… Commends local wheat production
The Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi
Adesina, has declared that democracy of the
stomach is the right of every Nigerian, just as he reassured on how important
the leadership of President Gooodluck Ebele Jonathan holds agriculture, reports
NaijaAgroNet exclusively.
Addressing
participants at the 2014 Wheat Farmers Field Day at Kadawa in Kano State
recently, Adesina asserted “Thank you for calling me the farmers' minister, but
I work for the Farmers' President. Democracy of the stomach is a right of every
Nigerian.”
NaijaAgroNet also gathered that the minister appreciated what he called the invaluable contributions of the International
Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and International Centre for
Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in the promotion of improved
wheat technologies in Nigeria, and for organizing this wheat field day.
“Your tenacity in continuing to do excellent
work, to help our farmers, in the face of security challenges. Nigeria will
succeed, against all odds,” he said.
As said by him, the occasion is a revival of hope
for Nigeria to produce its own wheat and free itself from decades of dependence
on imported wheat.
“I am delighted that
the African Development Bank has funded the production of wheat across African
countries. Africa must produce its own wheat and the funding by ADB is
therefore strategic,” he said.
Adesina recalled that in 1987, the government of
Nigeria banned the importation of wheat and implemented an Accelerated Wheat
Production Programme aimed at stimulating local production of wheat in Nigeria.
He sees the ban on wheat
importation as a bold move, which has provided local farmers the opportunity to
mobilized so as to produce wheat and were provided necessary inputs at
subsidized rates, and equipment to boost wheat production.
"The
production of wheat expanded from 50,000MT in 1987 to 600,000MT by 1990,” he
said.
The
minister emphasised that farmers had proven they could produce wheat, if well
supported, adding that several challenges scuttled the burst of energy to
produce wheat locally, especially with the introduction of varieties of very
low yields, as average yield was less than one ton per hectare.
“But more importantly,
the programme failed because of the reluctance of wheat millers in the country
to patronize wheat produced locally in the country. With the lifting of
the ban in 1990, the programme abruptly ended, and wheat production spiraled
downwards to 70,000MT by 1991.
“Today,
Nigeria’s wheat import is about 4 million MT per annum and estimated to grow at
an alarming rate of 5 per cent per annum,” he lamented.
Adesina further stated
that at this rate, the country would be importing 10 million MT of wheat per annum
by 2030, and spending US$15 billion annually on wheat imports alone, hence wheat farmers in the country deserved commendation.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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Pix: Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina (right), tasting bread made from 100 per cent Nigerian wheat variety at Kadawa, Kano State, recently. With him are Minister of State for Agriculture, Mrs. Asmau Asabe Ahmed and House Chairman on Agriculture, Mohammed Tahir Monguno.
