Ongoing efforts by the Federal Government towards attaining self
sufficient in rice production gained a boost as Olam Nigeria raised its
stake in rice production to 36,000 metric tonnes per annum.
The move to attain the feat, was further reinforced as President Goodluck Jonathan commissioned Olam’s state-of-art rice mill in Nasarawa state recently.
The integrated rice milling facility is situated on 6,000 hectares greenfield irrigated and mechanised paddy farm, which has the capacity to produce 36,000 metric tonnes of milled rice per annum to the domestic market.
With the 3,000 hectares already being cultivated, a further 3,000 hectares of target by 2015 is expected to yield 10 metric tonnes per hectare (over two annual crop cycles) based on four varieties of high-yield rice tested in association with the West African Rice Development Association.
While commissioning the multi-billion naira facility, President Goodluck Jonathan who lauded the private sector’s response to the rice policy, noted that the number of rice mills has grown from just one to 18 within a period of three years.
“Our goal of making Nigeria a net exporter of rice will be achieved faster by encouraging large commercial farms that will complement our small-scale farmers.
“Large mechanised rice farms like Olam’s 6,000 hectares farm will not only boost food production but also provide significant opportunities for jobs in rural areas. These mills are producing high quality local rice that meets international standards and competes well with imported rice,” Jonathan acknowledged.
Also speaking, Akinwumi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development who applauded the initiative, noted that “Nigeria is driving a rice policy that will turn it away from being a rice importing country to a major rice exporter.
“The investment by Olam in a commercial rice farm and integrated rice mill will help domestic production and milling of international quality grade rice in Nigeria. This is a clear demonstration that our approach of taking agriculture as a business, while enabling private sector to drive grown of the agriculture sector,” he said
In his remarks, Olam’s Managing Director for Africa and Middle East, Venkataramani Srivathsan, noted that the mill demonstrates how large-scale commercial farms can work hand in hand with smallholders to help advance Nigeria’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda, generating rural prosperity through local processing.
“It underlines the country’s ability to grow high quality, nutritious rice that can enhance domestic food security by providing an alternative to imports and as Olam kicks off its global 25th Anniversary celebrations this month, it represents a marker of our ongoing commitment to Nigeria, the country where Olam was founded.”
Through its ‘Nucleus and Out grower farming model’, the company, has supported rice-growing communities through training, pre-finance, agri-inputs and marketing linkages in Orr to improve their paddy yields and realizations, which are then purchased by Olam at a fair price.
Under this arrangement, Olam currently engaged 3,000 farmers in the Programme and with a target of 16,000 farmers by 2018. Ultimately, 20,000 small holders farmers will supply 30-40 percent of the mill’s capacity.
According to the company, the commercial farm itself currently employs about 1,000 workers depending on seasonality, providing another source of training in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). The model was highlighted as a catalyst innovation in African agriculture by the Rockefeller Foundation in 2013.
Olam currently employs over 2,500 direct employees, over 6,000 contract workers and sources from over 500,000 Nigerian cocoa, cashew, sesame and cotton farmers for its wide range of businesses ranging from milling to manufacturing and distribution of tomato paste and dairy drinks among others.
The move to attain the feat, was further reinforced as President Goodluck Jonathan commissioned Olam’s state-of-art rice mill in Nasarawa state recently.
The integrated rice milling facility is situated on 6,000 hectares greenfield irrigated and mechanised paddy farm, which has the capacity to produce 36,000 metric tonnes of milled rice per annum to the domestic market.
With the 3,000 hectares already being cultivated, a further 3,000 hectares of target by 2015 is expected to yield 10 metric tonnes per hectare (over two annual crop cycles) based on four varieties of high-yield rice tested in association with the West African Rice Development Association.
While commissioning the multi-billion naira facility, President Goodluck Jonathan who lauded the private sector’s response to the rice policy, noted that the number of rice mills has grown from just one to 18 within a period of three years.
“Our goal of making Nigeria a net exporter of rice will be achieved faster by encouraging large commercial farms that will complement our small-scale farmers.
“Large mechanised rice farms like Olam’s 6,000 hectares farm will not only boost food production but also provide significant opportunities for jobs in rural areas. These mills are producing high quality local rice that meets international standards and competes well with imported rice,” Jonathan acknowledged.
Also speaking, Akinwumi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development who applauded the initiative, noted that “Nigeria is driving a rice policy that will turn it away from being a rice importing country to a major rice exporter.
“The investment by Olam in a commercial rice farm and integrated rice mill will help domestic production and milling of international quality grade rice in Nigeria. This is a clear demonstration that our approach of taking agriculture as a business, while enabling private sector to drive grown of the agriculture sector,” he said
In his remarks, Olam’s Managing Director for Africa and Middle East, Venkataramani Srivathsan, noted that the mill demonstrates how large-scale commercial farms can work hand in hand with smallholders to help advance Nigeria’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda, generating rural prosperity through local processing.
“It underlines the country’s ability to grow high quality, nutritious rice that can enhance domestic food security by providing an alternative to imports and as Olam kicks off its global 25th Anniversary celebrations this month, it represents a marker of our ongoing commitment to Nigeria, the country where Olam was founded.”
Through its ‘Nucleus and Out grower farming model’, the company, has supported rice-growing communities through training, pre-finance, agri-inputs and marketing linkages in Orr to improve their paddy yields and realizations, which are then purchased by Olam at a fair price.
Under this arrangement, Olam currently engaged 3,000 farmers in the Programme and with a target of 16,000 farmers by 2018. Ultimately, 20,000 small holders farmers will supply 30-40 percent of the mill’s capacity.
According to the company, the commercial farm itself currently employs about 1,000 workers depending on seasonality, providing another source of training in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). The model was highlighted as a catalyst innovation in African agriculture by the Rockefeller Foundation in 2013.
Olam currently employs over 2,500 direct employees, over 6,000 contract workers and sources from over 500,000 Nigerian cocoa, cashew, sesame and cotton farmers for its wide range of businesses ranging from milling to manufacturing and distribution of tomato paste and dairy drinks among others.
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