Dr. Felix Obada, group chief executive officer, Global Biofuels Limited in his Lagos office recently.
"The biggest farm in Nigeria is about 200 hectares but we are going on a scale that would attract such world class equipment manufacturer as John Deer. We have approached them when we confirm that 90 percent of equipment used in the mechanized South African farms and the US farms and the US farms are from John Deer. With the massive farmland, which we are developing for our project. John Deer has given us their word that they will consider a re-entry to Nigeria," Obada assured, in an exclusive interview with Financial Standard.
John Deer left Nigeria about 25 years ago when the Global agro-equipment fabricator read the signs that Nigeria was no longer focusing on agriculture but fossil fuel. This, and inconsistencies in policy drove the company out of Nigeria. Considering that Nigeria has been on subsistent farming, the absence of John Deer has not been felt as other few multi-focused manufactures such as FG Ferguson, Caterpillar amongst others are here. Narrating the value, John Deer would create in the system when it arrives Nigeria, he said that the equipment manufacturer would supply harrowers, harvesters, levelers amongst others or as needed by his company. This would suffer no hitches as John Deer has developed, from one of its dedicated divisions machines for sweet sorghum farming. In effect, the company is currently managing for a private investor, a 30,000-hectore capacity sweet sorghum farm in Mexico, Obada said.
Importantly John Deer would build rain fall harvesters which would collect every drop of rain in the farm and store it for all year-round farming need of the farm. “Do you know that Nigeria has not in history tried what is called rain harvesting? This is because Nigeria has not known what mechanized farming is all about. In our farm, we are going to have equipment which John Deer would construct for rain fall harvesting. This implies that not even a drop of rain would be wasted in our farms but would be collected and stored for our all the year-round-farming.
In a similar development, Global Biofuels Ltd, the foremost company in Nigeria to go into the South African technology of producing fuel-ethanol, bio-diesel from agricultural commodities has put everything in place for the take-off of its 30,000 hectares of sweet sorghum farm. Speaking on mechanizing of farms, Obada said that the company saw that mechanized farming is not a native of Nigeria but controlled by the South Africa. He said this prompted his organization into having an understanding with The Shepard of South Africa which has the commitment to bring into Nigeria the South African Bughle Farmers Academy to come and train the Nigerian farmers on the technicalities involved in mechanized farming. "The Shepard is perfecting the contract between us and the Bughle Farmers Academy and by the end of this month, they will be here to do a lot of things,” he said. The Biofuels chief said that the South African farmers would inspect the farms and recommend where rain water harvesters could be sited. The farmers would also advise on issues on aquifer as well as road construction to create mobility in the farms.
Responding to technical compatibility of such machines from John Deer on Nigerian soil and climate he noted that the machines are rugged although they are also very sensitive. The Bughle Farmers would manage the machines while the Nigerians would take over from them subsequently.
On workability of the project in Nigeria, Obada said that the pilot farm has been set up, plowed and fully planted. According to him, the sorghum plants which are about 30 days now have performed beyond expectation even with no fertilizer application. “Our technical partners arrived and were amazed as the performance of the pilot farm is wonderful. Within 30 days the plants are taller than any human being. This has confirmed that the project is very workable in Nigeria.
The quest by man to circumvent excessive burning of fossil fuel which has principally been linked to the emissions of dangerous gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide amongst others and other green house gases which consolidate together in the depleting of the ozone layer has led to the discovery of other sources of renewable energy. Production of refined and cleaner fuel energy from agricultural produce has been advocated by scientists as the only visible way out of these factors causing global warming which have caused tremendous changes in climatic parameters globally.
In Nigeria, the Global Biofuels Limited has taken the lead and the management has said it is prepared to add value to the nation’s energy need in less than 18 months from now.
|
