Pastor Mattew Ashimolowo
Many farmers in Ofada, Obafemi Owode Local GovernmentArea of Ogun State, community known for the cultivation of rice in the South West, have abandoned the crop for a number of reasons, chief among which is the headache of controlling swarms of birds which destroy rice plantations.
When words got in about an expanse of rice farmland in Ofada, our correspondent paid a visit to the Meridian Farm Limited and saw harvesters working on the 140-acre plantation.
In 2013, our correspondent had paid a visit to Ofada, prompted by the strange development that such a
community well known for the crop no longer cultivated it. Farmers had said at the time that pests sometimes left nothing for them to harvest, which was why they had to abandon such an ‘unprofitable venture.’
On Tuesday, not until after a tour and an interview with the manager of the farm, Mr. Akeem Aremu, did our correspondent learn that the massive rice plantation was actually owned by Pastor Ashimolowo. Rice farming in Nigeria seemed to have become a dying sub-sector until the recent efforts by government in encouraging farmers to resuscitate it. Even despite this, statistics shows that a lot need to be done as Nigeria continues to consume more imported polished rice. Nigeria imports 2.1 metric tonnes of rice annually, coming only second to China as the world’s largest importer of rice.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Nigeria spends over N356bn a year on rice importation. This underscores the frustration Nigerian rice farmers face as a result of unaffordability of needed technology, low and poor quality yields. However, at Ashimolowo’s Meridian Farms, all these do not
seem to be a problem. A harvester rolled into the plantation, swallowing both chaff and grain, spitting out both from different sides.
Source: http://www.osundefender.org
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