KWARANIZATION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE OF PROCESSING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE

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KWARANIZATION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE OF PROCESSING

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE

By

O.A. AjayiDepartment of Chemical Engineering,

Ahmadu Bello University, [email protected]. Tel: 08033175209, 08054288244

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Kwara State is blessed with good fertile land and also

hard working farmers, who statistic hard shown to be

very productive despite poor tools. God also blessed

the state with good geographical location, topology

and terrain hot only to farming but for processing of

farm produce.

Kwara State comprises rainforest in the southern partswith wooded savannah covering the large part of the

soil is fertile and the state is well watered by the

various tributaries of the Niger River which run

through valleys, none of which rise to any great

height. The western section of the state is at a slightly

higher altitude the eastern.

This is a summer rainfall area, with an annual rainfall

range of 1000mm to 1500mm. the months ofDecember to January coincide with the cold and dry

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harmattan period. Average maximum temperature

varies between 32oC to 350oC.

The government is convinced that no other sector has

as much potentials to drive poverty reduction

initiatives and jump-start economic development as

agriculture. It is therefore in agriculture that Kwara

State wishes to carve its niche in both the national

and international economy. " Our vision is to lead the

way in changing Nigeria's reliance on imported food"

declares Governor Saraki, "we will make Kwara State anet producer of food and agricultural products both for

the huge domestic market, and for export."

What is most impressive about this era is the speed

and breathe of support that has been offered to local

farmers, from education right through to marketing of

value added product. Fertilizers and machinery have

been heavily subsidized, storage and processing

facilities built or rehabilitated, and perhaps most

importantly, jobs creation.

The government recognizes that "it is only when

agricultural production is radically increased to the

level that would allow easy linkage allied economic

activities like production, collection, storage,

transportation, processing and packaging, that

agriculture can be used to drive other development

objectives. Therefore, while efforts are made to

organize, support and mobilize local peasant farmersfor large scale production, the commercial agricultural

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practices are also programmed to have multiple

trickles down effect in raising the standard in peasant

farming practices"

In line with this, the former governor Saraki introduced

the Zimbabwean farmers not only to take up land

concessions in the state but to also train Kwara

farmers and boost the state income and standard of

living.

For Kwara state to be an exemplary in this decade,

there is need to do a SWOT analysis vis--vis looking

at means of upgrading farm produces to meet both

local and international standards. It suffice to mention

s that meeting international standard requires through

researches and provision of needed tools, manpower

and facilities.

Accordingly, this paper discusses means and roles of

all in the state in Kwaranization of Science and

Technology in agricultural products processing.

3.2 SWOT ANALYSIS

The state like every other one has her inherent

properties, which could be properly geared towards

development. The ability of any nation to take

advantage of her resources is a measure of her

civilization. SWOT analysis is needed to enlighten the

state and her indigenes on the power embedded in

her.

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SWOT actually means strength, weakness, opportunity

and threat. What are these and how can the state use

these to move ahead. The analysis is not only limited

for processing of agricultural produce but was applied

for that purpose in this paper.

STRENGTH:

Soil texture, topography, climate, indigenes

attitude toward farming.

WEAKNESS:

Funding, linkages between education sector

(universities, polytechnic etc), research

institutes, ministries, investors (private sector),

program breeds (continuity of projects).

OPPORTUNITY:

Present government attitude to farming,

increment in agricultural loan (now readily

available?), man-power (academics and

practical) inclination toward farming. etc

THREAT:

Corruption, favoritism, selfish interest etc

3.3 CONCEPTOF PROCESSING

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As a chemical engineer, I will define processing as the

scientific act of converting a raw material(s) into

valuable product(s) via various unit operations, at

appropriate operating conditions.

The concept of processing is market driven in the

sense that any product that is well proceed will be of

better quality and most importantly have high cost

value, i.e. more income for the producer. Lets consider

maize for example. A stalk of raw maize is far cheaper

than cooked maize. The only process the raw maizewent through was boiling, either with good or bad

water, with salt addition for taste. The person selling

this cooked maize will report profit at the end of the

day. He/She is doing what a chemical engineer do best

in his laboratory or pilot plant. Honestly, a chemical

engineer only can not achieve the conversion

processes without the help of others, like those in

sciences, (other arms of engineering, sociologist,

business administrators etc).

