Nasarawa State Government has inaugurated the sale of 90,000 bags of assorted fertiliser to farmers in the state.
Speaking during the ceremony on Wednesday in Lafia, Gov. Umaru Al-Makura, said the gesture was aimed at ensuring bumper harvest.
Al-Makura said that the government had increased the quantity fertiliser to be sold to farmers from 137 trucks in 2017 to 150 trucks in 2018.
He urged all farmers in the state to purchase fertiliser at the headquarters of the respective local government and development areas.
“The sale of the fertiliser this year is decentralised unlike in the past, to ensure easy access by farmers.
“Committees are also set up under the supervision of the local government chairmen and overseers of development areas, to ensure accountability and transparency in the process.”
He said that the government would deal with anyone caught diverting fertiliser, no matter his status.
Earlier, Mr Jameel Zakari, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, assured farmers that there were enough fertiliser to meet their needs.
“Ten thousand tonnes of fertiliser is available to be distributed to farmers in various centres across the state.”
He said the ministry would not tolerate request for fertiliser from anybody as the commodity would be sold direct to the farmers and not through middlemen.
Zakari said that the government, through the ministry, had set machinery in motion to monitor the process in order to ensure adherence to the governor’s directive.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Ishaq Mauzu, the state Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) expressed gratitude to the governor for the gesture and appealed to him to reduce the price from N4,000 to N3,000.
He suggested in subsequent years, fertiliser sale should commence from March to April, to enable farmers to adequately utilise the commodity.
