Gombe Govt. procured 160,000mt of fertiliser since 2011 – Dankwambo

Gov. Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State said on Friday that over 160,000 tonnes of fertiliser had been procured and distributed to support farmers in the state since 2011.

Dankwambo said this at the launching of the 2018 fertiliser distribution and sales in Gombe.

The governor, who described agriculture as the mainstay of the economy in the state, said that over 70 per cent of people in the state were farmers.

According to him, efforts are being made to boost the agricultural sector in the state by repairing over 20 tractors, and supporting dry season farming, to ensure all-year round farming.

“It is gratifying to note that we have procured over 160,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser since the inception of this administration in 2011.

“The agricultural inputs are sold to farmers at subsidised rates, in order to improve productivity and support the over 70 per cent of the people of Gombe, who are farmers.

“This, we believe, will translate to increased income, empowerment of our farmers and improvement of livelihood of our citizens.

“To sustain fertiliser availability in the state, we have entered into a Public Private Partnership with AFCOTT Nigeria Limited, for blending of NPK 20-10-10 at the Gombe Blending Plant.

“We have also repaired over 20 tractors and implements for the 2018 wet farming season, and supported the dry season farming with free land preparation,” he said.

He said that his administration was executing other numerous programmes and projects in the agricultural sector, aimed at diversifying the economy.

Dankwambo urged the farmers to take advantage of government’s huge spending in the agricultural sector to increase and improve agricultural production.

Mr Dahiru Biri, the Commissioner for Agriculture, appreciated the state government for the provision of fertiliser, tractors, improved seeds, chemicals, counterpart funding for FADAMA III, and provision of N100 million, to procure and stock grains.

Our correspondent reports that Dankwambo fixed the price of fertiliser for the 2018 cropping season at N4,900 for a bag of NPK, and N5,900 for a bag of Urea.