, might be enjoying waivers amounting to about N20 billion under the exercise.

    For instance, allocation of rice import quotas under the new rice policy by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that a move to bridge the supply gap of import-grade rice of 1.5 million metric tonnes was designed to ensure that existing rice millers and new investors receive a preferential levy of 20 per cent and duty of 10 per cent. But other importers pay a higher levy of 60 per cent and duty of 10 per cent.

    Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Dr. Akinwunmi

    Adesina had in a letter to the Minister of Economy and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on the allocation of rice import quotas, noted that the criteria for allocation of quotas under a methodology, which assigns weight to key criteria of self-sufficiency in rice production and milling in Nigeria, include the submission and approval of a Domestic Rice Production Plan (DRPP) among others.

    Adesina said a supply gap of import-grade rice was determined to be 1.5 million metric tonnes for 2014 while an inter-ministerial committee discussed the methodology for allocation of the import quotas.

    “Subsequently, a letter was sent to existing rice millers and new investors to submit a DRPP, and based on their submissions;

    1.3 million metric tonnes of rice import quotas were issued to 25 qualifying millers at the preferential levy of 20 per cent and duty of 10 per cent.

    “The remaining 0.2 million metric tonnes of rice imports will be at the higher levy of 60 per cent and duty of 10 per cent for other rice importers”, the letter reads in part.

    However, documents obtained by The Nation showed that the supply gap estimate is unrealistic when compared to a total of 2.74 million metric tonnes of imported rice that made its way into the country in 2014 – representing a combination of rice imported into the country and the smuggled commodity from neighbouring West African countries.

    In other words, through the indiscriminate granting of waivers, government might have been promoting the activities of rice smugglers.

    Hence, the country, according to experts, may continue to lose at least N20 billion to smugglers, while putting the rice policy under serious threat.

    Documents also showed that new investors without milling capacity or investments in the country received the highest quota of the allocations to approved rice millers, while actual millers did not receive allocations and in some instances, received very low portion.

  • Ebola fears slow rice shipments

    The fear of Ebola has slowed rice shipments from Asia to Africa with shipping crews either refusing to travel to affected regions or demanding higher freight charges. This has aggravated food crisis in one of the most malnourished parts of the world.

    The difficulties in shipments are compounding worries about food supplies as many African farmers have abandoned crop fields in the wake of the disease. Schools offering meal programmes have also shut down, worsening widespread food shortages and hunger.

    “The cost of rice has increased by nearly a third since the disease spread throughout Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone with many ships unwilling to dock at those country’s ports,” Shenggen Fan, director-general of the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute told The Wall Street Journal.

    “If this situation continues, we fear a lot of people will suffer from malnutrition,” he said.

    According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation, (FAO), 24 per cent of the population in Africa south of the Sahara is undernourished, with the recent crisis exacerbating a shortage of food staples.

    “I export rice to Nigeria and I know that it’s getting more difficult to find a cargo ship,” said Vichai Sriprasert, head of Thai rice exporter, Riceland International. Before the outbreak, Thai rice exports to Africa had been picking up.

    “The shipowners tend to have no problem, but they told us that captains and crew refused to go. They fear that they would be infected with Ebola when they land at the port and have contacts with the local people there. So that’s a problem,” Mr Sriprasert said.

    Crew members aboard a freighter docked in the port of Liberian capital Monrovia on a scalding afternoon recently donned cotton masks and surgical gloves before allowing dockworkers to come aboard and unload thousands of tons of rice.

     

  • Rice, maize, others contribute N778b to revenue

    Rice, maize, others contribute N778b to revenue

    Nigeria realised N778 billion as revenue from five crops under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, the Federal Government has said.

    It listed the crops as maize, rice, cassava, sorghum and soya bean. The ATA was inaugurated in 2012 by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, broke the news in Abuja during a public affairs forum organized by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs.

    He said the country made N259 billion from the production of maize, N407 billion from rice, N94 billion from cassava, N5 billion  from sorghum and N13 billion from soya bean.

    Adesina said the government was able to put an end to 40 years of corruption in the fertilizer sector.

