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Ph/DR: Mr. Adamou AROUNA, representative of the mayors of Malanville and Karimama, was delighted that the Government had promptly responded to the grievances of the producers
The Government of Benin, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, wants to produce by 2025, one million tons of paddy rice (unhusked). The Territorial Agricultural Development Agency of pole 1 (ATDA 1), in charge of promoting this sector, works to achieve this objective. Pole 1, bringing together the municipalities of Malanville and Karimama, produces 40% of rice in Benin
The ambition is unequivocal: to produce enough rice to guarantee food security, improve the income of actors in all links in the sector, ensure social well-being and impact the Gross National Product and the national economy. Pole 1, bringing together the municipalities of Malanville and Karimama, produces 40% of the rice in Benin and coordinates the implementation of the Rice Program on the national territory.
Since the launch of this Program, the rice sector in Benin has experienced rapid development, increasing from production of 363,000 tonnes in 2018 to 531,000 tonnes in 2022. However, Benin remains in deficit. Better still, the rice produced in Benin is not systematically processed on site, due to the lack of a processing unit. The white rice deficit is met by imports. So, the Government of Benin wants to reverse this trend by getting producers to sow, by 2025, 215,000 hectares of rice, or 57% of the potential of the 375,000 hectares available. It also aims to help increase the average yield by 3.5 to 5.5 tonnes per hectare, against a potential of 10 tonnes per hectare. This is to reach one million tonnes by 2025.
To achieve this, pole 1 carries out combined actions such as improving the availability of inputs through the development of rice-growing land; subsidy to producers of improved seeds; access to fertilizers; strengthening access to modern production equipment and infrastructure, namely transplanters, harvesters, threshers and winnowers; the development of rice-growing land and the improvement of water control.
Ph/DR: Pole 1, bringing together the municipalities of Malanville and Karimama, produces 40% of rice in Benin
Pole 1 provides capacity building and production techniques and supervisory staff through agricultural advice; strengthening processing capacities by setting up efficient equipment and then setting up agricultural financing to start agricultural campaigns and the paddy rice processing campaign.
On Thursday, August 10, 2023, at its headquarters in Malanville, ATDA 1, provided Karimama rice producers with 20 mini harvesters, 15 manual transplanters and 2 motorized transplanters; and the Malanville producers of 50 mini harvesters, 40 manual transplanters and 4 motorized transplanters, all worth 50 million FCFA.
Ph:DR: Vegetable seeds
For the market gardening component for which it is also responsible, pole 1 offered 14 producer cooperatives seeds of market gardening crops worth 18,327,000 FCFA.
Mr. Adamou AROUNA, representative of the mayors of Malanville and Karimama, was delighted that the Government had promptly responded to the grievances of the producers. “It is now up to the producers to play their part in achieving one million tonnes of paddy rice production by 2025,” he said. Mr. Cabo SEIDOU, on behalf of the producers, reassured the Government that he will not be disappointed with their commitment to support him in achieving this ambition. (Source: Gov.bj)
