Stallion Group To Boost Rice Production • In Ghana, Nigeria
The Stallion Group, owned by the billionaire Vaswani brothers, Sunil, Haresh and Mahesh, has initiated a plan to boost rice production in Ghana and Nigeria.
In Ghana, the group has started with 200,000 hectares and initiated a plan for the establishment of a modern rice mill at Asutsuare.
In Nigeria, it has put 100,000 hectares of land under rice cultivation and established three modern rice mills.
At a sensitisation forum at Asutsuare in the Eastern Region, the Finance Director of the group, Mr Sameer H. Gupta, said Stallion, which has been in the country for eight years, had a vision to preserve and enrich rice production in Ghana by collaborating with the Kpong Irrigation Project (KIP) to ensure the genetic integrity of seeds and encourage farmers to adopt scientific agricultural practices and world-class rice processing technologies.
“We will extend the procurement and distribution network to different rice growing regions in Ghana and work towards the uplift and education of the farmers and their families,” he added.
An expert in rice production, Dr P. Bala, who is with the Stallion Group of Companies, noted that some of the features of the rice terrain in Ghana were remarkable and added that there was a good amount of annual rainfall, with efficient distribution, in all rice-growing areas in the country.
He added that there were plenty of water resources and said the farmers also had a good attitude towards rice cultivation, noting, however, that the KIP project had an irrigation system that needed to be improved upon to enhance rice production.
Other problems he identified were low crop yield per unit area, low utilisation of irrigable land, low adoption rate of technologies, loss of revenue due to non-maintenance of irrigation infrastructure, lack of input fertilisers and low income for farmers.
He urged the government to maintain a proper database on farmers, provide incentives for rice farmers and maintain a high motivation level to encourage the farmers to work harder.
The Project Manager of KIP, Mr E. T. Sekou, said the management had realised, from interactions with other stakeholders, that for a healthy and sustainable partnership, there must be mutual respect, a good understanding and appreciation of the needs and goals of partners for a win-win outcome.
He said unfortunately, the relationship between KIP and some of its partners had not been sustainable because of the parochial interests of agricultural input suppliers and processing millers and the lack of capacity on the part of partners to perform their roles effectively.
He said the overall performance of the project had been below expectation because of a number of interrelated constraints, which included fragmented farm plots, lack of specific materials for rice production and inappropriate machinery.
In Nigeria, the group is giving support to rice farmers in the North-West zone of the country and it has assured them of total support and co-operation towards encouraging them to adopt scientific agricultural practices through mechanised farming.
Popular Foods, a part of the Stallion Group, has identified Kano as the most vibrant state in terms of rice production and is establishing a state-of-the-art rice milling industry in Kano with a view to boosting production in the zone.
Mr Vinay Tuteja, the Managing Director of Popular Foods (Nig) Limited, made this known at a day's seminar on improved rice production for farmers and other stakeholders in the state.
The seminar, which was jointly organised between the Nigeria-based Indian company and the Kano State branch of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), called on stakeholders to be deeply involved in the collective efforts at improving rice production as a means of providing food security in the country.
Explaining the proposed rice milling industry in the state, Mr Tuteja said the company's decision to establish the firm in Kano was informed by the fact that apart from its position as the centre of commerce and industry, “Kano is surrounded by the major rice producing states of Katsina, Jigawa, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara.”
According to the Popular Foods MD, the company was satisfied with the state government policy in encouraging foreign direct investment (FDI), adding that considering the level of structures put in place by the government, in the next four to five years Kano would surely be the hub of rice production, not only in the country but throughout the entire West African sub-region.
He, therefore, declared the company's vision, “To make Nigeria and Ghana the rice bowl of the West African sub-region so that we can fill the vacuum created by the excessive demand in the region,” saying Popular Foods was currently working with its technical partners in India and Thailand towards achieving its target objective.
