States in the north-eastern part of the country, still
struggling to recover from the devastating effects of Boko Haram insurgency,
are recording bumper harvests in rice cultivation.
In a recent survey by Naijaroyaltyculture.blogspot.com
rice farmers, millers and dealers attributed the development to the pragmatic
agricultural policies put in place by the Federal Government.
They also ascribed the development to the positive lessons
learnt from harrowing situation brought about by the economic recession in the
country.
They observed that apart from the enhanced patronage of
local rice, which had boosted the economic status of rice farmers, the price of
the produce had stabilised and might even fall drastically due to massive
production.
Alhaji Baba Kaye, Chairman Rice Dealers Association in
Gombe State, noted that the intervention of the Federal Government had stabilized
the price of rice for some time now.
The price has remained stable without fluctuating; we are
grateful to the Federal Government for encouraging dry season farming and this
has impacted positively on us,’’ he said.
Alhaji Tasiu Kuri, a rice farmer in Kuri village of Gombe
State, attributed the increase in rice production to the decision of Federal
Government to ban the importation of foreign rice through the country’s land
borders.
Dr Yahaya Yusuf, Chairman, Rice Farmers Association of
Nigeria (RIFAN) in Bauchi State, projected that the state alone would
cultivate about one million tonnes of rice in 2017, as against the 600,000
tonnes it cultivated in 2016.
Alhaji Musa Takari, a rice farmer in Gashua, Yobe, said
that the ban on importation of rice had also provoked an increase in the
consumption of local rice, thereby triggering massive production.
Before now, the market has been very bad and discouraging but
the increased patronage has made us to produce more rice,” he said.
The story has been similar in other parts of the country,
as there has been dramatic increase in quantity of rice produced by rice
farmers across the country.
In Abakaliki, for instance, the state government said that it
had met the target of producing 350,000 tonnes of rice, which it set for the
2016 farming season.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr
Uchenna Orji told NAN in Abakaliki, that the state was able to achieve that
feat because the state government invested massively in rice production in
2016.
He stressed that the government’s determination to
revolutionalise rice production in Ebonyi was due to its comparative advantage
over other states in the area of rice farming.
Orji said that efforts were underway to ensure that Ebonyi
reclaimed its position as the highest rice producing state in West Africa.
In spite of the claims on massive production of rice
across the country, Naijaroyaltyculture.blogspot.com observed that the rice
milling capacities of the states differed and this, coupled with the different
distribution patterns, could explain the scarcity of local rice in the markets.
In Sokoto State, the rice millers, however, said that they
were producing below capacity.Malam Nura Attajiri, the Chairman, Small and
Medium Enterprises (SME) Rice Millers Association in the state, said that the
rice millers produced only about 150 tonnes per annum.
His words: “Although there are 255 millers, with machines
having installed capacity of producing about 350 tonnes of milled rice per
annum, in the state, their output is just about 150 tonnes per annum.
This shortfall is caused by the various challenges facing
the millers; these include poor electricity supply and inadequate funds to
procure paddy for processing, among others.
As such, we have been campaigning and looking into how the
state government and other relevant agencies can boost the rice production
capacity of millers through various intervention programmes.
Moreover, the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrowers
Programme, launched in Kebbi State, did not include SME millers but only
integrated millers, while Sokoto State has no integrated millers.
Although the state government is putting in more efforts
to assist us to improve production, we need more government intervention,
particularly in the area of rice processing.”
However, the zonal chapter of RIFAN in Daura, Katsina State,
said that the absence of rice milling plants in Daura had been a major limitation
to efforts to produce rice.
Alhaji Nura Baure, the zonal Chairman of the association,
said that although there were rice milling plants in Batagarawa and Funtua,
“those areas are very far from our farmers and the transportation cost is a
burden to our farmers.
I don’t even know the capacity of those rice milling
plants,’’ he added.
Baure, nonetheless, said that there was a subsisting
agreement between the association and an off-taker company, ZIL Nigeria Ltd.
that rice produced in the Daura and its environs would be milled by the
company.
