Given the rich harvest recorded by rice farmers in Kebbi State between last year and now, many of them are smiling to the banks as millionaires.
The chairman of the Rice Farmers Association in Kebbi State, Alhaji Sahabi Augie, told our correspondent that they had witnessed an influx of buyers from different parts of the country and neighbouring countries like Niger and Benin.
He added that millers and traders from Sokoto, Kano, Zamfara, Lagos, Maiduguri, Niger and Adamawa, had come with trucks and trailers to buy rice from the farmers, saying this led to an increase in the price of the commodity beyond expectations. According to him, this development has enriched farmers.
The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele had, during the pre-commissioning of the N10billion WACOT Rice Mill in Argungu, said that over 88,000 farmers had become millionaires in Kebbi through the Anchor Borrowers Dry Season Rice Farming programme of the bank. He added that because Kebbi was the largest rice producing state in the country, farmers would continue to make money, especially with the introduction of rice mills such as LABANA and WACOT.
The chairman of rice farmers association in the state, Augie said: “By the end of 2019, additional 250,000 millionaires would have been created in Kebbi through rice farming.
“We were lucky the weather was favourable and the input given to the farmers by government was efficient. This greatly assisted in raising the yield during last year’s harvest and putting more money into the hands of the rice farmers. I must say that the harvest was very good for us. It had never been like this before. We harvested rice in a way we had never harvested it before in Kebbi.”
Under the Anchor Borrowers programme, 78,000 farmers were engaged to produce rice in the state. Each of them was given the required input to cultivate one hectare of farm. Apart from this, there are over 300,000 rice farmers in the state that were not captured under the programme, but are also producing rice on their own.
During an interview with Daily Trust on Sunday, Justice Uthman Mohammed (retired), who is a patron of the Kebbi State Rice Farmers Association, spoke about his interest in rice farming. “I have over 50 hectares of rice field. I harvested over 1,000 bags of rice last year. People have been coming on excursion to my farm to see what I have done there. Last year, a bag of rice was sold at N10,000.
“Because of the boost in rice farming, most of the young men have gone into it. If you go to the FADAMA area in Argungu, you would be amazed. When the Federal Government asked Governor Atiku Bagudu if we could produce a million metric tonnes of rice from Kebbi State last year, I told the president that we would exceed the target. Last year, we achieved over 1million metric tonnes of rice production capacity.
“There is no reason for us to import what we can grow in our country. And I am happy the farmers have taken the challenge very seriously, particularly now that we have a rice mill in Argungu. During last year’s dry season harvest, a bag of paddy rice was sold at N15,000, against the initial price of N10,000,” the retired justice said.
This year, projections show that the price of paddy rice may be higher. Under the Anchor Borrowers arrangement, the government is expected to buy rice from the registered farmers at the rate of N113,000 per tonne.
Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday, a rice farmer, Ahmed Idris Bunza said, “I can hardly find a word to commend facilitators o
of this rice programme. Before now, we were making farmers from other countries millionaires while we remained poor. There were moves to take up similar initiatives, but the policies were inconsistent. However, today we are lucky that the president and our governor are determined to address the issue. We can’t quantify the economic advantage it has brought to many of our farmers in Kebbi State.
“Last year, after harvest I got over 600 bags of paddy rice. That year, I made money I had not made in the past 30 years as a rice farmer. I was able to build my own house, buy a car and I marry a new wife. This year, my rice farm is bigger and I expect to make more money.”
“It is true that we made unexpected profit from our rice last year, and we have started making more profit from this year’s harvest. Some of us made so much that they could build houses, some bought cars and even married more wives. I was able to complete my two house projects, one at Bunza, my home town and the other one in Sokoto.
“It is a fact that we made so much money, but many of us are still indebted to the government. You know it was government that gave us money, fertilizer, seeds and herbicides during the farming season. I have settled my debt. I will urge other farmers to do same so that we can be considered for more loans. I learnt that government was planning to give 140,000 farmers loans under the Anchor Borrowers programme, so it will be better for them to settle their debt.’’
Hamisu Garba, a farmer in the Duku area of Birnin Kebbi, told our correspondent that although it was the first time he ventured into rice cultivation, he made a huge profit. “I encountered some problems during the farming season because it was new to me, but at the end I was shocked beyond imagination to make the kind of money I made after harvesting my rice. Today, I own a house and two cars. Last year, I only cultivated one hectare of rice farm, but this year, I am doing three hectares,” he said.
Another rice farmer, Kabiru Usman, who said he cultivated five hectares during last year’s season, told our correspondent how millers came to his farm to buy up his harvest. “It was like a dream when traders bought everything I harvested right from the farm. I didn’t buy a car because I am planning to build a house. We must thank God and the government who allowed us to make the kind of money we made. I have been engaged in rice farming for the past 15 years, but I never made the kind of money I made last year.”
Speaking to our correspondent in his palace, the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Muhammad Mera, who is also a rice farmer, said, “When you talk about agriculture here, it is rice first. The late Emir of Argungu started the dry season farming in Kebbi State. The good news for our farmers is that there is available market for their produce. With the WACOT Rice Mill, market is guaranteed. In the past, 100kg bag of rice cost between N3,000 and N4,000. People simply cultivated rice to feed their families and sold the little leftover. But rice has since become profitable. These days we see company directors closing their offices and coming to farm in Argungu, because there is a guaranteed market for the produce.”
Malama Halimatu Muhammed said that when she started, government gave her two pumping machines, fertilisers, insecticides, 44 seeds and money, under the Anchor Borrowers Programme.
“You know the farming method has changed. What we are witnessing in rice farming now in Kebbi has never happened before. During last year’s dry season farming I harvested over 200 bags of rice. This year, my rice is doing well and I am expected to harvest over 500 bags. If I get more money I could produce more than 1,000 bags of paddy rice,” Malama Halimatu said.
The secretary of Rice and Wheat Farmers Association, Alhaji Muhammed Bello, told our correspondent that rice traders and millers now follow the farmers to their farms to buy up their produce. “Many of us are being offered large sums of money to sell our rice as they are being harvested at the farm. We are also being patronised from Kaduna, Sokoto, Kano, Jigawa, Maiduguri and even Lagos. Even people from the eastern states come here to buy rice in large quantities,” he said.
Hajiya Hadiza Abdullahi also said: “This is my seventh year in rice farming. Before my husband died, I was helping him in the farm, but now the “rice farming is better than it was in the past. I was able to achieve a lot during last year’s harvest. The incentives given to me by LABANA Rice Mills really helped to increase the yield. I farmed rice across one hectare of land last year and I made a lot of money. For this year’s harvest, I am expecting over 400 bags of rice.”
