Wheat

Kano, Feb. 6, 2024: The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) on Monday said African countries spend about $20 billion annually on importation of wheat into the continent.

The Head, TAAT Clearinghouse, Dr Solomon Gizaw, disclosed this during a Train-the-Trainer workshop organised on wheat seed production in Nigeria in Kano.

Gizaw said African countries were paying the supreme price for Ukraine-Russia crisis which had caused disruption of supply and high cost of wheat in the continent.

He said Nigeria had all it takes to produce, feed itself and the rest of African countries.

”The fight between Russia and Ukraine impacted the whole of Africa.

“You can imagine, two countries fighting elsewhere in Europe but the fight has caused a lot of supply disruption because Africans were the major importers of wheat across the continent.

“This means that as a continent, we don’t have food security as our food security is in the hands of the others.

“Africa around this time annually spends nearly $20 billion to import wheat from other part of the world.

“They import fertiliser and wheat from Ukraine and Russia and as a result the war between the duos has disrupted the supply of wheat and fertiliser,’’ he said.

Gizaw said that this has resulted to increase in wheat prices and supply in African countries.

“This proses a lot of challenges to provide food because of the high prices of fertiliser. Africa is hard-hit as a result of these two countries’ war.

“We in Africa have the technology, land, water and the people. If we bring together and work together, Nigeria can feed itself and the rest of African countries.

“The mechanism we put in place is a flagship programme with the African Development Bank.

“In Africa today, we have several high yielding wheat varieties that are giving high yield of six to seven tones per hectare,” he said.

Gizaw said that today in Nigeria, the wheat production was not exceeding two to three tons per hectare.

“You can imagine with one farmland, we can increase the productivity by two to three folds.

”So the African Development Bank is working with the Nigerian government to expand wheat and the government has committed to take this varieties.

“And if you produce the right quantity of seeds in Nigeria next year, all Nigerian wheat farmers can grow wheat.

”If we continue with this, in the next three, four or five years, Nigeria can completely reverse wheat importation which is now about 95 per cent,” he said.

Gizaw said Nigeria could be self sufficient if the process continues, adding that the forecast in the potentials of Nigeria shows Nigeria can produce, feed itself and the rest of Africa.

Earlier, TAAT Programme Coordinator, Dr Chrys Akem, lamented the backwardness of Nigeria in effort toward wheat production revolution in the country.

He said three countries; namely Ethiopia, Sudan and Nigeria, had set out for sufficiency in wheat production, but Nigeria instead of progressing is retrogressing.

“We started a programme 10 years ago called Support Agricultural Research for Development of Stability Crop in Africa, and wheat was one of the crops.

“And there were the three countries; Nigeria, Ethiopia and Sudan that were ready for the revolution.

”If you go back now and look at wheat programme in Ethiopia have gone ahead, they are self sufficient and started exporting.

”Look at the wheat programme in Sudan, they were half way to self sufficiency until some internal disruptions occured.

“But look at the wheat production in Nigeria, we started with 50,000 hectares, by the tail end of the programme we recorded 150,000 hectares.

“I am surprised to hear that we are less than 100,000 hectares. But what bothers me is last year when we had a meeting and set a target of 250 and we had less than 100,000 hectares.

”It is something to worry about. That doesn’t look like a revolution.

“The same varieties Sudan and Ethiopia took and ran the same programme is available in Nigeria. We have the varieties, water, among others.

“The training is to remind us that we have what all that it takes to get the revolution in wheat production Nigeria,” he said.

Abuja, Jan.12, 2024:  The Federal Government says it is targeting an estimated 472,000 metric tonnes of wheat product at the end of the implementation period of the wheat production programme.

Mr Ishaku Buba, National Project Coordinator, National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP),  stated this at the NAGS-AP Stakeholders Review and Planning meeting on Thursday in Abuja.

He said this is at an average yield of four  metric tonnes per hectare.

Buba said the 15 wheat producing States are, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Katsina, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

He said that the stakeholders aimed to review the implementation of the 2023/2024 dry season wheat production implemented in the fifteen States of the Federation.

” This is based on their respective comparative advantage and preparatory meeting to chart a new course for the implementation of the second phase for rice, maize and cassava,” he said.

Buba  said that the 2023/2024 dry season implemented via the National Agricultural Growth Scheme, and Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) project focused on four major crops, wheat, rice, maize and cassava.

Buba said the programme commenced with wheat production in the 15 wheat producing States.

He said the decision to start wheat production was informed by the fact that, the crop was time specific in  nature especially its fixed or pre-determined planting window.

” The implementation under the 2023/2024 dry season programme was then designed to be caried out in two phases (i.e. wheat value chain from Nov. 15, 2023 to Dec.15, 2023.

