196,770 irrigation farmers in Kebbi to benefit from GES


No fewer than 196,770 irrigation farmers in Kebbi state would receive fertiliser and farm inputs at subsidised rates under Federal Government’s 2017 dry season Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS).

The Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture in the state, Alhaji Abdullahi Shehu, disclosed this in Maiyama community while receiving members of House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture, who visited GESS centres in the state.

Shehu said that four value chain farmers would benefit in the scheme.

“Out of the 196,770 farmers that will benefit from the scheme, 100,000 are wheat farmers, 93,000, rice farmers, while 3,200 and 570 are maize and groundnut farmers, respectively,” he said.

He said that all the farmers were registered under the scheme in 52 GESS redemption centres in the state, adding that beneficiaries had started receiving notifications of their allocations through electronic text messages.

“You can see the turnout of farmers collecting their fertilizer and inputs. Depending on their crops, they received both NPK and Urea fertiliser, inorganic fertiliser, micro-nutrients and seeds,’’ Shehu said.

In his remarks, Alhaji Manir Dan-Agundi, a member of the committee and leader of the team, said that they were in the state on oversight assignment.

“The House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture is visiting all the states to see what is going on and the progress or challenges with a view to solving the problems or otherwise.

“We have so far observed that out of the number of farmers to benefit, less than 4,000 have so far accessed the scheme as a result of the challenges.

“We have discussed with the state government officials, and we are also going to meet the minister of agriculture in order to find a lasting solution to these challenges,” he said.

Dan-Agundi called on the ministry officials and other stakeholders to come up with new measures that would enhance the scheme.


He urged the farmers to take part in the scheme and to utilise the inputs judiciously to achieve the objective of reducing overdependence of oil.

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