Irrigation deficit limits local rice production, signals investment opportunity

Increasing rice production in Nigeria is plagued by limited irrigation, among other challenges. But this problem encountered by tens of thousands of farmers can be solved through deployment of innovative solutions other than the costly petrol-powered water pumps.

Growing rice during the dry season and irrigating to provide water, according to interactions with farmers and stakeholders in the value chain, delivers better yield and is the most profitable way to produce the widely-consumed staple.

However, this comes at a significant cost, particularly in places where petrol-powered pumps have to be used to irrigate farms for as much as 12 hours a day, depending on the size of the farm, for a crop that could take four to six months until harvest.

During the rainy season, farmers do not have to worry about irrigation costs, but it also implies the water supply is completely out of their control. With this, best farm management practices are difficult to implement, making rain-fed rice production deliver less value compared to the dry season. Indeed, most farmers, particularly in the North where irrigation is usually practiced, prefer the dry-season farming, minus the cost implications.

Rice loves water, just enough circulating regularly throughout the day, but not too much, otherwise the fields get flooded. As experts note, local rice production in Nigeria would have increased beyond the current level across the country, but the high cost of irrigation in some places, and the absence of it in others, means farmers remain constrained in how much they can cultivate.

In Ebonyi State, famed for its Abakaliki rice, expanses of land traditionally used for rice cultivation were empty when this reporter visited earlier this month. In some rice farms, tubers such as yam and cassava had been planted, with the expectation they would be harvested before the rain starts. The plan is such that when the rainy season starts, they can go back to farming rice.

However, for some other farmers, the lands simply remain fallow, as they cannot afford to irrigate, invariably waiting for the rains to start. By doing this, the farmers only get to produce rice once a year, whereas they could be producing at least two times, and possibly thrice a year from the same land.

“We lack the capacity to go into irrigation fully because it is capital-intensive,” said Moses Nomeh, commissioner for agriculture and natural resources, Ebonyi State.

He, however, said there were some areas where perennial water is being used for irrigation, but noted it is “at on a very small level”.

In Kebbi State, where irrigation is more commonly used during the dry season, farmers literally have to pay through their noses to have water supply on the farms. While this method helps them achieve significantly higher yields, which may be up to 40 percent more than rain-fed production, the added cost also means farmers require more working capital, and generally reflects on the cost of rice to consumers.

“The buying of petrol which we use to water our farms is the highest (production) cost,” said Mohammed Suleiman Ambursa, a judge of the Kebbi State High Court who also cultivates rice, in an interview.

“The cost of petrol is challenging for farmers,” corroborated Mohammed  Augie, chairman, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Kebbi chapter.
While Augie says they have been lucky this year to have stability in petrol prices, it hasn’t always been like that.

In a previous interview, Augie explained that petrol is bought every day and used to power water pumps for 10-12 hours to keep rice fields watered, depending on the size of the farm.

“If this is substituted, it will go a long way in making the cost of production cheaper,” he said.
Two options have been identified in solving the irrigation problem and they are potential investment sources for the private sector. They include provision of reliable solar-powered pumps and massive development and deployment of irrigation through well-managed dams.

Garuba Dandiga told BusinessDay when he was Kebbi State’s commissioner for agriculture that the state was looking for a cheap and reliable solar scheme that would be affordable for the farmers. This had not changed when this reporter visited the state again recently, with Muhammed Argungu, acting permanent secretary in the ministry of agriculture, expressing the same view.

From Kebbi to Ebonyi, many states across Nigeria require providers of solar irrigation systems that will drive agricultural productivity and year-round farming, not just for rice production but even for other crops.

Experts have also expressed the view that while irrigation through dams is expensive and usually borne by governments across the world, there is room for Nigeria to develop a model for private sector involvement. Existing but unused dams can be turned over to willing investors who will get them functional and supply water to farmers under a “user-fee” arrangement.

Emmanuel Ijewere, vice president, Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG), said companies with experience on dam and irrigation could have a cluster of farmers around them “to whom they provide water at a fee”.

“This will be tied into the cropping of those people, a practice common in Bangladesh and India,” he said.

CALEB OJEWALE