Wheat Updates Shifting from petro-dollars to agro-dollars
May 2016
http://sard-sc-wheat.icarda.org
Nigeria to triple area under wheat
Hon. Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Chief Audu Ogbeh, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Kano State and Senator for Kebbi State
Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, visiting a wheat farm in Alkamawa in March 2016
NIGERIA: The SARD-SC Wheat project organized a national field day with its local partners
and Federal Minister of Agriculture on 12
March 2016 at Alkamawa, Kano State, under
the patronage of his Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari who was ably represented by
the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Hon. Audu Ogbeh. The other two
dignitaries who were also guests of honour at
the event, were His Excellency Governor of
Kano State Hon. Abdullahi Umar and His Excellency Governor of Kebbi State Hon. Atiku Bagudu. Over 1,000 stakeholders (about 700
males and 300 females) attended the field day
including parliamentarians, senior federal and
state level government officials, farmers, extension specialists, researchers, NGO representatives, input suppliers, millers, youth and women groups engaged in wheat value chain activities and invited guests from ICARDA.
In numbers
3OO,OOO ha in 2017
100,000 hectares under wheat in 2015
50,000 hectares under wheat in 2012
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Government support
The Federal Minister affirmed his government support to wheat producers at the
event and said that they are providing production inputs (fertilizer and seeds) including combine harvesters, water pumps, and
credit facilities to farmers.
The minister expressed his satisfaction to
SARD-SC wheat project for the new high
yielding varieties, producing 5-6 tonnes per
hectare which has made wheat production
competitive. The minister stated that the
wheat harvest for 2016 cropping season is
expected to reach 250,000 tons, from a total
wheat area of 100,000 hectare sown this
season.
The minister said, “Today, Nigeria is spending over US$ 4.6 billion annually on wheat
importation and domestic production accounts for less than 7 percent of the country’s annual wheat requirements.” He added
that since Nigeria has the land and water
resource, this importation was ‘totally unacceptable,’ and the way to stop this is through
transforming rural economies by transforming agriculture. Governor of Kebbi state
highlighted the importance of early planning
saying that to achieve the targeted 300, 000
hectare of wheat in the coming year, the
problem of seed must be solved early and
the importation of key equipment should
start now.
Statistics source: USDA, FAO, Wheat Atlas and NARS
All speakers concurred that Nigeria is on the
right track to become self-sufficient because
of the recent successful collaboration between the Lake Chad Research Institute
(LCRI) Institute for Agricultural Research
(IAR) and ICARDA all working in partnership
through the SARD-SC wheat project. Their
collaborative efforts led to the release and
dissemination of several heat tolerant, high
yielding, wheat cultivars, including varieties
‘Norman’ ‘Reyna 28’ ‘Reyna 15’ and
CROW-S’ with grain yield of up to 5-6 tons
per hectare, contrasting with the country
average yield of 1.75 tons per hectare.
The new wheat varieties introduced from
ICARDA also meet the required good end use
quality and as a result, the Nigerian Millers
Association officially submitted a written
commitment to the Ministry stating that the
millers will buy all the wheat grain produced
in the country during this season through
the new initiative.
IN THIS ISSUE
NIGERIA: Shifting from petro-dollars to
agro-dollars ………………..……………………….….01
NIGER: Working with customary institutions
and govt to boost food security ……………...02
MAURITANIA: Results of state support to
wheat farming ………………...…….…………......03
PROFILE: Meet the wheat farmers
of Africa ………………….………………….…………..04
Building capacity of women
on wheat value addition
In collaboration with MicroFinance
Foundation-Sudan, the SARD-SC wheat
team conducted five one-week training
workshops for 560 women from New Halfa,
River Nile and Gezira States. The trainings
dubbed ‘My bread for my house’ covered
food processing, baking, pasta making and
associated skills. These trainings took place
in January and February 2016 in Sudan.
Working with customary institutions and government to
boost food security
The head of Group Fulani, Mamane Salifou
Sardona , speaking on behalf of the Customary
authorities during the wheat field day held at
Konni expressed the full satisfaction and gratitude of the people of B’Konni to the project for
its support and contribution to the food security
of Niger. In Koni, there are 3,000 hectares of
land under irrigation by gravitation from a nearby dam, greatly reducing production costs.
