FG has abandoned us –Wheat farmers

This, they say is because “Wheat that was used for the production of bread and other confectioneries has been replaced with cassava.”The farmers who spoke to Daily Trust said the present administration has not in any way supported wheat farmers to enhance the production of the crop, “instead, license for the mass importation of wheat […]

This, they say is because “Wheat that was used for the production of bread and other confectioneries has been replaced with cassava.”
The farmers who spoke to Daily Trust said the present administration has not in any way supported wheat farmers to enhance the production of the crop, “instead, license for the mass importation of wheat was granted to businessmen against local production. As if that is not enough, the government again included cassava among the transformation crops and voted huge sums of money for its production to replace wheat,” a farmer at Mafara, Salisu Musa Rozy said.
At Suru which used to be the largest wheat producing community in the state, the farmers have stopped wheat production. One of the farmers, Malam Hussaini Umar Suru said they abandoned the production of wheat for rice because of lack of government support and motivation for wheat farmers.
He said the process for the production of wheat is so difficult and the farmers hardly get good buyers after harvest, adding, even when the buyers come, they would like to buy below production cost. He said throughout the period they were producing wheat in the area, government did not provide them with improved wheat seeds or fertilizer as they were doing to farmers of other crops.
At Goronyo, the story was the same as Alhaji Musa Gada said he and other farmers in the area abandoned the production of wheat when they realized it was not in the list of favoured crops of the present administration, saying, “we cannot continue to produce wheat at a loss and without government’s support.”
But the Managing Director of Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority (SRRBDA), an agency of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources managing the federal government-owned dams in Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina states, Engineer Khalid Yusuf, said his agency has embarked on the revamping of wheat production using its irrigation facilities.
He said his agency has re-introduced the production of wheat at Bakalori and Jibiya dams, adding, “at Bakalori we experimented and re-introduced 200 hectares for wheat production. That was planted ceremonially in November 2012. The Minister of Water Resources and the Zamfara State governor were all there and they planted. We did a nice production.
“In Jibiya, we had a similar ceremony where the Minister of Water Resources and the Governor of Katsina State launched the dry season planting of wheat in November 2012 that was harvested in March this year. Only 100 hectares of farmland was done there as foundation. We did that to test the ability of the farmers to produce these quick yielding crops. The farmers really appreciate the development and we shall empower them to commence triple cropping with those quick crops that can be harvested in just four months.
“I must admit that one of our greatest challenges now is to ensure that after the production of the crops, we need marketing. Yes, we need to market these crops by getting buyers as that is the only way we can encourage the farmers to continue producing. It is either the government comes in or the private sector comes in to find a stable market for these crops. With money in their pockets and the ongoing support from government, Nigerian farmers will continually enhance their production,” Engineer Khalid said.
Agric Minister, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina in justifying his reason for favouring cassava over wheat, had said: “Just to give you an example, when I became minister, I looked at cassava; 45 percent of the cassava in the country was underground. Nobody could harvest them, because the farmers could not find markets for them, yet we are the largest producers of cassava in the world. That makes no sense, and we are spending N635 billion importing wheat when I know that I can replace that with sorghum flour.
“When we do that, we create jobs at home here. Some people might have thought it was a political thing. I’m proud of that bread because it is fantastic. It’s made out of 20 percent high quality cassava flour which means you’ve reduced the wheat flour by 20 percent. Already, all the bakers in this country have shifted to the use of 20 percent high quality cassava flour in bread.
“We spend so much in importing wheat. You take a look at the entire Yobe, Kano areas, these are good areas where we can grow wheat. We are spending N635 billion importing wheat which doesn’t make sense.”
But an online statement made available to Daily Trust last weekend by the Special Assistant to the minister on Media and Strategy, Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, quoted the minister as declaring his support for wheat production after the Executive Director of Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI), Dr. Oluwasina Gbenga Olabanji, handed him a loaf of bread 100 percent produced from wheat.
“Another way agriculture will boost the economy of northern Nigeria became evident from the findings on local production of wheat for import substitution. By 2015, the quantity of wheat imported into Nigeria is expected to be reduced by half. This is to be achieved through aggressive production in 10 states of the North as disclosed this week during the official presentation of 100 per cent Nigerian wheat bread to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina in Abuja,” the statement read in part.
Expressing hope that, Nigeria will soon be self-sufficient in wheat production, the statement quoted Dr. Adesina as saying, “All the way in the North; Borno, Yobe, Katsina, Kano, Zamfara, Sokoto states: in all those areas, we can produce wheat. We have not been doing that well. Rather, we spend N635 million annually in importing wheat.
“With all the wheat value chain that we have, we will be able, over a four-year period. …Just imagine what the northern states will look like. We did dry season rice in 10 states in the North. You saw what happened. You can imagine if wheat expansion of those varieties under those mechanised conditions happened all over the place,” the statement added.
The online statement also quoted the Executive Director, Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI), Dr. Oluwasina Gbenga Olabanji, as saying that between now and 2015, Nigeria should be able to produce half of its requirement, noting that the country’s demand for wheat is 3.7 metric tons. He expressing optimism that by 2015, it should be able to achieve 50 per cent of this national demand.
“We have the potential to produce our own wheat. We have 600,000 hectares of land in this country that is suitable for wheat production, out of which only 10 per cent is utilised for wheat production. But, within this agricultural transformation agenda, we have proposed, for 2013 to 2014, to cultivate 150,000 hectares of land in the wheat-growing areas. These are 10 states in the northern part of the country,” he said.