    This, he said, was a development that impacted positively in the production of various agricultural crops.

    Dr. Adesina said: “The old system of government direct procurement and distribution of fertilizer was corrupt. Between 1980 and 2010, over N873bn ($5.4bn) was spent on fertilizer subsidies. No more than 11 per cent of farmers received these fertilizers.

    “Over N776bn ($4.8bn) was estimated to have been lost to corruption or an average of N26bn ($162.5m) annually. The system displaced the private sector and Nigerian farmers lost dignity.”

    He said the government built a national database of 10.5 million farmers with participation in every state of the federation.

    Adesina observed that the Growth Enhancement Scheme initiative for Nigerian farmers had increased the number of farmers who get fertilizers from 11 per cent before the programme to 92 per cent.

    “1.3 million metric tons of fertilizer has been delivered to farmers. 55,000 metric tons of improved seeds have been delivered to farmers. Nigeria is the first in Africa to deliver inputs to farmers in a large scale through e-wallet.

    “Also, food imports declined by 38 per cent from N1.1tn in 2009 to N635bn in 2013,” he added.

  • More rice from less water

    Despite investments and other initiatives to boost rice production, Nigeria has continued to record low production of the staple food. According to experts, increased  production of rice can solve the food-deficit and save millions of dollars spent on importation. They have called for the promotion of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI ). DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    The world record-yield for paddy rice production is not held by an agricultural research station, or by a large-scale farmer from the United States (US), but by an  indian  farmer, Sumant Kumar, who has a farm of only two hectares in Darveshpura Village in the state of Bihar, Northern India.

    His record of 22.4 tonnes from one-acre plot was achieved with  System of Rice Intensification (SRI); a method of planting rice with less water. To put his achievement in perspective, the average paddy yield worldwide is about four tonnes per hectare. Even with fertiliser, average yields are usually not more than eight tonnes.

    Kumar’s success was not a fluke. Four of his neighbours, using SRI methods, all, for the first time, matched or exceeded the previous world record of 19 tonnes per hectare from China.  Moreover, they used only modest amounts of inorganic fertiliser and did not need chemical crop protection.

    Using SRI methods, small-holder- farmers in many countries are getting higher yields and greater productivity from their land, labour, seeds, water and capital, with their crops showing more resilience to the hazards of climate change.

    These productivity gains have been achieved simply by changing the ways farmers manage their plants, soil, water and nutrients. The effect is to get the crop to grow larger, healthier, longer-life root systems, accompanied by increases in the abundance, diversity and activity of soil organisms.

    In  Nigeria, an   accountant, Abdul Ganiu Ojolowo and other farmers,  have  taken part in trials of SRI,  which have been shown to increase rice production by more than double with fewer seeds and fertilisers. Ojolowo is a member of the Lagos State Commercial Agriculture Development Association (CADA), representing the Rice Value Chain.

    He is also the President of Rice for Job Common Interest  Group (CIG). He was cultivating a few   hectares of rice field using mostly manual labour with an average yield of about 0.8 – 1.0 tonne/hectare.

    However, with the intervention of CADP, and  further  training  on the new System of Rice Intensification, sponsored by the United  States Agency  for  International  Development (USAID, Ojolowo  has  seen   improved  rice  production.

    For farmers, like Ojolowo, SRI  has become attractive due to its greater profitability, compared to conventional methods. Conventional rice production, with its high reliance on purchased inputs, is less attractive because of low productivity and high production costs.

    The prices of inputs (improved seed, fuel, fertilisers and pesticides) have increased two to three folds over the last 10 to 15 years, and the increased production costs have eaten into the profit margins of rice cultivation.

    Through SRI methods, Ojolowo  gets three to four times profit than he used to get with the old methods. This is an incentive  for him.

    With water becoming an important cost, and with climate change and soil degradation, the National  Cereals  Research  Institute (NCRI), Niger State and  the  West African Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) are enthusiastic over SRI trials, which may be the answer to food insecurity.

