Ishola Michael-Bauchi
Flour Milling Association of Nigeria (FMAN ) has specifically disclosed that it has decided to establish procurement centers across 13 Northern States to offtake all wheat grain from up to 50,000 farmers.
The states include Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Adamawa, Gombe, Plateau, Taraba, Zamfara, and Yobe.
The National Programme Manager, FMAN, Aliyu Samaila, disclosed the disclosure during the Wheat Development Fact Sheet Programme for the 2022 – 2023 farming Season held at Jagoel Village in Jama’are LGA of Bauchi State.
He said, “to sustainably expand wheat production in the country, we must increase farmer yields to make wheat competitive with rice and other dry season crops.”
He pointed out, “Our number one role is to provide a market for wheat farmers in Nigeria: we are expanding our procurement as an industry across the wheat-producing states through additional aggregation staff and warehouse capacity.”
Aliyu Samaila further disclosed that the development program this 2022-23
the season includes: Cultivation of 114-hectare demonstration farms across the 6 Northern states to provide training on good Agronomic Practices.
The States, according to him, include Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, Plateau,
Taraba and Yobe, while the expansion of FMAN’s direct out-grower program with input loans will cover 4,300 farmers
across 3,900 hectares in 7 states of Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna, Bauchi, and Zamfara.
FMAN also aims for the expansion of seed production with 6 certified seed companies, including both dry and
wet season seed production, to produce sufficient seeds for 10,000 hectares next farming season.
The Partners for the programme include Techni Seeds, Premier Seeds, Lifted Agro, Green’s pore, Sow Agritech and Ahalson Seed.
There will also be research trials on FMAN’s 10-hectare research farm in Jigawa for testing new seed varieties and improved agronomic practices, including collaboration with Lake Chad
Research Institute, CIMMYT and ICARDA.
Also, Grant funding for National Agricultural Seeds Council to expand its capabilities to test seed quality, certify seed production, and train farmers to differentiate high-quality seed from others in the market.
There will also be research and Communications through the launch of a data management app for proper data
collection and management of field activities in partnership with Source Trace.
The FMAN National Programme Manager stressed that, “Transforming wheat production in Nigeria requires a strong vision backed by clear roles and
responsibilities for all stakeholders.”
He assured that, “To this end, we will be organizing state-wide Field Days in all
our major areas of operations to bring together key stakeholders to address real-time challenges and learn from each other, as well as a Wheat Farmers Yield Championship at the end of the
season to recognize the highest performing farmers.”
Aliyu Samaila said that, “We look forward to partnering with organizations across the value chain to improve farmers’ yields through High-quality seeds, expanded extension services, and improved access to irrigation, all
based on sound data and evidence.”
He added that FMAN has significantly impacted the wheat sector, “and our level of support has been consistent and increasing. Our focus has been on research & development, seed production, agronomic and input support, and purchasing local wheat.”
According to him, specific interventions include: Purchasing over 50,000 tons of wheat over the past 5 years; Signed an MOU each year with the Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria (WFAN) to buy any quantity of wheat available at an attractive price based on farmer yields.
FMAN also Purchased wheat directly from over 4,000 farmers at 40 village-level Wheat Farmer Centers in 2022; Provided loans of high-yielding seeds, fertilizers, and agrichemicals to 400 farmers in 2019 and 700 farmers in 2020 in Kano, Jigawa, and Kebbi states.
It further provided mechanized threshing services to over 1,500 farmers in 2022 on a cash-free basis in exchange for grain and Established a Research and Development Grant to the Lake Chad Research Institute aimed
at improving wheat varieties with good yield.
Also, FMAN Established over 100 ha of wheat seed varietal testing and seed multiplication sites in Kano, Sokoto, Jigawa, and Kaduna over the past 4 years; Donated 50 units of Amar Multi-crop threshers to WFAN; Donated 225 tons of seeds to farmers and also Donated over 2,500 units of 3-inch water pumps.
The Emir of Jama’are, Nuhu Muhammad Wabi Urged FMAN to fix good prices for the wheat grain to enable the farmers to repay the loans they accessed to make it revolving for others to access.
Represented by the Madakin Jama’are, Alhaji Muhammad Sabo, the Emir also urged farmers to ensure that they repay their loan to FMAN to open doors for others to get.
Some of the farmers, Hajiya Hajara and Dauda Ahmad, who spoke to Journalists, commended the support from FMAN, attesting to the fact that it has increased their production tremendously over the years.
