Date: 2013-11-08

With the Federal Government’s move to stop rice importation in 2015, Mohammed Kandi ponders if the local farmers are prepared for the task of feeding over 160 million Nigerians from their farms.

If the decision of the Federal Government to ban rice importation by 2015 is anything to go by, then it has to boost the morale of local rice farmers across the country in the production of the food.

Rice is a common staple food that can be found on the tables of mankind across the globe. It is one of the cheapest foods in this part of the world. Some people are so obsessed with it that one of their three square meals in a day would be rice.

Findings revealed that it is a staple food for nearly one-half of the world’s population. It was also gathered that it is grown in about 112 countries. It can be cooked in different forms whether as white rice, fried rice, coconut rice and jollof rice. While some tribes use it to make tuwon shinkafa.

As a human food, rice continues to gain popularity in many parts of the world where other cereals, such as maize, sorghum and millet, or tubers and roots like potatoes, yams, and cassava have traditionally dominated. For example, of all the world’s regions, Africa has had the sharpest rise in rice consumption during the last few decades.

It has also been reported that about one billion naira (N1billion) worth of rice is imported everyday in Nigeria.

The Federal Government, having expressed worry over how the nation is being negatively affected by the importation of food economically, noted that the objective of promoting food production locally could only be realisable through joint efforts with communities and private firms.

A rice farmer, Pa Raheem Oyenekan, 80, identified lack of access to loans and other credit facilities that could have helped them to expand their productivity as the bane of the business.He said rice farmers in the locality, whether as individuals or groups, have not benefitted from such announcements.

“Such funds announced by government often ended in the pockets of those that are not real farmers.If money is readily made available to us, I tell you local rice will flood the market at cheaper rate. We will engage the services of labourers to do the work. The productivity level will be high compared to what we are realising now.

“Fund is a major challenge militating against high level production of Ofada rice, coupled with invasion of wild birds and pests. We need money to tackle these challenges,"Pa Oyenekan said.

The octogenarian appealed to all concerned in granting them access to loans ahead of the planting season, adding that they would flood the market with Ofada rice if they could be assisted with funds and other farm tools to work with.

He maintained that release of funds to rice farmers between November and January or latest February would assist the farmers to have bumper harvest.

Oyenekan said, “If government can make fund available to us between next month and November, all we need to do is to engage the services of labourers to clear the farmlands for planting.

“The planting will be done between November and February before the rain begins. The weeding will be done between May and June for the crop to mature and be ready for harvesting between July and August."

Another farmer, Mr. Oyeniyi Oyebamiji, said the invasion of wild birds usually destroy their rice farms when the crops are mature for harvesting, so also do grass cutters.

He said that rice farmers engage people on the farms to disperse birds between the hours of 6.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. on a daily basis for about a month when they can no longer feed on the rice stalks.

“Apart from funding, birds destroying the rice farms before maturity are our greatest challenge. We have to engage some labourers to chase wild birds away for about 12 hours daily which may last a period of one month.

“We need the help of government and other relevant agencies to procure sprayers for us to kill pests destroying our crop and also to train us on how to operate the sprayers,"Oyebamiji said.

He alleged that funds, when available, were disbursed among some large scale farmers at the detriment of local and small scale rice farmers.

Oyebamiji also called on government to make communities roads accessible from the farms to the towns, to enable farmers to transport their goods without much ado.

Meanwhile, some stakeholders in Osun state are holding on to a strong notion that if the colossal sum, being expended on the importation of rice could be used to boost its local production by farmers, it would go a long way in creating jobs for myriad of youths roaming the streets, propel the nation’s economic growth and enhance food security in Nigeria.

But, the reverse is the case as rice farmers toil day and night to grow the local rice, popularly referred to as Ofada Rice while they also undergo harrowing experience in getting market for it after hardship of planting, harvesting, drying and milling of the product through local and substandard technology available.

In Osun State, there are a number of communities involved in rice farming. They are Erin Ijesa, Erin Oke, Erinmo, Iwaraja and Ipetumodu in Oriade and Ife-North local government areas of the state.

To the rice farmers in these communities, it has been a Herculean task staying afloat or remaining relevant in the production of the product over the past few years. One of their greatest challenges is the lack of fund to cultivate larger expanse of land for bounty harvest and unavailability of modern technology to enhance the production processes of rice.

