Wheat Production in Nigeria Today
Wheat is a cereal grain grown in many countries of the World. As of 2018, the global wheat production stood at around 713 million tons per year making it the third most grown cereal in the world.
In Nigeria, wheat is a major cash crop rich in calories; about 327 calories per 100 grams. It is a great source of carbohydrates, protein, fibre, vitamin B, and many minerals.
Wheat is used in the production of foods such as bread, cookies, cake biscuits, noodles, and spaghetti. It is also used in making local delicacies such as Fura, Taliya, Danwake, etc, and can be used as a “swallow”.
In an attempt to reduce the importation of wheat in Nigeria, in 1987, the federal government banned the importation of wheat and local wheat production rose from about 50,000 to an estimated 150,000–180,000 tons per year but over the years the production of wheat in Nigeria has dropped drastically.
The demand for wheat has grown over the years with consumption as high as 4.1 million tons in 2012/2013 but the domestic production of wheat is not able to meet these demands leading to a high import rate of wheat into the country.
For a whole decade, Nigeria only managed to produce just about two per cent of all the wheat it consumed.
As of 2020, domestic production of wheat stood at about 200,000 metric tons while wheat import averaged at about 4.7 million tons per year.
Challenges of Growing Wheat in Nigeria
In 2020, the president of the Wheat Growers Association of Nigeria, Mohammed Salim cited the inaccessibility of farmers to quality seed as a major challenge affecting the growth of wheat in Nigeria.
He cited that because Wheat is open-pollinated, the maximum that a particular seed can be used is around four years and so there is a need for more financing to be put into researching new varieties of seed every two years that will sustain the production of wheat in Nigeria and keep farmers in business.
Harsh weather conditions and lack of water for irrigation have also been cited as major challenges affecting the production of wheat in Nigeria today as the Nigerian weather is not favourable for growing certain varieties of wheat.
Growing wheat requires a very well-drained soil that is not very salty or acidic thus making the north a good place to focus the production of wheat.
For wheat to be grown effectively, wheat grains should be stored in a clean and cool environment with proper ventilation. It should be grown only in the tropics, during the harmattan season. The best time to plant wheat is between 15th November to 15th December and it takes about 100–120 days for it to grow and be ready for harvest.
Boosting the Production of Wheat in Nigeria
As the demand for wheat rises, there is a need for the production of wheat in Nigeria to be boosted effectively to cater to the needs of the growing population. Production of wheat can contribute to Nigeria’s economic growth massively if more attention is placed there and will create less dependency on oil. A bag of 100kg of wheat can yield as much as 22,000 naira profit after harvest; this makes it a very profitable cash crop.
Although it is not possible to eliminate the importation of wheat in Nigeria, focus can be placed on improving the production of wheat in Nigeria.
The best states for growing wheat in Nigeria are Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Zamfara, and Kano. This is because the temperature in these areas ranges from 15–20 degrees Celsius making the land good for massive production of wheat.
The Nigerian government implemented the Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA) to increase the production of five key crops- wheat, cocoa, rice, cassava, and cotton to reduce food importation and satisfy Nigerian Consumers’ price preferences.
The strategy of the Nigerian government is to partner with private business holders to produce wheat at a cheaper rate to stay competitive in the Nigerian market.
Furthermore, the Wheat Farmers Association in Nigeria (WFAN), supported by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched the borrowers’ program to provide loans for farmers to go into wheat production. Other experienced farmers like FMAN have been used to raise and train farmers in wheat production.