The Nasarawa State Government says it will procure N700m worth of fertiliser for distribution to farmers this cropping season.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Water Resources, Mr Danladi Madaki, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Lafia.
Madaki said that the state government had also approved N100 million as its contribution to the Growth Enhancement Scheme under the Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda.
He said that the government decided to reduce its commitment to the GES from N200m in 2013 to N100m this year.
The commissioner said that the decision was informed by complaints from farmers in the state over difficulty they encountered in accessing the commodity through GES.
He said that the state government fashioned out a fertiliser distribution mechanism, which according to him, has proved effective.
Madaki, however, said that the method would be improved upon by involving more stakeholders to check diversion of the commodity and ensure it got to genuine farmers in the rural communities.
He assured farmers in the state that government would soon launch the 2014 cropping season and make fertilisers and other inputs available to them to boost yields.
The commissioner said the state government was determined to transform the agricultural sector, and called for partnership with the private sector to achieve the objectives. NAN