” It will later be extended to Dec. 20, 2023 for Jigawa and Borno while rice, maize and cassava value chains  was slated for January – February.

” A total of 118,657 hectares were redeemed out of the 123,000 hectares targeted representing 96.47 per cent achieved as at Dec. 21, 2023.

 ” It is our expectation that at the end of the implementation period of the wheat production progrmame, an estimated 472,000 metric tonnes of wheat product at an average yield of 4 metric tons per hectare would be realised,” he said.

He, however, said that in the course of implementing the programme, some challenges and constraints were experienced and observed.

Buba listed the challenges to include network interruptions, poor or non availability of network or limited release of SMS messages thereby keeping farmers redundant for certain periods of time among others.

In an address, Mrs Oluwatoyin Alade, Acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security,   said the success achieved  was a testament to the dedication and hard work of those involved in the management of the  Programme.

” On the records we achieved 97 per cent redemption.

”  We have come together here not necessarily to celebrate our seeming success, but also to admit that a whole lot of inimical things have happened downstream.

” We are aware that round tripping has been rife. Farmers, agro-dealers, helpline staff, security agents have all had rogue elements in their ranks who sought to make ‘negative’ profit from this programme,” she said.

Alade was represented by Mr Ibrahim Tanimu, Director, Planning and Policy Coordination, ministry of Agriculture.

In a goodwill message, Mr Azeez Olumuyiwa, a representative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), said that the Bank would continue to support the NAGS-AP project.

Zaria (Kaduna State), Dec. 11, 2023: The Federal Government says it will investigate alleged case of substandard fertiliser and other issues raised by wheat farmers at Kauran Juli, Zaria, Kaduna State.

The wheat farmers, beneficiaries of the federal government National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGS – AP) protests over allegations of distributing substandard inputs.

The farmers, under the aegis of Galma Wheat Farmers, carried placards with inscriptions: `We don’t want Iliyasawa Fertilizer’; and ‘Real wheat farmers should be considered’, among others.

The Minister of State, Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Aliyu-Sabi Abdullahi, assured the protesting farmers that the situation at Zaria was entirely different from what was recorded at Makarfi and Ikara centres he visited.

According to him, the federal government did give the exact brand name of the fertiliser to be distributed as such the agro-dealer can distribute what is available in the market.

“However, most of the fertilisers in the market were approved by the relevant regulatory bodies before they became available in the market stores.

“We give assurance that `Iliyasawa fertiliser’ was certified to be good and it should be accepted as such,

“That notwithstanding, samples were taken from the fertiliser for further analysis at both the federal and state government laboratories to ascertain the veracity of your (farmers) claims,’’ Abdullahi said.

He, therefore, urged them to exercise patience and await the results from the laboratories and assured that if it turnef out to be bad the government would not spare him.

In an interview with newsmen, the minister said he was in Kaduna state on the spot assessment for the distribution of subsidised inputs to dry season wheat farmers at Makarfi, Ikara and Zaria.

He said at Zaria there were two issues from the protesting farmers: the quality of fertiliser and number of people who were at redemption to redeem the inputs.

Abdullahi said farmers protest that many of them could not redeem their inputs.

However, the minister said he has seen the problem and he would go back; get across to other stakeholders to salvage the situation.

He noted that wheat was very sensitive to weather and the time frame within which to plant was fast elapsing, that was ”why we pushed to see that more farmers were able to redeem the inputs”.

The minister said the redemption of the inputs was absolutely fantastic at Ikara and Makarfi redemption centres.

However, Alhaji Muktar Gyallesu, the Farm Leader for Tudun Wada, Gyallesu and Tudun Jukun areas in Zaria Local Government Area, said the specific fertiliser approved for the farmers was Urea (Indorama brand) and NPK  15:15:15 (matrix brand)

According to him, their agro dealer (Iliyasawa Fertilizer Ltd) was initially distributing the approved brand to the beneficiaries.

“Suddenly, he changed to his own company NPK iliyasawa brand with ratio 15:10:10 and the real beneficiaries who were earlier captured were not attended to by the dealer.

“Non-members who were not captured and did not have slip of the application forms were attended by dealers and some agents bought inputs from them at an amount between N15,000 and N20,000, hence their protest,’’ Gyallesu said.

Zaria (Kaduna State), Dec. 4, 2023: Kaduna State Chapter of the Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria commended the Federal Government on Sunday in Zaria, Kaduna State, for subsidising inputs for dry season wheat farming.

The Federal Government subsidises dry season wheat farming inputs by 50 per cent under its National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGS –AP) initiative.