Another rice farmer, Ismaila Ayodele Adanri, said, “Our problems as rice farmers stem from non-support from the government. About three years ago, the federal government introduced what they called R Boxes; inside those boxes, we have little quantity of rice, some herbicides and liquid fertilizers. The boxes were supplied only once. I am of the opinion that it should be supplied on regular basis".

He submitted that “The major challenge facing rice farmers is the conversion of bush land to farmland. Much resource is expended on clearing, weeding and uprooting the trees.

There is need for government to intervene at that level. Similarly, agricultural institutions and agencies should sensitise rice farmers on the appropriate use of agro-chemicals.

When these chemicals are used, you increase output, quality of rice and promote interest of people, most especially the youth in farming.

“We would only be able to make enough to feed ourselves when farming ceases from cultivating crops at subsistent level when it is pushed up to become a big business. Nigerians risk being starved if we leave farming to the aged, illiterates and the poor.

It is high time the young, educated and hardworking youths are encouraged to get involved in farming.

They can only do so when farming becomes big business and an economic venture that would be financially rewarding", Adanri remarked.

He continued, “Rice farmers in Oriade local government will be able to open up more lands for rice cultivation if we have the support from the government in terms of land clearing and preparation.

On the capacity for Nigerian rice farmers to produce enough rice for local consumption, Adanri posited that “I know for sure that we have the capacity. Sometimes in the late 70s before the importation of rice commenced, I could remember that there was a year that Nigeria even sold rice produced locally to some West African countries. We were producing enough then. But, when the importation of rice started, it killed that good initiative. Even, here in Erin Oke, an average farmer, while processing his own product and wants to eat rice would send his child to buy rice from food seller, instructing such kid to buy Uncle Bens Rice, thus condemning his own product".

However, the major rice growing areas of Kwara state are Patigi and Edu local governments. These two local governments border River Niger, while all the belts in Kwara State along the bank of River Niger are rice growing belt. However, due to development in agricultural technology now, including research and development, there are many local governments in the state where rice is grown.

Meanwhile, local farmers in rice growing areas of Kwara state are currently responsible for producing about 400,000 tons of rice in the state annually. They are mostly aged men and women, as it was gathered that the young ones prefer to engage in commercial motorcycle business rather than farming, as the situation is in most of Nigeria’s agricultural areas.

It was also gathered that they are faced with many challenges. Many of them said these include challenge of acquiring new technology to grow the crop, availability of ready market to sell their commodity and annual flooding, particularly in Patigi and Edu local government areas.

The dastardly effect of last year’s flood was experienced in such places as Kosubosu, Baruten, Edu, Moro and Patigi local government areas among others.

Peoples Daily gathered that over 3,200 hectares of rice plantation under Tada-Shonga Irrigation Scheme in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State were swept by flood from River Niger.

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, who commissioned Quarra Rice Mill at Tsaragi in Edu Local Government Area of the state recently, said the proposed ban on rice importation by the federal government by year 2015 will encourage the growth of local rice farmers and millers in the country.

The governor, however, said the proposed policy could only work through a holistic approach that includes tax incentives and effective policing of the nation’s borders.

According to him, structured and carefully planned agro-reforms are key to achieving the desired result in the agricultural sector of the nation’s economy.

The governor emphasised that in line with the World Bank thinking, planned agriculture has the largest potential to trigger rapid growth, reduce poverty and guarantee food security.

The agricultural value chain management is pivotal to the reforms envisaged under the Kwara Agricultural Modernisation Master plan design in partnership with Cornell University New York", Ahmed said.

We are implementing the scheme through a model of ten out-grower farmers per local government who are attached to an off-taker and thus, guarantee a ready market for their produce through the buy-back mechanism of the off-taker scheme" the governor noted.

He said his administration is establishing three agriculture malls that are conceived as one stop shops for farm input, equipment, banking facilities and extension services where farmers can access the services in a seamless fashion.

The state government said it has identified 5,000 local rice farmers to work with the rice plant as out-growers to the plant in form of provision of plots of land to work, provision of inputs like improved seedlings, fertilisers and technology know-how.

The commissioner said the state is working with FG to distribute water-resistant rice varieties that will survive in water for about two weeks before the flood recedes and also looking at a lot of upland varieties to be introduced next year so that farmers can grow rice in areas not prone to flood.