In Port Harcourt, Dr Awotien George of Department of
Fisheries and Aquatic Environment, Rivers State University of Science and
Technology (RSUST), Port Harcourt, said that the few rice mills in the state
were non-functional.
He recalled that the dearth of functional rice mills in
the state compelled Port Harcourt Glorious Cooperative Society to transport the
rice, which was produced during 2016 planting season, to Ebonyi for milling.
He, therefore, urged the state government to be actively
involved in agricultural production.
All the same, plans are underway by the Adamawa Government
to establish three giant rice milling centres in the state, according to Dr
Umar Bindir, Chairman, State Project Management Team of Anchor Borrowers
Programme.
He said that the state government, through its agency,
Agricultural Development and Investment Ltd., had concluded arrangements to
establish the rice milling centres.
Bindir, who is also the Secretary to Adamawa Government,
said that the centres would also serve as marketing boards, which would
purchase paddy directly from farmers before processing it and selling it to
consumers across the country.
Nevertheless, Mr Abbo Jiddere, the state AFAN Chairman,
said that the association was consulting with other stakeholders on how to
establish rice mills in the state.
The situation is somewhat different in Kebbi, a major rice
producing state in the country, as the state is home to large rice mills such
as WACOT Rice Mill and Labana Rice Mill.
Alhaji Abdullahi Zuru, the General Manager of Labana Rice Mill,
said that the mill, which was established at the cost of N5 billion, had the
capacity to process and package 16 tonnes of rice within an hour.
He said that the mill, which had 2,000 employees, had
three different means of obtaining paddy.
Zuru said that the mill acquired paddy from 6,000 rice
farmers and 3,000 farmers who were registered with the CBN Anchor Borrowers
Programme, as well as paddy merchants from other states and countries like
Benin Republic, Niger Republic and Burkina Faso.
Labana Rice Mill has a well-established distribution
chain, from the factory to major towns in the state like Birnin Kebbi, Zuru,
Yauri, Argungu, and towns in other states such as Kano, Jos, Kaduna, Sokoto,
Gusau, Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Aba,’’ he said.
Zuru said that Labana Rice Mill had played a prominent
role in the success of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) existing between
Lagos and Kebbi States with regard to the processing and packaging of “Lake
Rice.’’
Labana Rice Mill has processed and packaged over
2,000 tonnes of `Lake Rice’, which had been supplied to Lagos State, as part of
the MoU,’’ he said.
As regards “Lake Rice’’ – the product of the joint venture
between Lagos and Kebbi states, some residents of Lagos State, however,
complained about its scarcity in the market.
For instance, Mrs Temitope Ajayi, a resident of the
Abule-Egba area of the state, said that she had not heard of the rice sales or
anybody buying the commodity since early January.
She said that the rice was not in the market, adding that
those, who were able to buy “Lake Rice’’ in December, however, admitted that
its quality was good.
However, Mr Sanni Okanlawan, Special Adviser on Food
Security to Gov. Akinwumi Ambode, told our correspondent that Lagos State
Government still had enough consignment of “Lake Rice’’ for distribution to
interested members of the public, out of the stock that was produced last
December.
He said that more distribution centres would be opened so
as to ensure that the commodity was available to more Lagos residents.
The special adviser said that part of the rice, which was
delivered to Lagos State in December, was still stocked at the Imota Mill
Plant.
Okanlawon said that at intervals, the rice would be
distributed to centres across the state’s local government areas where people
could buy it at the price of N12,000 per 50kg bag and N6,000 per 25kg bag.
He said: “`Lake Rice’ is still available at our
2.5-metric-ton rice milling plant in Imota, from the December consignment from
our partner state, Kebbi.’’
All the same, Malam Manu Sandamu, an agricultural
extension officer in Daura, Katsina State, bemoaned the absence of regulated
channels of rice distribution between farmers, millers, marketers and consumers
across the country.
Definitely, there is increasing patronage for our local
rice but that, in essence, means that the rice distribution chain should no
longer rely on patchwork methods,’’ he added.
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