For dry season wheat farming, a beneficiary is required to deposit N180,500, representing 50 per cent of the total cost of the inputs to qualify for the subsidy.

Chairman of the farmers’ association, Alhaji Bashir Tanko, said that many beneficiaries had received alerts for the redemption of the inputs at designated areas in Kaduna State.

He noted, however, that a larger number of wheat farmers could not afford the mandatory N180,500 (50 per cent) deposit to qualify for the subsidy.

“Most members already planted wheat in anticipation of government’s intervention to augment their personnel efforts. Most of them had exhausted significant amount of their resources.

“ Since they could not benefit from the subsidy, they would continue to use their personal resources,’’ Tanko said.

He dismissed fears that the inputs could end up in the hands of non-wheat farmers because NAGS-AP had relegated the association.

“We assume the relegation of the association was based on the poor recovery of money earlier given to wheat farmers through the association under the Anchor Borrowers programme,’’ Tanko said.

He assured government that the association would not relent in efforts to recover the total amount given to wheat farmers and urged other stakeholders not to regard it as a bad debtor.

He also urged the Federal Government to give the association a second chance and a benefit of the doubt, stressing that it would not disappoint its benefactor.

Auyo (Jigawa), Nov. 26, 2023:The Federal Government on Saturday inaugurated the National Wheat Cultivation scheme in Auyo Local Government Area of Jigawa, targeting 1,250,000 tonnes of yields.

This was disclosed by Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari at the inauguration of the 2023 dry season wheat development project under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme (NAGS-AP) in Auyo.

The scheme is designed to cultivate about 100,000 hectares during dry season of which Jigawa is supporting the project with 40,000 hectares.

The minister said that dry season farming had offered unique opportunity to harness the untapped potentials of land and diversify Nigeria’s food production capabilities.

 “Indeed, its importance cannot be overstated, as it allows us to overcome seasonal limitations and meet the demands of our growing population while also bolstering our economy.

“The dry season farming is an integral part of the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and AgroPocket (NAGS-AP) Project, made possible by a US loan facility.

The facility is advanced to Nigeria by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and encapsulates this administration’s resolve to expand the capacity of farmers to engage in the cultivation of key staples like rice, maize, cassava and wheat across the country,” he said.

The minister said that the aim was to increase crop yield by at least 20 per cent, compared to the previous year.

“These high value staples will be joined by others like soybeans and sorghum in the wet season.

The minister said that in wheat alone they had targeted to support between 150,000 and  250,000 farmers with 50 per cent input subsidy.

He said that the farmers were expected to cultivate between 200,000 and 250,000 hectares with an expected yield of 1,250,000 tonnes.

“Other selected staples are earmarked for similar, varied support, all aimed at significantly reducing food inflation, as well as Nigeria’s dependence on foreign import, while increasing domestic consumption.

“Ultimately, this will promote agricultural self-sufficiency and stimulate economic growth,” Kyari said.

He said that the Federal Government was  committed towards ensuring that the support got to the farmers, to achieve the desired goals.

“Accordingly, the programme will be Technology enabled, thus guaranteeing transparency and accountability in the provision of the subsidy and other support services like extension, insurance and additional finance.

“Equally, our farmers are guaranteed access to improved seeds – in this particular instance, I would like to point out that we are deploying heat tolerant wheat varieties like Borlaug 100, Attila and others.

“Furthermore, we will progressively invest in irrigation infrastructure projects to optimise water usage and mitigate the challenges posed by the dry season.

Undoubtedly, we do not expect a bed of roses and know that our path will be riddled with challenges. Indeed, there have been quite a few already. But we are poised to take them on.

“We have been innovative in utilising Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to target already proven irrigated farm clusters, deploy verified farmer data and map the farmers to agrodealer redemption centres.

“Thankfully, we have already gained grounds. Smart (e) extension, detailing innovative irrigation techniques, promoting water conservation and good agronomic practices (GAP) are also being mainstreamed.

We will invest more in farm infrastructure, all with a view to enabling our farmers to maximise their agricultural output and overcome the limitations imposed by the elements.

Earlier, Gov. Umar Namadi of Jigawa, said that the state was the heart of wheat production in Nigeria with potential to provide up to 200,000 hectares for wheat production.

“In particular, the rich expanse of Hadejia Valley is also well known for its rich alluvial sandy loam and clay soils susceptible to all season and all crops farming – particularly wheat and rice.

“It is not surprising therefore, when 40 per cent of the land to be put under cultivation in this year’s Federal Government supported pilot wheat development programme comes from Jigawa State – 40,000 out 100,000 hectares being targeted,” he said.

