National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
Tayo Olanipekun
The integrated rice value chain approach of Stallion Popular Farms and Mills Limited has fetched the organisation the Feed Nigeria Summit “Agro Processor of the Year Award” at Nigeria Agriculture Awards in Lagos, recently.
The award was its second, following the IBCA “Outstanding Projects and Business Leaders of the Year Award,” earlier bestowed on the company.
According to a statement made available in Lagos on Wednesday, the award was in recognition of Stallion Farms’ efforts at “integrating rice value chain in Nigeria agrarian economy as well as its dogged resolves to humanize farmed rice and self-sustainability in food production.”
The farm’s effort to increase cultivated rice yield began in 2007 and has since been at the fore front of paddy agronomists in the country to enhance rice production through scientific agricultural practices, noted the statement.
Speaking after receiving the award, Stallion Popular Farms and Mills Group Director, Hapreet Singh, said the organization owed the “accomplishment to President Muhammadu Buhari’s leadership aptitudes and his agrarian-business agenda.”
He said the farm was leveraging on the policy impetus of the Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda to bring sustainable and scalable growth to farmers.
Singh added Stallion Farms hopes to increase locally farmed rice to 1.5million tonnes yearly from 450, 000 metric tones, as the farm “has already deployed enhanced milling activities and set up more milling facilities through structured farming techniques.
“Our vision has always been to preserve and enhance rice production in Nigeria by ensuring genetic integrity of seeds,
encouraging scientific agricultural practices and promoting world-class processing techniques to emerge as industry benchmark for product quality.”
Also noting that part of its sustainable efforts was to integrate rice growing values among the locals, the Director said the Group had established procurement and collection centers, introduced co-operative associations as well as logistics and post-harvest epicenters and marketing midpoint, while it acts as a catalyst for achievable growth.
A farm division of Stallion West African conglomerate, Popular Farms and Mills Limited recently established collection centers across rice producing states in Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Niger, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi to not only help farmers embrace modern farming techniques but help distribute farm inputs through farmers cooperatives and associations to inspire rice revolution in Nigeria.
The Farm produces premium varieties of rice from farmed paddy, branded and distributed nationwide as Royal Stallion Shinkafa, Tomato Aroso and Super Champion.
Anambra State Commissioner for Agriculture, Afam Mbanefo, who presented the award to the Farm representative applauded Popular Farms and Mills’ expressive commitment towards Federal Government’s exhaustive agenda in rice production.
“You have not only supported the country’s agrarian objective for self-sufficiency in rice production but have also worked assiduously with local and state governments in ensuring food security. Your efforts are indeed remarkable,” he said.
