A locally branded rice bearing Nasarawa State’s name would be released to markets at the end of the ongoing harvest, Governor Abdullahi Sule has disclosed.
He made the disclosure when he led a team from Silvex International, an integrated agribusiness, to inspect the Jangwa/Agwantashi rice farm operated by the state government on Monday.
Silvex International is partnering with the state government in the area of offtake and packaging of rice from the farm unveiled by the governor at the beginning of the farming season last year.
The governor said the farm has been expanded from the initial 2000 hectares last year to 3,300 hectares at the beginning of planting season this year.
“By the grace of God next season we will expand by another 2,000 so that at least we’ll be talking about 5,000 plus hectares,” he stated.
According to him, instead of selling to Olam as the state government did at the end of harvest last year, it has decided to go into partnership with Silvex International which is deeply into processing and packaging.
He explained that with the partnership arrangement, Silvex has agreed to process and package the rice with “Nasarawa” as the brand name.
“So, they are coming all the way to the farm with all their gadgets; we are harvesting, we are bagging, we are weighing the rice right here inside the farm; and they have brought their trucks and they are taking the rice directly from here.
“But the most important thing for the good people of Nasarawa State to know is that Silvex is kind enough to say that they are going to now bag all this rice, the finished products in our name. So, it is going to be “Nasarawa Rice”.
Next time you go to the market when you see ‘Nasarawa Rice’ then you know it is from here,” he noted.
He said with the new development the state government is contemplating expanding the farm with additional 2,000 hectares next planting season even as he hinted at Silvex taking interest in the expansion programme next year.
Also speaking, Abubakar Garba, the project lead for Nassarawa and chief operating officer of Silvex International, commended the governor’s commitment to transform the agricultural value chain, not just in Nassarawa State, but the country at large.
He said Silvex has the capacity of processing over 460 metric tons of rice per day from its factories located in Kogi and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Mr. Garba however said the company has been experiencing the challenges of access to quality paddy at a competitive market for it to be able to produce optimally.
“Luckily for us, we are able to find a partner in Nassarawa State, which is what we are celebrating today. It’s a huge celebration for us.
“We have done businesses with a couple of states, Jigawa, Kogi and so many others, but I have never seen a place where these deals are actually totally negotiated in the interest of the state, like what we have today in Nassarawa State.
“Initially, when we requested 10,000 hectares of land in Nassarawa State, His Excellency insisted that he wants the community to be a part of the project. He wants the community to be an integral part of it. He doesn’t want to give out land to people that are from nowhere. He wants the community to be integrated,” he explained.