According to the governor, the full package comprises appropriate mix of fertilisers, in-organic liquid urea, organic fertilisers fortified with booster and growth enhancer, certified wheat seeds, and herbicides.

“It is expected that the capacity of over 42,000 smallholder farmers will be significantly expanded through their participation in the programme.

“Each of these would be provided with input subsidy support granted by the Federal Government equivalent to 50 per cent of the estimated cost of packaged input requirements amounting to about N361,000 per hectare.

“While each farmer is expected to pay only 12.5 per cent of the total cost of input package equivalent to about N42,125 per hectare at the point of input collection, the balance of N135,275 would be recovered after harvest.

 “In order to provide comfort to the Federal Government and input suppliers, the Jigawa State Government has worked out an arrangement with Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) to provide guarantee for the balance of 37.5 per cent of the cost of inputs supplied.

“The Jigawa State Government will provide free high-quality extension service to the wheat farmers for which arrangements have been concluded for the engagement and training of additional 1,440 extension agents to ensure full coverage.

“My plea in this regard is for farmers to seriously heed to the guidance to be provided by the extension agents.

“As we all know, wheat farming requires extreme diligence and strict observance of agronomic practices associated with its cultivation,” Namadi said.

The governor urged the Federal Government to accelerate the completion of the Hadejia Valley Irrigation Project with potential irrigable area of over 25,000 hectares.

The prayer is that the scheme will be a success story to logistical conclusion, unlike the Hadejia Valley Project, which was initiated by the Late President Shehu

Shagari’s administration in the early 1980s, and still less than 25 per cent was completed after almost four decades.

 Following an inauguration of the project performed in 2018, it is noteworthy that earlier this year, former President Muhammad Buhari commissioned the successful completion of a segment of that project covering about 6,000 hectares.

Kano, Oct. 14, 2023: Minister of Agriculture Abubakar Kyari, says the Federal Government is giving out 50 per cent subsidy to wheat farmers in the upcoming dry season farming to ensure massive production of the grain in the country.

Kyari spoke to newsmen shortly after inspecting assorted seed wheat productions in Kano on Friday.

” We are fully committed towards massive wheat production in the upcoming dry seasons farming for local and foreign export actions,” he said.

He explained that  President Tinubu’s renewed agenda was aimed at making sure that Nigeria secured food production, starting from next Month, with wheat farming taking toll in the dry season farming.

The minister, who was in Kano and Jigawa to supervise the seeds production, expressed satisfaction that the local production was the vital component of the farming.

“Jigawa State has shown a lot of interest in wheat farming by providing 40,000 hectares of land for wheat farming, closing on the 70,000 hectares set aside by the Federal Government to achieve this year,” he said.

The minister explained that  the Federal Government was making efforts to have enough seeds that would cover the 70,000 hectares provided for wheat farming.

“The breeder and foundation seeds were  checked before it became satisfied to phase out wheat importation before next year’s irrigation farming.

“This is because importation of the wheat is taking a lot of Nigeria’s foreign reserve.

Kyari noted that the Federal Government planned to secure the nation’s food production and be self-sufficient, adding that local production was one way that importation of seeds would completely be stopped.

“In the next 4-5 years with the Programmes set out, Nigeria would completely stop importations of wheat seeds and be self-sufficient with the local production that would enhance food production and security.”

The minister was at the National Wheat Council Ware Houses at Sharada, AA Albasu Grains Company and  Alyumna Seeds Production Company.

Hadejia (Jigawa), Oct. 13, 2023: The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, on Thursday expressed the Federal Government readiness to grow wheat in 70,000 hectares in Jigawa.

The minister said this at the Emir’s Palace shortly after facility tour at Malam Alu Farm in Birnin kudu Local Government and a 10 hectares rice farm at Marma, a bordering village between Kirikasamma and Guri Local Government Areas.

Kyari said that the tour was part of the Ministry’s fact finding mission to ascertain the preparedness of the Jigawa State Government and the selected demonstration farms for its plans togrowing Higher yield seedlings of wheat this season.

He said that the ministry’s decision to start the demonstration farm in Jigawa was informed by Gov. Umar Namadi’s zealousness and commitment toward making Jigawa as one of the leading wheat growers states in the country.

The minister said that Jigawa was the first state to offered 40,000 hectares to ministry and later added 30,000 hectares, making 70,000 hectares, adding that so far no state has provided up to 40,000 hectares.

Kyari, however,  assured the Emir of Hadejia, Alhaji Adamu Abubakar and the people of Jigawa that President Bola Tinubu’s administration was prepared for commence action on its promise to boost food security through smart agricultural farming in the country.

