Bakery Operators Laments As Wheat Production Crashes By 89.44 Per Cent

The Federal Government in a report has stated that the production of wheat in Nigeria has crashed by 89.44 per cent, dropping from about 350,000 metric tonnes annually to as low as 36,943.8MT.

The National Bureau of Statistics in the latest report of Wheat Production Survey disclosed that 36,943.8MT was produced in 13 states.

Industry operators disclosed that the rise in the price of bread and pastries in the country is due to the low production of wheat, which is the major material for flour used in baking.

According to NBS, wheat farming is experiencing renewed interest from policymakers who saw Nigeria’s potential to be self-sufficient in wheat production.

NBS stated, “But as vital as wheat is, we cannot say with certainty the actual quantity of wheat produced in the country as conflicting figures were being published from different sources.

“There has been no recent survey or study to estimate the wheat production in Nigeria. The last official estimate of the wheat acreage is 60,000 hectares and dates back to 2008.

“Much has changed since then, and this study provided an overview of the current wheat production in Nigeria. The wheat production survey was conducted across 13 states in Nigeria covering 2020/2021 farming season by the NBS.”

NBS further stated that the production of wheat in 13 northern states is been cultivated in an area of about 11,820 hectares with a production of 36,943.8MT of grain across the identified states.

The bureau identified the states as include Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Bauchi, Kaduna, Gombe, Yobe, Katsina, Plateau, Sokoto, Zamfara, Borno and Adamawa.

It said the maximum area under wheat cultivation was in Kano (19.68 per cent), followed by Jigawa (17.69 per cent), while Zamfara accounted for the least (1.62 per cent).