Agriculture with Jimoh

-A former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday said Nigeria was almost achieving self sufficiency in rice production in 1979 before he quit as the military Head of state, saying, the regime of the Second Republic president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, which succeded him scuttled the strides . Obasanjo spoke as the chief launcher at the Global unveiling of Okun Rice, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Obasanjo who blamed it on inconsistence in policy, said the successive civilian administration led by Alhaji Shehu Shagari, later set up Committee on importation of rice. He said this shift in policy focus from his own agricultural revolution, served as a disincentive to farmers who were cultivating rice, and they were sent packing as the imported bags of rice began to arrive. Okun Rice is produced by Hyst Global Business Limited, owned by Mr. Biodun Onalaja. Obasanjo, however, commended Onalaja for rekindling the h...

The Kwara Government said on Thursday that by November it would begin to harvest the rice cultivated by its small holder farmers under CBN’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme. Mr Adegoke Bamidele, the state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources , disclosed this in Ilorin while receiving a Community Scorecard on smallholder farmers’ accessibility to Agriculture financing in Nigeria. The scorecard was presented by the Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE), a partner of Actionaid Nigeria. Also speaking, Malam Ahmed Mohammed, the Director, Agricultural Engineering and Services in the ministry, said the government started programme with the cultivation of 50 hectares of rice at Tsada Tshonga in Edu Local Government Area of the state. Mohammed explained that the state keyed into the programme under the Hyst Global Business Limited/Anchor Borrower programme. Hyst is a rice milling company based in Abuja. He added that anoth...

Jigawa Government on Tuesday announced plans to distribute ultra-modern mini rice mills, harvesters and other implements to boost rice production in the state. Alhaji Jamilu Usaman-Danmalam, Special Adviser to the state governor on Rice Production and Value Chain said the implements would be distributed to youths under the government cluster farming scheme. The special adviser said in an interview on Tuesday in Dutse, that the items would be issued to the young farmers on loan. He listed the farming implements to include 100 mini rice milling machines, 100 single row planters, 100 double row planters, 100 mini thrashers, 300 handheld harvesters and 574 manual sprayers. “The government has concluded all arrangements for this exercise and all the items are on ground. “We are done with compiling the names of the beneficiaries and we will soon call them for distribution. “This is part of our plans to empower and encourage youths to go into farming. ...

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has advised rice farmers in Ebonyi who benefitted from the Fund’s rice inputs distribution to utilise them to boost production. The IFAD Coordinator in Ebonyi, Mr Sunday Ituma, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abakaliki. Ituma who commended the state government for its agricultural revolution programme, called on benefitting farmers to make good use of the inputs to accelerate rice production. He assured that IFAD’s State Office would ensure effective monitoring of the inputs distribution to ensure that the material got to the real owners. He said that the procurement of the farm inputs was facilitated through joint partnership of the Ebonyi Government and IFAD under the Value Chain Development Programme. He said the initiative was to encourage rice farmers in the state to boost production of the commodity. “The programme development goal is...

Rice millers in Kano State have attributed the high cost of locally-produced rice to the increasing cost of production of the commodity in the country. Mr Liman Muhammed, spokesperson, Medium and Small Scale Rice Millers Association in the state, said this during a visit to some rice mills in Kano on Wednesday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the price of 50kg locally-produced rice ranges between N20,000 and N22,000 while that of imported rice is between N12,000 and N15,000. “For locally-produced rice, the cost of production is high. Our people are used to the imported rice but with government’s intervention, we are seeing good quality rice. “Most imported rice have spent more than 10 years in the storage and are not good enough but the local rice has more nutritional value. “The number of people consuming local rice is increasing and if everybody along the rice value chain is empowered, the cost of production will reduce,’’ he said. He ...

Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), says billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote, may become the largest exporter of rice in the world by 2021 LAGOS, Nigeria, April 17, 2017/ -- Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), says billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote (www.Dangote.com), may become the largest exporter of rice in the world by 2021. Speaking at the Mo Ibrahim Forum in Morocco over the weekend, Adesina said Africa must focus on agriculture to drive growth and create jobs on the continent. “I remember when I was minister of Agriculture in Nigeria. Aliko Dangote was there, and he was our biggest importer at the time, and he and I used to have all the time to dialogue,” Adesina said. “One day, I was in my office, about 10 O’clock, Aliko walks in, Ngozi was minister of finance. Aliko bangs on my door and said ‘minister I came to see you’, and I said ‘what are we going to disagree on this time?’ “H...

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 News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), 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 stabilised the price of rice for some time now. “The price has remained stable without fluctuating; we are grateful...