    To the  Director of  Research, NCRI, Dr  Emmanuel Abo, if  SRI is adopted on a national scale, farmers can improve rice production with fewer seeds, fertilisers and very little water.

    With all the advantages it offers, experts  said SRI is simple, and can be done on local or hybrid varieties. Instead of waiting for the seedlings to mature, experts said  young plants of 8-10 days are transplanted one by one, allowing the roots to spread out further. They are also planted farther apart, at 20 cms, for the  seeds not to compete for food and light and thus reduces the amount of seeds required.

    The  downside of SRI, according  to experts, is that it is labour intensive; requiring more hands for weeding, timely drainage and careful planting. But the benefits in greater harvests, far outweigh the shortcomings. SRI, according to experts,  produces 150 quintaldings of rice per hectare from a land that yielded 20 to 30 quintals with the old method, using 35 per cent less water, 10 per cent of seed and 50 per cent less fertilisers.

    In  about 50 countries where the benefits of SRI have already been demonstrated, there has been a 30-50 per cent decrease in water use compared to growing the same varieties on similar soil under flooded conditions.

    This situation has encouraged experts and farmers to begin testing the SRI method.

    A few people initially took interest in SRI, but today, there is a growing number of farmers  coming forward to promote the method. Farmers’ initiatives in spreading the method are also expanding. The main attraction behind SRI is its suitability for a resource-poor country like Nigeria. Farmers find the SRI approach advantageous because of its greater productivity and higher profits due to lower requirements for seed, fertilisers, pesticides, and irrigation.

    In addition to saving water, SRI experts said, has helped to reduce soil and water pollution and conserve rice biodiversity for sustainable development. “Because  of this,  SRI is becoming seen as the best solution for its food-deficit problems and for enhancing food security in remote areas where modern inputs are costly and difficult to obtain,” they said.

    Farmers, they noted, are  voting  for  SRI  to   play a key role in bringing a green revolution to Nigeria.

    An SRI promoter and Wems Agro Limited, Chief Operating Officer,  Mr  Henry Bagena, whose   organisation is  acquiring 5400 hectares  in Akotogbo, Ondo State  for   rice production, said the beauty of SRI is its ability to be adopted by various countries, adding that his passion is to help Africa to grow crops sustainably with less inputs.

    “Africa has been told for many years that for the continent to grow crops, it has to add lots of inputs. This is a legitimate way to grow crops, but if you can get the same yields with less input, it is a winner for the country because the food is grown at a cheaper rate, and the country will have no reason to import fertilisers,” he said.

    SRI system, according to Bagena , cuts cost of inputs by 25 per cent and increases productivity by 30 per cent.

    “If you multiply those two, the financial benefits are enormous. We are proposing to marry two systems together by growing rice using SRI method and do a crop rotation between rice and legumes,” he said, adding: “The crop rotation will be two seasons of rice and two seasons of legumes. We will be growing legumes as green manure meaning that, we will grow and plough it back to get about 250 kilogrammes of nitrogen per annum from the legume crop.”

    The farm, Bagena said, is going to be  a centre of excellence in sustainable farming practices, which include  soil conservation, power generation and intermediate technology. “Akotogbo will become a focus for sustainability based on the demonstration farm for power generation that will be created within the farm settlement,” he said, noting that, the long-term goal of the company was to impact positively on the livelihoods of rice farmers.

    The Chairman of Wems Agro Companies, Rotimi Wemi-Akinsola, said Nigeria has a vast arable land and lots of water to plant rice.

    But, he regretted that the country does not produce up to 15 per cent of the 22.5 million bags of rice consumed in the country monthly.

    “Rice growing and consumption historically are based in South East Asia, where most of the world’s rice is grown.

    “The fast growing market is Sub – Saharan Africa (SSA) where rice production falls far below consumption and where the FAO forecasts that rice will be the largest staple food by 2030. Nigeria’s per capital consumption is estimated to be 78 kg per capital, giving a total consumption of 6.1m tones for 2014. Half of this, 3 million tones, are imported at N356 billion it is accepted a heavy burden on the Nigerian balance of payments, “ he said.

