BY SHEHU ABUBAKAR
A major rice farmer and merchant, Alhaji Haruna Ibrahim Jega, has described the large importation of rice by Nigeria,
to the tune of N1 billion daily, as madness, unnecessary and waste of resources, saying if government can afford to invest N365 billion annually for three years in research, establishment of standard rice mills and enhancement of rice production in the country, Nigeria will be one of the major rice exporting countries in the world.
Apparently reacting to a statement by the Minister for Agriculture, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, that Nigeria is importing rice worth N1 billion daily, Alhaji Jega, said bad government policies on self sustenance and greed by Nigeria's business class who are making a fortune from the imports are responsible for 'this wasteful venture.'
"Nigeria has vast fertile land good for the production of rice and other food and cash crops. The only problem with rice production in this country is poor policies and inadequate support from government. Let government provide enough fertilizer to all classes of farmers; smallholders and the big farmers at subsidized rates; provide improved rice seeds that can produce long grain rice that can compete with the imported ones and give farmers loans with single digit interest to enhance production.
"Government should establish at least six world standard rice mills and privatize them. Establish rice marketing board that will buy the rice as soon as the farmers harvest it. Let the river basins provide facilities for triple cropping per annum. Give us just two years and see what rice farmers can do. But a situation where government itself encourages patronage of imported rice by abandoning local rice and buying the imported ones for school feeding, as relief materials to foreign and local beneficiaries is very discouraging," he said.
Mr. Tunji Owoeye of the Rice Millers and Importers Association of Nigeria said at the inaugural meeting of the Nigeria agribusiness group recently that government's grant of waivers to some privileged importers of rice is threatening local production and fast replacing local rice with the imported variety in the nation's markets.
He said his association had provided the Nigerian Custom Service with vehicles to help them in patrolling the country's porous borders to checkmate the smuggling of rice into the country, adding, "the continuous importation of the products makes it difficult for rice millers to stay in business as they are disadvantaged in relation to their counterparts abroad."
Responding, the Minister for Agriculture, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, said his ministry introduced dry season rice farming in 10 northern states with a view to encouraging local production which, he said, has been very fruitful, adding that rice importation by Nigeria only ended up enriching countries like India and Thailand where the rice originates from while making Nigerians poorer.
When this reporter visited Wuse, Utako and Gwarimpa markets in Abuja, the federal capital, assorted imported rice in bags, water proofs and packets were seen in almost every foodstuff stores with very few of them selling the local rice variety.
At some of the supermarkets and shopping malls in the city, no trace of local rice variety was seen on display as assorted packets of imported rice from different countries were seen on display in the shops.
One of the women seen buying packets of the imported rice, Hajiya Nafisatu Isa, said, "I cannot remember when last I ate the local rice milled in Nigeria because it has a lot of stones, it looks dirty, it is not attractive and very expensive. A bag of imported long grain rice sells for about N12,000. I read in your paper that a bag of unpeeled Nigerian rice is sold at N6,500. That is the unpeeled! You must mill one and a half or even two bags of unpeeled to get one of rice.
"In any case, the imported rice is of higher quality and you have less work to do to it before eating. Removing stones from the local rice is hectic work that not everyone can do. No, it will be unfair for government to contemplate banning the importation of rice. They should leave the market open to competition. Let it remain as it is, where foreign rice will be sold side by side the imported variety for people to go for the one they want," she said.
A rice miller in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Mr. Kingsley Anyaji told this reporter that Nigeria does not have standard rice mill that can mill long grain rice that can compete with imported rice, adding, "our type of mill cannot mill that kind of long grain rice being imported. In fact, for you to get that kind of long grain rice produced in Nigeria, we must start by planting and harvesting that variety.
"Getting the seed that can produce long grain rice is not enough; we must get the soil tested to determine the area that long grain rice can grow. It is not everywhere that it grows. Again, you must apply the appropriate fertilizer for it which must be enough. Then you come to the use of the appropriate machines for harvesting and thrashing it, then to the use of the world standard mill. All that require huge investment that the private sector alone cannot do.
"That is why you see people going into the mass smuggling of rice into the country. If Nigeria should adopt all the processes of farming, harvesting and producing the long grain rice, a 50 kilogramme bag will cost not less than N18,000. Who will buy it when you can just cross the border to Niger or Benin republics and pick a bag at N5,000 now? Even the local rice we are producing here now cost higher than the long grain rice in our neighbouring countries," he said.
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