Focus is on food security and helping poor farmers by enhancing crop resilience and adapting to climate change FAO and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have agreed to cooperate more closely to support sustainable rice production in developing countries to improve food security and livelihoods while safeguarding natural resources. An agreement signed today seeks to better pool the scientific knowledge and technical know-how of the two organizations so that they can expand and intensify their work globally. The partnership primarily aims to enhance sustainable rice-based farming systems through capacity building activities - including assisting governments draw up and implement national and regional policies and strategies - to the benefit of small-scale farmers, especially women. "The world faces very significant changes over the next few decades to produce the volume and quality of nutritious food to feed a global population heading for 10 billion pe...

The Kaduna State chapter of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) has appealed to Federal Government to maintain its ban on rice importation so as to boost local production. The State Secretary of RIFAN, Mr Ishaya Audu, made the appeal in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Kaduna. Audu urged the government to ignore calls from various quarters to lift the ban on rice importation through the country’s land borders, saying that the ban should be sustained to encourage rice farmers to increase their productivity. “ Our farmers produce at a loss due to their lack of access to fertilisers, agro-chemicals, high-yield seeds, tractors and loan facilities to expand rice production in the state. “ We were among those who encouraged the Federal Government’s ban on importation of rice, although we cannot meet up with the current demand for the commodity due to these challenges. “ We still insist that the ban be sustained while all these challenges are ...

ABUJA- THE Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, and Africa Rice Centre (AfricaRice),have commenced training of 300 community based rice farmers on quality rice seeds production to boost yield and consumption. This was disclosed by the FAO Deputy Representative to Nigeria, Nourou Macki, who said it has become necessary to build the capacity of farmers on production of quality rice seed, which will be for youths and women, and also rice seeds producers. According to Macki the training being conducted was under the Partnership for Sustainable Rice Systems Development in Sub-Saharan Africa agreement between FAO and AfricaRice. The trainees are drawn from six states, which include Ekiti, Edo, Anambra, Abia, Nassarawa and Jigawa for the project, which 50 participants will benefit from the training in each state and also demonstration plots and backstopping mission established as part of sustaining the project. It will facilitate the emergence of efficient rice productio...

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) assisted-Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) in Anambra says it is targeting 791,000 tonnes of rice production during the current dry season farming. The state Programme Coordinator, Mr Nnamdi Aguncha, said this on Wednesday when the National Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation team of the programme inspected some rice and cassava farms in the state. The team inspected rice farms at Owusi, Omasi, Omor, Ifite-Ogwari, Enugu-Abo, Ufuma and Umuekete-Aguleri, among other communities. Aguncha said that rice farmers were mobilised to farm lands covering over 120 hectares across Orumba North, Ayamelum, Awka North, Anambra East and Anambra West Local Government Areas. “VCDP decided to encourage rice farmers for dry season farming for the first time in line with Gov. Willie Obiano’s vision to double rice production in the state. “We assisted the farmers with land preparation and development and trained ...

No fewer than 2,000 rice farmers are being targeted for the commencement of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrower Programme in Abia. Chief Israel Amanze, the Chairman, Project Management Team for the programme in Abia, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Tuesday. manze, a former Commissioner for Agriculture, said that no fewer than 500 people had so far been registered and sent to CBN by the committee. According to him, farmers eligible for registration must own about one and five hectres of rice farmland. He said that the CBN would create an enabling environment for the benefitting farmers to thrive. According to him, farmers will get financial and material assistance from the point of cultivation to the harvest season. “The farmers will be assisted and given enabling environment, including funds and materials to cultivate the farmland. “Whatever they produce would be bought off from them at ...

An agriculturalist, Mr Michael Nasamu, has urged rice farmers to cultivate of quality paddy rice so as to boost the nation’s efforts to attain self-sufficiency in rice production. Nasamu, who is the Regional Consultant, Coalition for African Rice Development, made the call on Tuesday in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. He said that massive rice production in the country could only be achieved through the cultivation of quality paddy and grading standardisation. “Paddy grading standard is important to control the quality of paddy traded in the Nigeria market. “‘All things being equal, quality paddy will lead to quality milled rice which can compete well with imported rice,’’ he said. Nasamu said that if the farmers were able to cultivate quality paddy, they would garner attract the increased patronage of millers, adding that this would also boost the famers’ income. He, however, called for the organisation of practical sensitisation campa...