    Wemi-Akinsola noted that his company is investing in the rice project in Ondo State with the intention of taking advantage of the Nigerian market opportunity and help it become self sufficient and  help develop a profitable agricultural industry in the state.

    “There is no history of rice production in Ondo State. Although the weather and soil conditions are suitable, Wems Agro will be introducing rice production having found suitable available land.

    “This will bring employment and social benefit, introduce a new agricultural technology to the state, act as an economic centre and be profitable to all concerned,” he said.

    He disclosed that rice production will be based on a sustainable SRI methods, together with a two–year rotation, where rice is grown twice in a year and this will be followed by one year of a green manure fertility building crop.

    “Six hundred hectares will be cultivated in 2015, this relatively small area will ensure Wems Agro establish best work practices. A rain fed system will be used in years 2015 – 17 followed by the introduction of irrigation in 2018 to allow for two crops per year,”he said.

    He added that the initial project has a target of 5400 hectares in rice production, cropped twice a year, with a further 5,400 hectares in the fertility – building phase.

    Wemi-Akinsola said the company is committed to producing rice profitably and making it affordable for the man on the street.

    He said: “All rice will be produced sustainably, using the system of rice intensification and other innovative and modern farming practices, while creating over 2500 jobs and providing a range of social benefits for the people of Akotogbo. It is hoped that this project will act as a catalyst for the region to become a hub of sustainability.

    “The project will grow from 600 ha in year one to 5400 hectares (double cropped) in year five, and produces profits from year one.”

    According to him, there are about 25,000 hectares available in Akotogbo and Wems Agro has secured a long-term agreement with the landowners.

    He reiterated  that  the  company  intends to take advantage of the  market opportunity and help Nigeria become self sufficient in rice, and to develop a profitable agricultural industry in Ondo State.

    He  said  greater investment to double rice production is needed to reduce dependence  on  Thailand  rice and  improve livelihoods. He  believed that rice can help move people out of poverty, beyond food insecurity.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Farmers explore rice wastes as power source

    Farmers explore rice wastes as power source

    Although the Federal Government has adopted a number of policy reforms to increase power generation , the impact has not been felt by rural farmers who live far away from the national grid.  Farmers  are  exploring  the  possibility  of  converting rice husks into  electricity to reduce diesel consumption and save money as well as the environment. But how far can this go? DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    At Songhai farms in Porto Novo,  Republic of Benin, none of its farm produce is considered a waste. This is due to skillful management of agric waste through recycling.

    Consequently, Songhai integrated production system which is based on diversified agriculture  thrives on expertise in animal husbandry and fish breeding as well as conversion of wastes and use of bio-gas for power generation for the farms has become a model for farmers and  agribusinesses to copy.

    The  centre, under the leadership of its  President, Reverend Father Nzamujo,  has  not only  achieved high  yields from its  production, it has also applied bio waste to generate  electricity.

    Indeed, the major challenge for most rural farmers in Nigeria is how to generate electricity at farm mills. Not  helping  the issue  is the  fact  that a  large numbers of farmers  are  not   connected  to the  national grid.

    Minister  of Agriculture and  Rural  Development, Dr  Akinwumi Adesina said  agricultural productivity growth is vital for stimulating growth in other parts of  the economy. But  achieving  accelerated growth requires effective power support to the millions of  small  farmers,many of them in remote areas.

    For this reason, he said the government would focus on pragmatic  ways to  promote  high-value agriculture linked to a dynamic rural farm sector.

    Ultimately, to experts, success will also depend on concerted action to confront the challenges of power supply at the farms  as  well  as technologies for  food staples production.

    To  this end,  experts  have  identified  various agricultural residues within  the  country   which can be used for electricity generation.

    One is rice husk. Rice husk is the outer cover of rice that accounts for about 20 per cent  by weight of the rice.

    One  of  the  promoters is   Chief Operating Officer, Wems Agro Limited, Mr  Henry Bagenal who  is  convinced about the country becoming the  future  hub  for  rice husk generated  electricity  on  farms.

