One of the major achievements of the present administration is the attainment of self-sufficiency in rice production from a paltry less than a million metric tons in 2015 to above six million metric tons due largely to programmes geared toward achieving self-sufficiency in rice aggressively pursued and the closure of land borders against its importation.
It is imperative for this administration to tow the same line with sufficiency in wheat production. Attaining self-sufficiency in wheat production which now stands at 600,000 metric tons is very crucial to the economic development and diversification of the Nigerian economy in this period of lower oil prices and scarce foreign exchange.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, Nigeria imports an average of 4.7 million metric tons of wheat annually whilst its demand is more than six million tons. For us to fill the current gap between local production and self-sufficiency, aggressive drive should be sustained to overcome challenges militating wheat production in Nigeria.
These include limited access to improved and certified seed varieties that are high yielding and suitable to millers in Nigeria; lack of national strategy on wheat production as obtainable for crops like rice, maize, tomato; inadequate irrigation infrastructure in the wheat producing states; and insurgency in the North East which has affected wheat production especially in the Lake Chad area.
Achieving self-sufficiency in wheat production will unlock a lot of opportunities along the wheat value chain and make Nigeria richer when wheat import is reduced drastically through conservation of scarce foreign exchange since we have the climate and the soil.
A combination of short and long term measures will improve wheat production in Nigeria. First is the development of a national wheat production road map through the aggregation of all stakeholders in the wheat value chain involving the wheat farmers association, flour millers, Central Bank of Nigeria, NIRSL and commercial banks.
Secondly, we need to improve on research and development of quality wheat seeds which is now under being undertaken by the Lake Chad Research Institute. It requires adequate funding for the institute to achieve results.
There is also the need for more investment in irrigation infrastructure in the wheat producing states to enable farmers to have enough ready-to-use acreages and water source. Even some level of commercialisation should be introduced for land clearing, levelling and other engineering works that are capital intensive for commercial farmers and cooperative associations.
Similarly, access to finance be provided for wheat farmers, especially at zero interest in the wheat producing belt since our farmers abhor credit with interest for religious reasons.
Lastly, there should be an increased use of mechanisation in the wheat value chain for optimum production.
Mulima Idi Mato