Mr. Ibrahim Abdou, leader of the Producers Association, confirmed that the wheat varieties
Although wheat is grown in some areas of Niger, introduced in Niger proved highly productive
with an estimated yield of 4-5 t/ha. He also exlocal production remains very low, the major
pressed his appreciation for the support of the
hindrance for wheat production being the abproject towards seed production. A women
sence of a stable and favourable market. It is
representative Habsou Didi, stressed the need
argued that if the wheat produced in-country
for better development of the wheat sector,
possesses proper quality, decision makers and
other wheat value chain stakeholders will invest through the establishment of an efficient marketing system that supports local wheat producin local wheat production and in the process
provide an assured market for wheat farmers in tion.
the country. Towards this end, ICARDA’s local
partner in Niger - INRAN- organized a national
wheat field day on March 23, 2016 in collaboration with the local Customary authorities, to
demonstrate to decision makers and wheat
stakeholders the performance of the newly introduced and successfully tested wheat varieties
‘Attila-Gan-Attila’ and ‘Norman’.
NIGER: The SARD-SC wheat project and its
partner in Niger, l’Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN) are
working with, among others, the Customary
authorities to boost food security in the country.
Niger faces periodic dry spells especially around
the months of July, and during such times the
government buys cereals and pulses and distributes to people as part of food relief. Imported
wheat is often part of this food aid package.
She added that there is need for subsidies for
wheat production inputs, and training of wheat
producers. The Secretary General of the Department of Konni, reiterated the intention of
the government to support the wheat sector
through the Presidential 3N Initiative of the
nation feeding itself dubbed “Nigeriens Nourish
Nigeriens.” Through its technical partner INRAN, the project is conducting wheat variety
tests, including trials of wheat adaptation to the
different agro-ecologies in the country, aiming
to strengthen the wheat sector, reduce the unsustainable wheat imports and contribute to
the national food and nutrition security. Currently, lowland irrigated yield trials are ongoing
at the research station of Maradi, Tara, Agadez,
Konni and Tillabery. The project has also established collaboration with ‘les Moulins du Niger’ the largest milling company in the country.
In numbers
5,OOO ha under wheat in 2017
1,800 hectares under wheat in 2012
4-5 t/ha: Average yield in 2015
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Stats sources USDA, FAO, Wheat Atlas and NARS
Stakeholders impressed by performance of wheat crop during a recent wheat field day in Niger
In 2012, Mauritania had
just 1,750 ha of wheat
and yield was 1.66 t/ha
against a consumption
rate of 520,000 tonnes
per annum. This has,
however, begun to
change with more participation of the government, NARS and DRFCA
supported by SARD-SC.
Currently, it has over
4,000 ha of wheat and varieties are being introduced that have the potential to produce 4-5 t/ha.
Dr. Oumar Coulibaly, D.G of DRFCA and Dr. Baba Ahmed Ould, D.G CNRADA with wheat farmers in Trarza, Mauritania
Results of state support to wheat farming
in Mauritania
MAURITANIA: The state support to
wheat production in Mauritania, a country
that currently produces less than 10% of the
wheat it consumes, is set to boost local production of this strategic crop. This support
is estimated to cover about 70% of the
wheat production process and is focused in
the areas of free distribution of seeds in rain
-fed areas, continued close supervision of
seed system and availing improved seeds for
3,283 hectares in 131 agricultural sites, including 71 in irrigated areas. The wheat cultivation program covers the governorates of
Trarza (1375 hectares) Brakna (30 hectares)
Hodh Gharbi (130 hectares) Adrar (30 hectares) Tagant (1144 hectares) Inchiri (18
hectares) and Tiris-zemmour (240 hectares).
Speaking during a recent wheat field day,
organized by DRFCA (Directorate of Agricultural Research, Training and Advisory Services) of the Mauritanian Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with ICARDA through
the SARD-SC Wheat project, Mr. Dia Mohamed, the Governor’s Advisor in the Region,
expressed his appreciation and gratitude to
the organizers of the field day, in particular
ICARDA, for their support to this strategic
commodity for Mauritania. The field day was
held on March 20th 2016 in the district of
Seytouly within the Trarza governorate. The
president of the Cooperative Amal, Mr. Ahmed Ould Imigin thanked the organizers for
choosing his Cooperative to host this event.
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Statistics source: USDA, FAO, Wheat Atlas and NARS
The president of the Cooperative Amal, Mr. Ahmed Ould Imigin further expressed his satisfaction with the two bread wheat varieties
‘Norman’ and ‘Attila-Gan-Attila’ introduced to
the area and grown on one hectare each. He
testified that the two performed very well in
comparison to the old durum wheat variety
‘Karim’ also grown on 18 hectares at his farm.
The Director of DRFCA, Mr. Oumar Coulibaly,
added that cooperation between Mauritania
government and the stakeholders in the wheat
sector, including his own institution along with
the Trarza governorate, allowed DRFCA to acquire more samples of wheat seeds, which were
tested to determine and select the best quality
wheat that is most suited to the country’s environment.