Rice is a stable food for almost all Nigerians and Kwara

state. it grown on commercial scale, in most parts of

the country, and Kwara State is not left behind. The

questions now are; is the state actually getting an

optimal value from the rice production processes? Is

there any pilot plant around the rice farm to boost

states economy, create job and create needed

amenities in this locality? The big question is what canthe state do to get the best and what are the roles of

others in assisting?

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The processing chart shown in Figure 1 for rice

processing will attempt to answer the questions above

and shed light on the roles we all have to play in

taking Kwara state to the next level.

Figure 1: Rice Processing technique

The harvested rice is first cleaned of unwanted

matters like mud, stones, chaff etc. The cleaned lot is

then feed into de-husker where the rice is freed from

husk. This is later taken to the huller where polishing

is done by mild friction created within the polishing

chamber, which is sent for proper storage and

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Harvested

Rice

Cleaning

Beneficiation

Polishing Packing

Power Generation,

Zeolite Formation,Biofuel, etc

Associated

industries

Refinery, Power

Generating Plant,

Chemical

Processing plant


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packing. Recovering of edible rice under ideal

condition is about 80%, by products 15% and 5% to

process loss.

During the de-husking process, the rice husk that is

considered as waste server as good monomer for

power generating industry, catalysts development

(zeolite required for cracking oil), good material for

cement industries (due to its silica content), another

source for biofuel production (its cellulosic content).

Since rice is consumed in every home virtually on

daily basis there is that tendency that the rice husk

would be generated in large quantity, as reported by

various researchers. Accordingly, it become

imperative to set up such relevant plants within the

vicinity of the farm. If Kwara state encourages this

goal, then in the nearest future a steam turbine power

plant driven by burnt rice husk could be established,

along with bio refinery where same husk will be

hydrolyzed for bio fuel product. The state could also

engage her institutions of higher learning to be

engaged in researches leading to training and

developmental technique for proper conversion, usage

and application of all side-products from rice

processing (and other produces).

It should be mentioned that some countrys economy

presently rely on agricultural produces and

processing. For example, sugar cane beat either usedor in raw form can be converted into biofuel, which is

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being used in modern cars. Presently Brazilian

economy fully depend on biofuel produced from sugar

cane.

3.4 ROLESAND RESPONSIBILITY

I believe that for any nation or state to develop,

everybody must play certain role and be responsible

and dedicated. The roles and responsibility in this

case, will be shared between three different parties,

namely: government, educational sector and private

sector.

A. GOVERNMENT

i. Provision of funding (for

researches, procurement implementation etc)

ii. To foresee inspection, co-

ordination, regulation of all other sectors.

iii. Resuscitation/establishment of

research institutes.

iv. To establish, maintain and

sustain linkages between educational sector,

research institutes, farmer and relevant

ministries.

v. Establishment of local

processing plant and/or encouraginginvestors (local or foreign) to do so.

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vi. Improved transportation

systems, within and outside the state.

vii. Provision of conducive

environment (safety and other amenities)

viii. Improvement in propaganda

campaign

B. EDUCATIONALSECTOR

i. Researchers to focused on local

content

ii. Encouraging design and

fabrication (locally) of tools for processing

units.

iii. Creation of linkages between

facilities, department and possible

international linkage with other agricultural

research institutes.

C. PRIVATESECTOR

i. Co-operation with other arms

(government and research institutes).

ii. Transparency in their mode of

operandi

iii. Coordinated and conscience

marketing approach

3.5 CONCLUSION

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Kwara State is presently a proud producer of so many

agricultural produce. The state is also recognized for

her attempts in adopting newer technological

approaches to boost farming activities and hence

increase product quantity/quantity. Processing of

agricultural produce will not only add value to the

produce but develop the science and technological

know how in the state. Like the Yoruba heritage says

agba jowo lafin soya which means you can only beat

your chest with collective fingers. For Kwara State to

be known and be a leading state within these decade,

these adage need to be adhere to by all parties.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. About Kwara State: download on

23/05/2012 at

www.kwarastate.gov.ng/index.php

2. Report of Kwara State Farmers Census,

Produced by Ministry of Agriculture and Natural

Resources, Ilorin, Kwara State, May 2010

3. Kwara State- Nigerias Garden of EdenAfrican Business Series, 2004

4. Highina, B.K, Ajayi O.A. & B.O Aderemi

(2006) Production of Glucose from Rice Straw

Journal of Nigerian Society of Chemical

Engineers. Vol 21. No 1 & 2, p.114-119

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http://www.kwarastate.gov.ng/index.phphttp://www.kwarastate.gov.ng/index.php

KWARANIZATION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE OF PROCESSING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE

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