Gombe farmers get fertilizer, improved maize seeds

The Gombe State government has procured 12,000 metric tons of assorted fertilizer for the 2015 cropping season. Flagging off the sale of fertilizer and improved seeds to farmers, the state Governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, said the fertiliser was made up of NPK with 15:15;and Urea 46 per cent. The governor said 35 metric tons of […]

The Gombe State government has procured 12,000 metric tons of assorted fertilizer for the 2015 cropping season.
Flagging off the sale of fertilizer and improved seeds to farmers, the state Governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, said the fertiliser was made up of NPK with 15:15;and Urea 46 per cent.
The governor said 35 metric tons of improved maize seeds (Samaz18 and Samaz 14) were also available for sale.
He called on the state Ministry of Agriculture to design an allocation and distribution pattern that would ensure that the fertilizer gets to the genuine farmers.
The governor also said there was the need to effectively monitor the distribution and sale of the commodities, calling on the committee responsible for that to do a thorough job.
Governor Dankwambo called on farmers in the state to utilise the inputs provided by government wisely so as to boost production.
“Government has considered all the economic variables and fixed the price for this wet farming season at the cost of N3, 800 for fertilizer, and improved maize seeds at N750 per kg,” he said.
In his speech, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Alhaji Jani Bello, said the ministry had come out with a modified system of allocation and distribution of fertilizer in the 2015 farming season.
“We have identified 355 large-scale and 1,140 medium-scale farmers from our records at the Gombe State Agricultural Development Programme (GSADP).
“We are confident that this method of distribution will capture most of our farmers. We will ensure that the commodity reaches the grassroots,” he said.
He said the ministry had completed arrangements to transport the fertilizer allocated to the respective local government headquarters.
Some of the farmers in the state urged the state government to put in place a mechanism that will ensure that the products get to the real farmers, especially those at grassroots.