Farmers call on Plateau Govt. to hasten distribution of fertiliser

 Farmers in Plateau, have called on the State Government to hasten the distribution of its subsidised fertiliser, three weeks after it inaugurated the sales offer.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), recalls that Gov. Simon Lalong, had at the inauguration in Bokkos on June 28, said that government had subsidised the commodity for a bag to sell at N4,000.

``Realising that most of the farmers are peasants, who can hardly afford the high price of fertiliser in the open market, government has subsidised the product by 50 per cent.

``The subsidy makes it possible for farmers to access the product at N4,000 per bag,'' Lalong had said.

He added that 24,000 tonnes of the commodity would be distributed to the 100,000 registered farmers in the state.

However, farmers, who spoke with NAN in Jos, Pankshin, Langtang, Mangu and other settlements, said that they were yet to see the commodity.

``We registered as a cooperative body; we were told that we would access the commodity without stress but we have not seen anything,'' a maize farmer, who pleaded anonymity said.

He said that farmers were now forced to patronise the open markets where a bag was being sold between N8,000 and N9,500.

Another farmer, Pius Azi in Lamingo, said that his corn farm had since gone yellow for lack of fertiliser.

``Ẁhen the governor inaugurated the sales some weeks ago, I was excited that I would at last, access the fertiliser but I cannot see it anywhere to buy,'' he said.

Azi claimed that the commodity was more expensive this year than ever before.

He expressed the fear of massive food shortage next year, if something was not done to check the dearth of fertiliser that had left many farmers confused.

Reacting, Mark Longyen, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Publicity, attributed the late delivery of the product to logistics.

``The fertiliser was not on ground when it was inaugurated; the three suppliers contracted, need to lift the fertilser from Lagos port to Jos.

``Some consignments have already reached Plateau, some are still on their way while some are yet to leave Lagos,'' he said.

He said that the farmers needed to be patient with government, as the product would soon be made available in all the 100 designated distribution centres across the state.

Longyen also blamed the delay on government's insistence to first pay salaries before considering any other expenditure.

``Government did not go into the purchase of fertiliser early; the main premium was on workers' salaries. Since that has been settled, we can now focus on other issues,'' he said.

He said that the non-payment of allowances to the youths, who registered the farmers was also responsible for the delay.

``The youths, who have not been paid, stopped the suppliers from distributing the fertiliser that have reached the distribution centres, insisting that their allowances be paid,'' he added.