Gombe Blames Delay In Fertilizer Distribution On FG Supply


Gombe State government has alleged that inadequate supply of fertilizers by the Federal Government is the reason it has not distributed the commodity to its citizenry so far.
There had been loud outcry of lack of concern by some residents of Gombe state, citing the non-distribution of fertilizers as reason.
Commenting on the situation on Sunday, Gombe state Commissioner of Agriculture, Dahiru Buba Biri explained that the state government had been made adequate arrangements for the input, but was facing challenges in the supply of NPK from the Federal Government under the fertilizer initiative.
He said it therefore became necessary to inform the public of government’s preparedness as they have been alleging that it failed to arrange for fertilizers for the cropping season.
The commissioner explained further that so far only 3,000 out of the 10, 000 metric tonnes of NPK Gombe state government subscribed for had been supplied, with approval to lift additional six metric tonnes.
"We have already in stock the earmarked 10,000 metric tonnes of Urea but we have to delay the distribution until we have 60 percent of the required NPK.
“The reason is because if we commence distribution and suspends it halfway, there will be serious problems, people will start reading different meanings because they may not understand the cause," Biri explained.
Biri put to rest the fears of farmers in the state that government would commence the distribution of the commodity within the week most expectedly.
He said the government was spending about N2.7b on the procurement of fertilizer to be distributed to farmers in the state for the 2017 cropping season.
The commissioner said a bag of fertilizer presently costs between N5, 000.00 and N5, 500.00 and the state government as usual would subsidise the amount
Buba Biri spoke after conducting journalists round the Ministry's storage facilities where 3000 metric tonnes of NPK and 10, 000 metric tonnes of Urea were stored for onward distribution to farmers in the state for this year’s farming season.


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