Pros and cons of wheat farming in Nigeria

macfranc007 November 02, 2017 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Olive Adoti

Wheat is a cereal grain that is grown in almost every country in the world. Initially, it was grown only in Lebanon and Syria but science and technology made it possible for other countries to grow it as well. The global wheat cultivation is around 713 million tons per year and is the third most grown cereal in the world. Would you like to know how to make money from wheat farming business? Keep reading to find the answers you need and some other useful information about wheat farming in Nigeria.

There are 4 major crops produced across 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa: cassava, maize, rice and wheat. One of the most popular cash crop grown in Nigeria is wheat. It consists of about 71% carbohydrates, 13% protein, 13% water and 1.5% fat. This is a very calorie rich crop with about 327 calories per 100 grams. Wheat is also a great source of fiber, vitamin B and many minerals.

Wheat is used in making foods such as bread, cookies, cakes biscuits, spaghetti and different types of noodles. In Nigeria, it is also used for making local foods such as Taliya, Gurasa, Tuwo, Alkaki, Fura, Algaragis, Alkubus, Danwake and other.

Since rice is the main crop in Nigeria, wheat is usually underestimated. Nevertheless, due to its frequent usage in making bread, porridge and pastries, the importance of wheat has grown in recent years. The domestic usage and amount of imported wheat has increased as well. Wheat can be grown in almost every country and Nigeria is on its way to becoming one of the top export countries along with Ukraine, Russia, Canada, Australia and others.

Pros and cons of wheat farming in Nigeria

In Nigeria, domestic wheat production is still very low, equaling to about 90,000 tons. The demand is however much higher; over 4 million tons of wheat is needed to satisfy the national demand. There is a big gap between the demand and production, therefore every year there is about 3 million tons of the product coming from the US to Nigeria. Since wheat is an important product, it is important to encourage the government to cultivate it on a large scale.

The country’s wheat consumption was as high as 4.1m tons in 2012/2013, and it is predicted that demand will grow in future. The gap between imported and domestic wheat is huge - more than 6.2 million tons. Therefore, there should be a plan developed to raise domestic wheat production.

The taste of the local population is changing and wheat has become a very profitable cash crop to grow. Nigeria’s demand for wheat is fast growing. Since Nigeria’s climatic conditions are not good for planting and growing wheat, the Nigerian government looks for different ways to improve the wheat market’s development. The most effective way is to stimulate wheat production is irrigation.

In view of the fact that government stimulates the interest in wheat cultivation in states such as Taraba and Plateau, a lot of effort is being put into transforming and taking wheat production to the next level. The best states for growing wheat in Nigeria are Borno, Bauchi, Yobe, Jigawa, Kano, Gombe and Zamfara. In these states, the temperature varies from 15 to 20 degrees Celsius, which makes their land good for massive wheat production. Wheat production undoubtedly contributes to the economic growth of Nigeria and makes the country less dependent on oil and gold productions.

The Nigerian government started to implement the Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA) to increase the production of five key crops - wheat, cocoa, rice, cassava and cotton. This is in an attempt to reduce food importation and also satisfy Nigerian consumers’ price preference.

There is no way to absolutely eliminate wheat importation in the country, therefore, the Nigerian government and some private business holders are seeking ways to make their own wheat products cheaper than those imported from the US so that their wheat products stay competitive in the Nigerian market. Due to the huge population of the country, Nigeria remains a great market for wheat farming, and its production growth increases by 3% annually.

Experts’ view on wheat production in Nigeria

International and Nigerian experts say that wheat farming requires a very well-drained soil and cannot be grown in very salty or acidic soil. Professor I.U. Abubakar along with the Director of the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Samaru Zaria,emphasize that wheat should be grown in the Northern area, starting from Kaduna state. The best time to start wheat farming is between November 15 to December 15. It takes about 100 to 120 days for it to grow and get ready to be harvested.

Professor Abubakar added that wheat grains should be stored in a clean and cool place with good ventilation. Moreover, the temperature is a very important factor for successful wheat farming. It should grow only in the tropics, during the harmattan season.

“If you are growing wheat around the Lake Chad area in Maiduguri, the soil there is vertisol so you irrigate once in two or three weeks, but if you are growing wheat for example in Kadawa area, you irrigate once in two weeks, whereas in Sokoto basin you irrigate once every week because the soil is generally sandy,” - Professor Abubakar.

In Professor Abubakar’s opinion, there are three main challenges for wheat farming: unavailability of good seeds, lack of water for irrigation and very high temperature.

There is really a big problem with seed supply in Nigeria. The private seed companies are not interested in wheat seed production and mostly produce cassava stalks or rice seeds. But as soon as they noticed that Nigeria has started to work more on wheat farming programs they also expressed their interest in wheat seed production.

Water is also a very important factor for wheat farming.

Wheat farmers in Nigeria

There are more than 75,000 wheat farmers in Nigeria. There is also a lot of people who are willing to share their experiences in wheat production with others. A wheat farmer, Malam Abba Kafinta, mentioned that he earns about N22,000 for a 100kg bag of wheat after the harvest season. Another wheat farmer, Alhaji Sada Maiwada uses wheat seeds from Sudan and explains that it takes three months for wheat to grow. According to him, one hectare of land produces about 25 to 30 bags of wheat (100 kg each).

The majority of these farmers started their business with the help of the Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria (WFAN), supported by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) borrowers program. The registration of farmers for this program does not require a lot of effort and is designed to provide loans to cultivate wheat during the dry season.

According to the Chairman of WFAN, Nigerian farmers who are willing to start wheat business are required to open an account in one of the commercial banks before applying for the loan.

“We want to make sure that all registered farmers fulfill the conditions for accessing the loan before the dry season farming commences” - he said.

In his opinion, such programs go a long way in building the future of wheat production in the country. Under the CBN borrowers’ scheme, each Nigerian farmer must collect chemicals, fertilizers and water pumps from the CBN office. Each farmer should cultivate only one hectare and repay the loan after harvest season.

These days, majority of wheat harvested in Nigeria are rain-fed. They are planted in October and harvested by farmers in early April. Nigeria still strives to expand both its local and international wheat farming market; despite challenges like lack of water, poor irrigation system and long dry seasons, the Nigerian government is working hard to develop wheat farming in the country. We hope that the situation will change for the better soon.