Rice pyramids replace erstwhile Kano groundnut pyramids

In the 60s and up to the early part of the 70s, Kano, the commercial centre of the country, was a beehive of commercial activities partly as a result of the groundnut pyramid. At that time, bags of groundnut were ferried through the railway to Kano railway station in Nasarawa local government area of the […]

In the 60s and up to the early part of the 70s, Kano, the commercial centre of the country, was a beehive of commercial activities partly as a result of the groundnut pyramid.
At that time, bags of groundnut were ferried through the railway to Kano railway station in Nasarawa local government area of the state. The arrangement of the bags of groundnut in a pyramid format brought about the cliché ‘groundnuts pyramid’.
Gradually, the groundnuts pyramid which was the goldmine of the North started disappearing and finally vanished in the late 70s. Now, the disappeared groundnut pyramid is being replaced by the rice paddy pyramid.
From Nasarawa local government, the pyramid has now moved to Kura area of the state where paddies are being stockpiled in a pyramid format. In Kano, farmers in Kura area are famous for the cultivation of rice.
Unlike during the groundnut pyramid when the railway was used for the transportation of the commodity to Kano, now trailers are being used to convey rice paddies to Umza International Farms where the commodity is processed. During a visit, our correspondent saw about 30 trailers loaded with rice paddy.
The rice paddies are processed and consumed in the country in contrast to the groundnut that was processed and consumed abroad.
To boost the production of the commodity, the United States of America under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has trained 5,000 rice farmers in the area on how best to produce high quality rice paddy.
While USAID is training the farmers for improved production, Umza International Farms limited buys the farm produce from the farmers.
During his visit to Umza farms penultimate Monday (7th July, 2014), the US Ambassador, James F. Entwistle, was conducted round the rice processing unit of Umza farms.
The US envoy who was conducted round by the chairman of Umza farms, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, was also shown the depot where the paddy produced by the farmers were stored in a pyramid style.
Speaking to our correspondent, one of the trained farmers, Bashir Adamu, said his farm output has doubled following the training he got from the USAID sponsored programme.
“My farm output has doubled, and unlike before when we looked for market, now we have a ready market for our paddy. And they are paying us cash, which is why we no longer have glut of paddy in Kura,” he said.
A leader of the female farmers in the area, Halima Danjuma, said the training has encouraged many women in her community to take to rice farming.
“The population of female rice farmers has increased as our profit keeps increasing by the day, many women are being encouraged to take to rice farming,” she said.
Apparently impressed with the output from the farmers, the US envoy urged the Nigerian government to work hard towards the revival of the agricultural sector for the sustenance of the country’s economy.
With little push, he said the country can meet its food requirement, saying, “the real future of the Nigerian economy lies in the processed agricultural goods, someday the petroleum will come to an end and what will you do then? Processed agricultural goods are the way out and this is a perfect example.
“I’m surprised that the country still imports food products because it could be the food basket of the rest of African countries, looking at the enormous agricultural resources on ground,” he said.
Speaking on the envoy’s visit, the chairman of Umza rice mill, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, said the training of the farmers by the US organisation has doubled the output of rice farmers in the area.
With adequate support, he said the country can meet its rice requirement and possibly export.
Responding to the envoy’s enquiry, Abubakar said the N200bn credit facility provided for farmers by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stabilised and enhanced farming in the country.
The envoy expressed shock when he was told that it was only under the CBN credit facility that farmers in the country got loan at 5 percent as commercial banks give loan at the 20 per cent.
“When we started the business, we were only selling to Kano market but now our processed rice is sold in the entire North, South-East and South-West,” Abubakar said.
When the envoy asked if the products are exported, he said; “The domestic market is very big so we are concentrating in the Nigerian markets.”
Lamenting the problem of power supply, Abubakar said most times they power their plant using industrial generating sets.