Association commends FG for revisiting GES scheme
Dr Tunde Arosanyin, National
Coordinator, Zero Hunger Commodities Association, has commended the
Federal Government for revisiting the Growth Enhancement Support
(GES) scheme for 2016/2017 dry season farming to boost productivity.
Arosanyin made the commendation in an
interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on
Wednesday.
He said that the scheme, initiated by
the last administration, was aimed at reaching to about five to nine
million farmers across the country with good quality seeds,
fertiliser and pesticides.
According to him, both government and
farmers will contribute to the cost of acquiring farming input, as
part of the subsidy scheme.
“It is good news that the government,
under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, has responded
positively to the clarion call, by revisiting the GES scheme.
“In the last one year, stakeholders
in the agricultural sector have been advocating that government
revisits the issue of supply of input to farmers it suspended because
of some challenges.
“Government has responded positively,
and I want to appreciate the effort of the Minister of Agriculture
and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, for being able to bring the
scheme back.
“As I speak, some of our farmers in
12 pilot states: Adamawa, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kano,
Imo, Rivers, Sokoto, Zamfara and FCT- have begun to receive seeds.
‘’The seeds are; rice, sorghum,
maize, millet, fertiliser and some other inputs, at 50 per cent
subsidy.”
Arosanyin noted that the development
would improve food production, reduce price of food items and save
the people from hunger.
He said the extension of the scheme to
the rainy season would go a long way to create employment and provide
more raw materials for the agro-allied sector in the country.
The national coordinator advised
government to monitor the scheme closely, to avoid the problem the
past administration had with the agro-allied dealers.
Arosanyin also urged government not to
succumb to the request in some quarters to import maize.
He said it was not at a critical time
for the country to do so, especially in the case of crops it could
produce locally. ‘’We don’t need to import them.’’
“The government is doing everything
possible to address some of these challenges that the country is
facing,’’ Arosanyin said.
NAN reports that GES scheme is a
government initiative under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda
(ATA), aimed at subsidising the cost of major agricultural input,
such as fertiliser and seeds, to farmers.
Under the initiative, farmers access
the input through electronic distribution channel known as the
e-Wallet.
The e-Wallet scheme stipulates that a
farmer, registered under the scheme, pays 50 per cent of the cost of
farm input, while the Federal and State Governments pay 25 per cent
each.
One of the requirements for the scheme
is the national farmers’ registration, where farmers’ data are
captured into the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s
central data bank.
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