No fewer than 2,000 registered rice farmers in Borno are to benefit from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Agricultural Programme in the state. Consultant in charge of the programme in the state, Mr Abbah Kale, who made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri, on Thursday, said rice farming had already commenced in liberated communities. Kale said registration and bio-metric data capturing of beneficiaries was on-going, just as they had scaled up the exercise to cover other liberated local government areas. He said that the programme was introduced by the Federal Government as part of renewed effort to boost rice and wheat production in the country. According to him, the programme is aimed at supporting farmers with agricultural inputs to enhance productivity, create job opportunities and diversify the country’s economy. The Consultant said under the programme, each farmer would be provided with 50kg of seeds, 50kg o...

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, says the Federal Government has purchased 100 rice mills for distribution to rice-producing states in the country. Ogbeh said this in Umuahia on Monday during the Federal Government’s town hall meeting with prominent indigenes of the state. He said that the machines would also be sold to private millers at reduced rates, adding that the gesture was part of government’s interventions to boost local rice production. According to him, Nigeria is spending 5 million dollars daily on rice importation from Thailand, India and Vietnam. He expressed delight that Nigeria now ranked second in rice production in the continent, adding that the money spent on importation could be put into infrastructure development. The minister also spoke on government’s efforts to enhance the production of Cocoa and Cashew in the country. He said that the Federal Government would soon relaunch Cocoa production in three states of ...

A rice processor, Mr Hassan Sheshi, has called on the Federal Government to assist rice farmers in the country with more intervention programmes to enable them to increase their productivity. Sheshi, the General Manager of Onyx Rice Mill Limited, Bida in Niger, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday that most rice processors were currently operating below installed capacity because of the scarcity of paddy. “Federal Government should support rice farmers with more intervention programmes so as to enable them to produce more paddy for rice mills across the country,’’ he said. According to him, the Onyx Rice Mill is operating below its installed annual capacity of 16,000 tonnes due to inadequate paddy from local growers. Sheshi said that the mill, which was established in 2012, was just managing to produce about 9,000 tonnes per annum. “We are currently producing 9,000 tonnes of rice per annum instead of our full capacity of 16,000 tonnes. “This is below our inst...

Dr Samuel Agboire, Director General National Cereal Research Institute Badeggi in Niger, said on Thursday that Nigeria has the capacity to produce sufficient rice to meet local demand. Agboire said in Badeggi that all that was required was sufficient farming implements and inputs, as well as cheap credit facilities and market for farmers. The director general added that all tiers of government must embark on massive construction of feeder roads to open up the hinterland and enable farmers transport their produce to mills and markets. ” We can comfortable produce rice twice a year if the required farming implements will be made available at government approved rates.” He said that farmer should be motivated through the provision of modern farming implements at subsidised rates. Agboire called for sufficient funding of research institutes to enable them meet up with national challenges. “ No nation can develop or meet its Agricultural produce targets wit...

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has expressed its commitment to assist Nigerian rice farmers to produce quality rice for export. Mrs Salamatu Baba, the Public Relations/Social Sector Officer of JICA, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja. Baba said that boosting rice farmers’ capacity to cultivate satisfactory quantity of paddy was critical to Nigeria’s goal of achieving self-sufficiency in rice production by 2018. “Toward the Nigerian goal of self-sufficiency in rice production by 2018, it is important that rice produce quality paddy products from which can compete with foreign rice.” Baba explained that in an effort to achieve the goal, JICA had organised sensitisation workshops in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in December 2015, February and March, 2016. She called for the standardisation of grading met...

The Federal Government has denied that it had imported and flooded the nation’s markets with Genetically Modified rice. The Director-General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr Rufus Ebegba made the position of government known at a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that an online news platform had alleged that the Federal Government through a firm had flooded the nation’s market with poisonous GM rice. Ebegba said that there was no iota of truth in the report, noting that no GM rice had either been imported or released officially into the country. According to him, `no GMO rice has been commercially released anywhere in the world. He said that the Federal Government had banned the importation of rice and there was no indication that the ban had been lifted. Ebegba described the online report as a falsehood and imagination of the writer, who “probably used a fake name.’’ He added that th...

Ooni wants inclusive agriculture to reduce poverty, unemployment .... Storage facilities major problem-- Dangote  ......  brief case’ farmers   recognised ---AFN boss  ....... The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has called on Nigerians to aggressively engage in agriculture to end poverty and reduce unemployment in the country. Adeyeye made the call at the 2017 Mike Omotosho Annual Lecture with theme, `Increased Agricultural Productivity for Sustainable Economic Growth’, in Abuja on Saturday. He said that engaging in agriculture was a sure way to ensure nation building, especially in the currently recession facing the country. The Onni expressed concern that deforestation which he said had reached an alarming rate in the country had resulted in low productivity of farmers in food production. The Oba said: ‘’ We abandoned the bedrock of this country and that is why we are where we are today. “ We need proper mind re-orientation and change our focus to agr...