Dangote to inaugurate 25,000 hectres rice outgrower scheme in Sokoto


Dangote Rice, a subsidiary of Dangote Group is set to launch a 25,000 hectares of rice outgrower scheme with a prospect of creating employment opportunities for rural communities in Sokoto.
A statement issued by Mr Francis Awowole-Browne, the Head of Media, Dangote Rice, said President of the Group, Aliko Dangote would on Wednesday inaugurate the pilot project of 500 hectres at Gonroyo Dam, in Goronyo community.
Awowole said that the inauguration which would be performed by Governor Aminu Tambuwa would witness seedlings being distributed to both primary local farmers.
According to him, the company plans to purchase harvested rice from the farmers under the Outgrower’s programme for milling and final processing at Dangote Rice mills.
The head of media noted that through the Dangote Rice Outgrower Scheme, the company would partner with smallholder rice farmers to cultivate and grow rice paddy.
“ The company will provide inputs, technical assistance, extension services and land preparation services and equipment directly to farmers.
“At harvest, Dangote Rice will recoup the costs of inputs and services in-kind and will act as a guaranteed off taker for paddy that meets certain pre-agreed quality standards.

“Smallholder farmers will provide land and labour.
“By end of 2017, Dangote Rice will have 25,000 hectres cultivated across three sites in Northern Nigeria having identified as rice-growing communities.
“In Jigawa State , 5000 hectres will be cultivated, Sokoto State 10,000 hectres and Zamfara State 10,000 hectres.’’
He also said that additional 260 jobs would be created by the end of 2017.
“These individuals will serve as agronomists, credit officers and staff of the mill.’’
According to him, Dangote Rice plans to produce one million metric tonnes of rice from 150,000 hectres in the next five years over in the long run.
“We intend to accomplish this by scaling the business model described above to more sites and rice growing communities.
“In addition, the company plans to establish and manage a high-quality seed development farm at Numan in Adamawa to reduce the costs of seeds.
“Raw materials reception, drying, hulling, parboiling units and silos will be established in strategic areas throughout the country near Outgrower communities,’’ Awowole-Browne said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Statistics from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development estimates that rice demand in Nigeria reached 6.3 million metric tonnes in 2015.
However, local production which currently stood at 2.3 million metric tonnes leaves a gap of opportunities.

Recently, several programmes such as Anchor Borrowers Programme have been initiated by the government and private sector to make the country food sufficient.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tomato disease outbreak: Institute appeals for research funding

The National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, has appealed for funding to carry out research and create awareness on the tuta absoluta pest on tomatoes. The Institute’s Head of Vegetable Programme, Dr Olagorite Adetula, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday that there was an urgent need to tackle the problem to save the economy. Adetula said the institute needed money to do surveillance survey of the pest/damage, ascertain the impact of the damage and proffer solution for eradicating the pest. She appealed to the Federal Government to help the institute get pheromones to lure and trap the pests and distribute to farmers. ``Spraying insecticides is not the best, the pest has high production rate, some of them can escape while spraying it and they will be resistant to the insecticide thereby causing us more cost. ``The pheromones can be used for six to eight weeks before changing it, it is very effective, the pest has short life cycle, wit...
Read more

10,000 women farmers to be engaged in ECOWAS rice project – official

Image
 Mr Richard Olafare, the President, Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN) says 10,000 women will be engaged in the recently inaugurated Rice Seed Up-Scaling Project. This is contained in a presentation on the project made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday. Olafare said 8,000 youths would also be engaged in the scaling project. According to him, the number of women and youths represented 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively of the 20,000 farmers that will participate in the project. NAN reports that the project is an initiative of the West Africa Seed Programme (WASP) in support of the ECOWAS Rice Offensive Programme that was inaugurated in 2014. Among other objectives, it is targeting the production of 60,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice for Nigeria by December 2017, using 1,200 certified seeds. The project is being implemented by SEEDAN in collaboration with the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultura...
Read more

Monsanto Nigeria Launches 3 Conventional Maize Hybrids

Maize farmers across Nigeria now have 3 high yielding conventional maize hybrids to choose from the DEKALB ® brand as Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited launches 3 conventional maize hybrids. The launch held in Abuja on Tuesday May 17 2016 had in attendance farmers, development partners, government regulatory bodies and other stakeholders from both the private and public sectors of the economy. The launch of these hybrid seeds follows their registration by the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds and Fisheries in February 2016. The white maize hybrid, DK234 alongside the 2 yellow maize hybrids, DK920 and DK818 obtained registration approval for use in Nigeria after testing across various agro ecological zones on multi-location farms. The white maize hybrid DK234 with yield potential of 13 tonnes per hectare is well adapted for the Southern and Northern Guinea Savanna ecologies and shows tolerance to Maize Streak Virus, ...
Read more