Nigeria is set to adopt two new lowland varieties of NERICA rice, the Project Co-ordinator of SASAKAWA Global 2000, Dr Ahmed Falaki, has said. NERICA rice is a rice variety developed by the African Rice Centre (WARDA) in Cotonou, Benin Republic.
Falaki said WARDA, National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI) and SASAKAWA Global 2000 were collaborating on the new varieties. He said the new NERICA varieties would be distributed
to farmers for planting within the next two years.
“You know you don’t just introduce varieties over-night, it has to be multiplied, tested and certified before you make it available and we are almost getting to that stage,” he said. According to him, the yields from the new NERICA will be between 8-10 tonnes per hectare, as against the 2-3 tonnes per hectare yield from the upland variety, whose maximum yield is five to six tonnes. “The NERICA type is specifically bred to feed the lowland and irrigated areas and now being promoted in Mali and Senegal,” he said.
He said the national rice output had increased from 3.4 million tonnes, in 1999, to 4.3 million tonnes, in 2006, since the introduction of NERICA. Falaki said paddy multiplication had also increased and that varieties from NERICA had generated excitement in many African countries.
He said with a combination of good production techno-logy and high quality grain, NERICA rice was being produced to compete favourably with those from Asia and the U.S. “Asian rice has no clear advantage over most locally produced rice; again, the post-production activities resulting in an inferior product is being eliminated gradually,” he said.
Falaki said for the nation to be self-sufficient and maintain the current standard, government should place a total ban on the importation of rice. “Government should stop paying lip service with the ban; it should set a target and work toward it. Customs Service should take the lead for it to work.Government should forget the idea of using the 10 per cent levy on rice importation for agricultural development because that is a way to weaken the system and discourage innovation, ” he said
The coordinator also advised the government to learn from the lifting of the ban on wheat importation, which resulted in the collapse of local production. NAN learnt that NERICA recorded the greatest production impact to date in Guinea, where it was first introduced in 1997. In 2003, NERICA varieties were released for commercial use in 10 West African countries, including Nigeria.
Vanguard
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