Responding, the Emir, who was represented by the Galadiman Hadejia, Alhaji Usman Abdulaziz, expressed appreciation to the president and the ministry for choosing Hadejia Emirate in preparation for the demonstration farm.

The Emir urged the federal government through the Ministry to start planning for this wheat season in earnest, adding that “the time to start planning for growing wheat is now.”

Abubakar also appealed to the people of Jigawa, especially the wheat growers whose farms were selected for the laudable project to be sincere and honest in their respective operations.

Similarly,  at the Marma village, the minister promised to support wheat growers in Jigawa with higher seedlings ahead of irrigation season in order to achieve the federal government desired objectives to boost food security in the country.

Kyari said that the administration had put the necessary arrangements to equipped wheat growers with all the necessary implements.

He said that the ministry had also set up a climate change monitoring committee with the responsibility of providing experts assistance on climate change related issues on the crops the to growers from planting to harvesting.

Abuja, Oct.6, 2023: The Federal Government says it is targeting to increase wheat production by over 70, 000 hectares across the wheat production zone of the country.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, who stated this at a news conference on Friday in Abuja, said a yield of 875,000 metric tonnes was expected for food reserve.

Kyari listed the ministry’s focal areas which hinges on integration, sustainability, and resilience to its challenges.

He said that these spanned the immediate, short, medium and long term.

“The most pressing actions we are currently handling is preparation for the next dry-season farming beginning from November.

“To this end, some preparatory activities have been carried out and many others are at the advanced stage,” he said.

He said this included certification of available planting materials for some food security crops in readiness for dry-season farming; aggressive promotion and preparations for dry season farming.

“Also the implementation of the dry season Wheat production starting in November as part of the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) projects funded by the African Development Bank.

” Under this scheme, the target is to produce wheat over a 70, 000 hectares across the wheat production zone of the country.

“This is with an expected yield of 875,000 metric tonnes for our food reserve; blending of appropriate fertilizers to support this year’s dry season farming.

“While making provisions for next year farming season well in advance; providing Train-the-Trainer for extension agents involved in dry season farming.

“This will be in collaboration with wheat producing states and other partners such as flour mills,” he said.

The minister said that arrangements were also at advanced stage for dry season farming of rice, maize and other horticultural crops.

“The most pressing actions we are currently handling is preparation for the next dry-season farming beginning from November 2023

He said that the ministry would hold the National Agriculture and Food Security Summit in November,  to bring all Stakeholders together for development of National Action Plan for Food Security.

Argungu (Kebbi ), Sept. 11, 2023: Vice President, Kashim Shettima on Sunday said Nigeria has obtained 163 million dollars loan from the African Development Bank to support wheat production in the country.

Shettima stated this  at the palace of the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Sumaila Mera, when he paid a condolence visit to the Emirate and  family of late Sheikh Abubakar Giro.

He re-affirmed the determination of the Tinubu administration to fulfill all its promises to Nigerians, particularly in the agricultural sector.

The Vice President also assured that food security would receive serious attention from the government.

” We have obtained 163 million dollars loan from the African Development Bank to support wheat production. The scheme would be launched soon.

“We need 10,000 hectares of land in Kebbi State. But the scheme would be well executed in Jigawa State with a cultivation of 50,000 hectares of land to boost wheat production.”

In his remarks, the Emir of Argungu, Mera, who prayed for the unity and progress of Nigeria, thanked President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima for their support.

The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), an agricultural development programme, has developed improved seed variety to accelerate wheat production in Nigeria.

TAAT developed the seed in partnership with research institutes to enhance farmer access to seed, enhance wheat value chain and promote export.

The Value Chain Specialist, TAAT Clearing House, Dr Oluwatoyin Adetunji said this on the sidelines of a two-day wheat training workshop, on Thursday in Kano.

She said the exercise was designed to identify challenges militating against effective growth of the wheat seed sector in Nigeria and proffer solutions to address them.

She said that TAAT has initiated process towards developing a robust sector to stimulate provision of high quality seed at affordable rate to wheat growers.

“Nigeria imports not less than 95 per cent of wheat into the country, a situation that is draining our foreign exchange.

“In the not too distant future, following the intensification of wheat research programmes, Nigeria will commence the exportation of high quality grain to other countries.

“Wheat is important and the most commonly consumed globally, it is used for the production of bread, flour, pasta, wheat grain, among others.

“Following our commitment, we have through intensive research programmes developed heat-tolerant seed, which can survive in Nigeria,” she said.

 The expert, however, identified lack of fund and inadequate funding as some of the obstacles militating against effective seed development.

She reiterated commitment of the programme to develop improved seed variety to encourage wheat cultivation to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat production.