Farmers call for early distribution of fertilisers, farm inputs


Some farmers in Hadejia, Jigawa, on Thursday urged government at all levels to ensure early distribution of fertilisers to control drought and enhance food production in the country.

They also called for re-introduction of Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Scheme, to enhance farmers’ access to fertilisers and farm inputs.

A cross section of the farmers, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Hadejia, while commenting on dry-spell warning by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).

NAN recalls that NiMet had predicted dry-spell in northern part of the country this rainy season.

The agency advised farmers to ensure effective utilisation of the rainy period and encouraged them to plant drought resistant seeds to avoid losses.

Malam Musa Wakili, a farmer, said that the call was imperative to enable them cultivate their farmlands on time before the dry-spell.

Wakili stressed the need for government to support farmers with drought resistant and early maturing seeds to guard against losses.

“The government should heed to the dry-spell warning and distribute fertilisers, farm inputs to farmers at the commencement of the cropping season," he said.

Another farmer, Haruna Bello, also called for review of the tractor hiring scheme to enhance participation in the programme.

Bello noted that expansion of the programme to include small holder farmers would encourage productivity.

He said that peasant farmers were not accessing tractors and other services under the programme due to high charges and cumbersome processes.

"Farmers in rural communities are not accessing the services; review of the scheme will go a long way encourage agricultural mechanization," he said.

The farmer also commended the Federal Government over the implementation of agriculture loan programme, adding the gesture would promote agricultural financing.

NAN reports that the Federal Government had distributed fertilisers, seeds and chemicals to more than 200, 000 registered farmers under the GES scheme in the state.


GES is a critical component of the Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA) initiated by the Federal Government in the past four years to enhance farmers' access to fertilisers, seeds and inputs through e-wallet.

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