    To  demonstrate  this, his  organisation is  acquiring  a  5400 hectares  in Akotogbo, Ondo State  for   rice production.

    The farm is going to be  a centre of excellence in sustainable farming practices, including  soil conservation, power generation and intermediate technology.

    Akotogbo will become a focus for sustainability based on the demonstration farm for power generation that will be created within the farm settlement.

    The company has a strategy aiming at increasing the use of alternative energy to power its operations. From  2016, the  operation will be powered by rice husk. The operation, however, requires 2,000 tonnes of 5300 tonnes produced. Of this, what is left will be used to produce electricity through a steam driven turbine for farm use and for local community.

    He  sees a  lot  of  farmers  buying   into  the  project   as  rice mill owners  face problems disposing husks. Although, five per cent of the quantities of husks have been utilised for bedding by the poultry farmers and between 15 and 20 per  cent  as cooking fuel, however the remaining between 75 and 80 per cent goes to wastes.

    Work will initially take place in Akotogbo but the technologies will be made available to other places. The use of husk power, he   noted, allows cheap electricity to reach farms without relying on expensive and polluting electricity.

    He noted that the long-term goal of the company is to impact positively on the livelihoods of rice farmers.

    Its Executive Director and Chief Executive, Mr Rotimi Akinsola said  green economy investments, initiatives and policies are making headway in developing countries and emerging economies.

    Akinsola said a technology that converts rice husk into electricity is gaining ground in some farm  settlement across the world.

    The technology is simple, and well-suited for small rural villages with limited technical capabilities

    For this reason, he said making rice husk -based power generation technology indispensable in farmlands around Ondo State will be helpful to the local  economies.

    Aside from  creating   job opportunities for the locals, he   said biomass gasification plants are eco-friendly as they replace diesel and petrol with carbon-neutral biomass-derived electricity.

    In Ondo State, a large portion of the electricity production is from fossil fuels causing concern for energy security as well as environmental emissions.

    To this end, his organisation is proposing biomass as one of the alternative (renewable) energy sources of energy which can offset the use of fossil fuels.

    Akinsola said the company is committed to producing rice profitably and making it affordable for the man on the street.

    He said: “All rice will be produced sustainably, using the system of rice intensification and other innovative and modern farming practices, while creating over 2500 jobs and providing a range of social benefits for the people of Akotogbo. It is hoped that this project will act as catalyst for the region to become a hub of sustainability.

    “The project will grow from 600 ha in year one to 5400 ha (double cropped) in year five, and produces profits from year one.”

    According to him, there is up to 25,000 hectares available in Akotogbo and Wems Agro has secured a long-term agreement with the landowners.

    He reiterated  that  the  company  intends to take advantage of the  market opportunity and help Nigeria become self sufficient in rice, and to develop a profitable agricultural industry in Ondo State.

    He  said  greater investment to double rice production is needed to reduce dependence  on  Thailand  rice and  improve livelihoods. He  believes that rice can help move people out of poverty, beyond food insecurity.

    He   said  Nigeria  is  a net importer of rice with nearly 40 percent of the total rice consumption coming from the international market. In the medium and long term, tax on all critical inputs, basic agricultural machinery and equipment and post-harvest technologies needs to be reduced. Poor uptake of improved higher-yielding rice varieties has also kept production low.

    He  said  long-term focus should be on increasing productivity. “Land extension accounts for only 30 per cent of the productivity gains,” he said.

    He said his company is joined together with  the Ondo State government  in an  agricultural collaboration to help farmers. The collaboration will focus on instructing farmers in improved production, post-harvest handling and marketing methods.  He said the  centre will act as a sustainable innovation hub where low-tech solutions could be developed, created and displayed with the help of the community.

    This demonstration farm should act as a centre where the aims, values and benefits of the project are showcased.

    Its Director,  Human  Capital, Mrs Sally  Bagenal  said the  project  will  create  jobs  and  inject $2.7million into the local economy in wages over five years.

    According  to her,  local representatives of the  community  would  be included in the stakeholder consultation process and the  people  are   in favour of the project because of the added income to local farmers.