Yahaya launches sale of fertilisers announces subsidy on commodity

Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State on Friday launched the 2021 fertiliser sales to farmers in the state and announced a subsidy of N2,100 per bag of the commodity.

Yahaya said the commodity would be sold at the rate of N7,500 per bag as against N9,600 sold in the market.

He stated his administration would continue to subsidise the price of the commodity while strengthening other agricultural interventions.

The governor said the measures were in an effort to boost food security in the state and improve farmers’ income.

He, however, warned against hoarding or frustrating the distribution of the fertilisers to grassroots farmers.

“Such a person would not be spared but handed over to anti-corruption agency for prosecution,” he said.

Yahaya, who also inspected the Gombe Fertiliser Blending Plant, told newsmen that the plant had been abandoned for nearly 19 years and it had become necessary to resuscitate it.

“In order to sustain supply of fertilisers to the people at the right price, in the right quality and at the right time, we need to restore production in this plant.

“We worked together with TakAgro and as at today, you can see what we have achieved.

“We will sustain this and continue with this company to improve productivity so that states around us will also be supplied from this plant,” he said.

Similarly, Muhammad Magaji, the state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, reiterated the state government’s commitment to revitalising the agricultural sector.

He pointed out that this was to bring about sustainable agricultural development to ensure food security and wealth creation for farmers.

Magaji added that aside the intervention of the state government in the provision of fertilisers and other inputs, government was also improving the livestock sector in the state.

He said the state government had keyed into the Livestock Transformation Plan of the Federal Government which had resulted in the ongoing development of the Wawa-Zange grazing reserve.

The commissioner gave the assurance that the state Fertilisers Distribution Committee would ensure effective sales and distribution of the commodity so that it would reach the farming populace at the grassroots.

Also, Dr Musa Inuwa, the state Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), said the federal government was also committed to enhancing food security.

Inuwa stated that FMARD had recently distributed rice inputs to 150 farmers in the state, adding that such gesture which was done in nine other states was to improve the production of rice.

He added that through the federal government’s intervention, rural roads, solar-powered boreholes and street lights had been provided to improve the agricultural sector of the state.

It was reported that the state government also distributed rice seedlings and chemicals to some farmers in Sabon Ruwa, Kumo and Malleri communities of the state free.