August 20, 2024.
By Samuel Ogunsona
Ogun State has officially joined the ranks of Nigeria’s leading rice-producing states, marking a significant milestone in its agricultural development.
The State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has flagged off the harvest of 200 hectares of farmland at Magboro Rice Farm in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of the state.
The project with the vision for agricultural transformation in Ogun state is supported by the World Bank.
Speaking at the occasion, Dapo Abiodun said the innovation is beyond rice production for local consumption but to also facilitate economic growth in the state with reduction in youth unemployment.
He said: “This is a 200-hectare rice farm. The farmers are mainly women and youths from all parts of the country and not just from Ogun State alone.
“Each farmer was allocated one hectare of farmland; this means that we have 200 farmers in this cluster. This project started in April this year. They began planting in May, and today we are already harvesting, making it a three-month cycle. It means that we can do this three times a year.’’
Abiodun noted that the farm, with a seven metric tons yield per hectare, could translate to 1,400 metric tons for 200 hectares of milled rice with an efficiency yield of about 70 percent, which would also translate to about 20,000 bags of milled rice per cycle.
“20,000 bags of milled rice per cycle should be estimated to cost about N1 billion. So, these 200 farmers, made up of women and youths across the country who farm here in just three months, have a revenue of N1 billion. If they do this three times this year, they will earn N3 billion. We have no business being hungry in Nigeria.
“In this place, I have 12,500 hectares of land, and all we have farmed is 200 hectares that yielded N1 billion for 200 farmers. From here, I can feed the rest of the country. We will scale up this project immediately from 200 to 2,000 hectares.
“We can generate N30 billion in revenue. We can take significant steps towards realising that vision of making Ogun State the food basket of this country,” he added.
This achievement is a testament to Governor Dapo Abiodun’s