“When fully established, the proposed rice milling plant in Kano will operate 24 hours a day, with a daily installed capacity production of an estimated 12 tonnes per hour; that is, an approximate 240,000 tonnes within the first year of operations,” Mr Vinay further explained. Continued
In Ghana, the group has started with 200,000 hectares and initiated a plan for the establishment of a modern rice mill at Asutsuare.
In Nigeria, it has put 100,000 hectares of land under rice cultivation and established three modern rice mills.
At a sensitisation forum at Asutsuare in the Eastern Region, the Finance Director of the group, Mr Sameer H. Gupta, said Stallion, which has been in the country for eight years, had a vision to preserve and enrich rice production in Ghana by collaborating with the Kpong Irrigation Project (KIP) to ensure the genetic integrity of seeds and encourage farmers to adopt scientific agricultural practices and world-class rice processing technologies.
“We will extend the procurement and distribution network to different rice growing regions in Ghana and work towards the uplift and education of the farmers and their families,” he added.
An expert in rice production, Dr P. Bala, who is with the Stallion Group of Companies, noted that some of the features of the rice terrain in Ghana were remarkable and added that there was a good amount of annual rainfall, with efficient distribution, in all rice-growing areas in the country.
He added that there were plenty of water resources and said the farmers also had a good attitude towards rice cultivation, noting, however, that the KIP project had an irrigation system that needed to be improved upon to enhance rice production.
Other problems he identified were low crop yield per unit area, low utilisation of irrigable land, low adoption rate of technologies, loss of revenue due to non-maintenance of irrigation infrastructure, lack of input fertilisers and low income for farmers.
He urged the government to maintain a proper database on farmers, provide incentives for rice farmers and maintain a high motivation level to encourage the farmers to work harder.
The Project Manager of KIP, Mr E. T. Sekou, said the management had realised, from interactions with other stakeholders, that for a healthy and sustainable partnership, there must be mutual respect, a good understanding and appreciation of the needs and goals of partners for a win-win outcome.
He said unfortunately, the relationship between KIP and some of its partners had not been sustainable because of the parochial interests of agricultural input suppliers and processing millers and the lack of capacity on the part of partners to perform their roles effectively.
He said the overall performance of the project had been below expectation because of a number of interrelated constraints, which included fragmented farm plots, lack of specific materials for rice production and inappropriate machinery.
In Nigeria, the group is giving support to rice farmers in the North-West zone of the country and it has assured them of total support and co-operation towards encouraging them to adopt scientific agricultural practices through mechanised farming.
Popular Foods, a part of the Stallion Group, has identified Kano as the most vibrant state in terms of rice production and is establishing a state-of-the-art rice milling industry in Kano with a view to boosting production in the zone.
Mr Vinay Tuteja, the Managing Director of Popular Foods (Nig) Limited, made this known at a day's seminar on improved rice production for farmers and other stakeholders in the state.
The seminar, which was jointly organised between the Nigeria-based Indian company and the Kano State branch of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), called on stakeholders to be deeply involved in the collective efforts at improving rice production as a means of providing food security in the country.
Explaining the proposed rice milling industry in the state, Mr Tuteja said the company's decision to establish the firm in Kano was informed by the fact that apart from its position as the centre of commerce and industry, “Kano is surrounded by the major rice producing states of Katsina, Jigawa, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara.”
According to the Popular Foods MD, the company was satisfied with the state government policy in encouraging foreign direct investment (FDI), adding that considering the level of structures put in place by the government, in the next four to five years Kano would surely be the hub of rice production, not only in the country but throughout the entire West African sub-region.
He, therefore, declared the company's vision, “To make Nigeria and Ghana the rice bowl of the West African sub-region so that we can fill the vacuum created by the excessive demand in the region,” saying Popular Foods was currently working with its technical partners in India and Thailand towards achieving its target objective.
“When fully established, the proposed rice milling plant in Kano will operate 24 hours a day, with a daily installed capacity production of an estimated 12 tonnes per hour; that is, an approximate 240,000 tonnes within the first year of operations,” Mr Vinay further explained. Continued
