Background

 Rice Production and Cultivation

Rice is a staple food and the most rapidly growing food source in Africa. It also serves over half of the world’s population. Yet its production if facing serious constraints, with diminishing land and water resources, hence the current global initiative towards its sustainable production.

The Niger Delta is one of the wettest places on earth. Most of Bayelsa, which occupies the central Niger Delta, is very wet, an indication of its suitability for the cultivation of wet rice. Baylesa has a natural and environmental advantage for profitable investment in rice production. The floodplain soils, back swamp soils and the mangrove swamp which are suitable for rice cultivation constitute about 7,134.68km2 (52.42 per cent) of the total land cover of Bayelsa.

Investors can team up with local farmers or public agencies. The Burma rice project undertaken by Agip illustrates the viability of such partnerships. Presently, few farms in small private holdings are operational. The major private rice farms like the Otuokpoti rice farm in Ogbia Local Government Area and the Akassa rice farm in Brass area, which were providing popular and high-demand rice for the state and its neighbours, have lain fallow for over half a decade because of financial constraints and lack of milling tools.

The 1,200 – hectare Peremabiri rice product established in 1958 by the Niger Delta Development Board, and inherited by the Niger Delta Basin and Rural Development Authority, has been out of use since 1992. at the moment, all rice consumed in the Niger Delta States is imported. A major investment in rice production in Bayelsa State would obviously by a productive economic venture to cater for the growing need for the staple food by Nigerians, and allied industries, as well as for export.

Plantain and Banana

Plantain and banana are among the major food crops grown by indigenous farmers in the state, and constitutes high-demand food items in this part of the world. With available fertile soil for large-scale cultivation, commercial production of these crops is necessary to supply the food needs of the local population and that of neighbouring states, and for export.

Plantain and banana are also ready raw materials for the commercial production of chips and canned or bottled fruit drinks. The present cultivation of these crops in small and medium holdings can support such industries. The plant population of plantain ranges between 1666 – 2500 per hectare, with a yield range of 800 – 1000 bunches per hectare. Individual farmers I the state currently cultivate about three hectares of land for plantain production. This means the production level is good enough for local and export needs, but requires a major boost to propel greater investment.

Poultry

There is dearth f poultry products in Bayelsa State, even in the face of sky-rocketing demand for eggs and chicken, which are basic sources of animal protein. At the moment, Rivers and Delta States supply poultry to the open market and catering businesses. A great potential thus exists for the development of large-scale poultry farms In Bayelsa State. The few poultry farms that exist are in smallholding. Large-scale poultry farming to produce egg and broilers, as well as turkey farming, feed production and marketing, would certainly be lucrative and economically worthwhile investment in the State. But such business would also have to overcome the challenge of common poultry diseases like booder pneumonia, gumboro, coccidiosis and fowl typhoid.