Dr. Habib Ketata, expert in wheat crop production at the SARD-SC wheat project at ICARDA
indicated that the testing of durum and bread
wheat varieties introduced through the SARDSC wheat project performed significantly better
than ‘Karim’ a durum wheat variety, more
widely grown in Mauritania.
Participants at this particular field day were
from the government, the private sector, farmer
associations, extension and research. Together
they exchanged their views on the development
of wheat crop in Mauritania. With support from
the SARD-SC wheat project, currently the partners are working on pre-release evaluation of
11 bread wheat elite breeding lines and a similar number of durum wheat elite breeding lines
at three testing and demonstration sites; Sylla
semencier, Daraa and Kankossa.
In addition, there is ongoing seed production of
one hectare each for ‘Norman’ and ‘Attila GanAttila’ planted in December 2015, in addition to
advanced yield trials and heat tolerance nursery with over 100 wheat entries at Daraa
Research and Demonstration Center.
The project partners have established and operationalized two innovation platforms, one
each for the irrigated areas in the governorates
of Trarza, Brakna and Gorgol, and for the rain fed areas, based on water -receding lands behind seasonal dams, in the governorates of Tagant and Assaba. Also present at the field day
were the regional delegates of the Ministry of
Agriculture, two farmers per governorate, a
private sector representative (from Sonimex), a
representative of millers, of research community, transport, rural radio and of consumers.
With these initiatives, and ongoing support by
the government, the country is expected to significantly increase its local wheat production
and soon reduce its growing import burden.
In numbers
4,OOO ha currently under wheat
1,750 ha under wheat in 2012
4-5 t/ha: yield from new varieties
1.6 t/ha: yield from old varieties
Meet the wheat farmers of Africa
Sudan:
My name is Hachem Ahmed. I am a
wheat farmer from Gezira in Sudan. I have
grown wheat for many years, but my yields
were very low. Up to three years ago I used to
harvest 4 to 5 of the 1000 kilogram bags per
feddan (equivalent of one ton per hectare). Back
then wheat farming was not profitable due to
the low yields. We had the problem of mix of
varieties, and our farms didn’t look good at all.
However from three years ago when we started
receiving support, we have benefitted a lot, especially from the wheat farmer field schools
organized by the Agricultural Research Corporation, ARC Sudan and SARD-SC Wheat project
where we were taught all the steps in proper
wheat crop management. With that support, my
harvest has increased to 18 bags per feddan
(three tons per hectare). As a result of this I
was among the 20 farmers awarded by the federal minister of agriculture because our farms
were of the highest quality.
Hachem Ahmed, Gezira, Sudan
Since we began working with the project, our
farmer group has doubled its wheat area
from 252 to 630 hectares. This was only
possible when our yields per hectare begun
to double. As you can see, now our fields
have pure good looking varieties that yield
well and in fact I expect even better yields
this coming harvest. I expect 4.3 tons per
hectare. This is the result of the good technology including good varieties and better
crop management. For example, we used to
irrigate after every 21 days, but now we irrigate every 10 to 12 days. We use fertilizer
and proper weed control. As a result I expect to make good profit because of the
yields and better prices that has been fixed
by the government of Sudan. As a directive
of the president, the government buys wheat
from farmers at 400 Sudan pounds
(USD66.0)
SARD-SC Wheat and ARC in Sudan
The project has six innovation platforms in the
Northern, River Nile, Gezira and Kassala (New
Halfa state) that are fully operational. There are
90 farmers- managed technology validation/
demonstration plots in an area of about 68 hectares and nine farmers’ field schools established
to raise farmer’s awareness. Last year more
than 5325 (4241 M/1085 F) different stakeholders from all levels participated in field days,
symposia, farmer field schools and in country
training.
535,OOO tons produced 2015
2012
2015
Productivity
1.7 tons / ha
2.5 tons / ha
Acreage
187,000 ha
214,000 ha
Production
324,000 tons 535,000 tons
About SARD-SC Wheat
Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa (SARD-SC) is a
multi-national CGIAR-led project that targets enhanced food and nutrition security and reduced poverty across sub-Saharan Africa. The Project’s Wheat Component, managed by
ICARDA, is one of the initiative’s four targeted efforts to improve the productivity of strategic crops – the other three targeting cassava, maize, and rice. With financial support from
the African Development Bank (AfDB), ICARDA and its national partners, SARD-SC Wheat is
leading efforts to boost the production of wheat in 12 countries: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali,
Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Lesotho.
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Editor:
Dr. Solomon Assefa, Wheat Commodity
Specialist, Coordinator
Co-Editor:
Polycarp Otieno Onyango
Communications Consultant
Rue Mahmoud Ghaznaoui,
El Menzah IV -1082 Tunis - Tunisia
Phone : +216 7175 3680
Fax : +216 7175 3170 +216 57175 3170
[email protected]
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