Inside Olam Rice Farm

One of the things that have happened in the rice value chain in recent times is the reinvigoration of synergy to step up rice production in Nigeria.In Nigeria, rice production is marred by its importation, a situation that has almost turned the country into a dumping ground. This is coupled with lack of commitment by […]

One of the things that have happened in the rice value chain in recent times is the reinvigoration of synergy to step up rice production in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, rice production is marred by its importation, a situation that has almost turned the country into a dumping ground. This is coupled with lack of commitment by government, at all levels, to encourage local production to meet home demand. But now a new leaf is in the offing.
The opening up of the country to investors has seen many companies across the globe indicating their interests in the huge potential which abounds in the country’s agricultural sector.
One of these investors in the country’s agricultural sector is the Olam group of agro allied industries – one of the biggest global players in agriculture with over 100 years of experience in production, processing and marketing of agro products worldwide.
Olam Rice Farm is one of the biggest rice farms in West Africa. Located in Rukubi village about 60 killometres from Doma, the headquarters of Doma local government of Nasarawa State, the farm sits on 9,000 hectares of land.
With average yield of 5.5 to 7 tonnes per hectare, the farm currently produces about 72,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice of international standard per year.
The quality of rice planted such as faro 44 and faro 52, according to the Country Head, Olam Rice Farm, Mr. Mukul Mathur, are excellent varieties which have better quality yield than most imported rice grain.
The farm which started operation in 2012 is mechanised with high powered farm machines, some fully automated.
The combine harvester’s machines can harvest up to 20 hectares per day. The farm’s new aircraft is efficient for spraying fertiliser, herbicides and pesticides. The network of artificial dams created all over the farm meets its dry season water need.  
With the irrigation water channel that allows water flow from River Benue where the farm taps it water, rice production will not be defined by seasons, as all seasons mean the same to the farm.
 In fact, with new technology, the farm could alter the dry and wet season dichotomy – a third season could be developed!
Built into the farm system is a 60, 000 tonnes state-of-the-art milling plant which has met international standard to process high quality rice. The plant has capacity to process many thousands metric tonnes per hour; the farm is a city of it own.  Olam Farm mill is expected to commence milling in June, this year.
Daily Trust recently visited the farm and discovered that about 952 workers, including women and youth, are engaged in the farm. At least, for the nieghbouring villages and towns, joblessness will soon become a thing of the past. The farm will certainly be a major player in rice production in Nigeria.
According to the farm manager, the Indian company has so far spent over N12 billion, with investment likely to double by the time the project is fully completed.
Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, who visited the farm last week, said the country is witnessing a new era in rice production, adding that importation will soon stop as the country steps up local production to meet the 2015 target for self sufficiency in rice.
Adesina noted that poverty is not an industry and, as such, it should not be grown in Nigeria. “We must stop exporting jobs and importing poverty,” he stressed.
He reckoned that for Nigeria to become self sufficient in rice, we must be producing at least 5 million metric tonnes of rice annually.
 He added: “With what I see here today, I see no reason why we should not be self-sufficient or exporting rice from Nigeria. This is commercial agriculture which we need to have with our own small holder agriculture. They are working right now to also have almost 3,000 out grower farmers around them.”
The minister noted that the country produced in 2012/2013 season a total of 1.4 million metric tonnes of paddy rice. By 2013/2014 dry season, it increased production by 2.94 million metric tonnes of paddy rice, he added.
“If you convert that into mill equivalent that will give you about 1.9 million metric tonnes of high quality milled rice,” the minister said.
Adesina was confident that with what he saw in Olam Rice farm, Nigeria will soon export rice if the smaller integrated rice millers and producers are also encouraged all over the country.
Olam also produces the high yielding quality seeds that are distributed to farmers under the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) – a scheme that gets subsidised inputs directly to farmers through their mobile phones.
Adesina also announced that the Olam Rice Farm is going to be a Staple Crop Processing Zone (SCPZ) bringing the number to be so established across the country to 15.  With this, he said, power and good road will be provided to the farm in order to cut the cost of operating on diesel.
For Adesina, the $72 million of investment in rice production by Olam Rice Farm is making things work.
“I firmly believe Nigeria will be a net exporter of rice, we should be the Thailand for rice in Africa,” he said.