Zamfara To Distribute 45,000 Metric Tonnes Fertiliser

AS part of efforts to complement Federal Government’s policy in agriculture, the Zamfara State Government has planned to distribute 45,000 metric tonnes of high quality fertiliser to farmers in the state at the cost of N1000 per bag.

It has also concluded arrangements to acquire 100 tractors annually to enable the farmers embark on large-scale farming.

The state governor, Aloa Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, who disclosed this while conducting the National Good Governance team round the state fertiliser depot in Mafara, said that the state is in support of the Federal Government’s transformation agenda for the agriculture.

He, however, observed that apart from selling fertilisers at over N3,000, which, he said, cannot be afforded by farmers, the Federal Government often  distributes the commodity in September every year, a period, he said, is too late for farmers in the state to utilise the products.

Abubakar said: “I promised that if elected into office, I will provide fertilisers to farmers at N1000 per bag. In fulfillment of the promise I made during the campaign, after assuming office in May 2011, in June of the same year, we distributed 750 trucks of fertiliser. In 2012, we distributed 950 trucks. And this year, we are distributing 1,300 trucks, which is about 45,000 metric tones up to the polling unit level starting in first week of July. Fertiliser is an important commodity, but is being distributed at third quarter of the year by the Federal Government and which is too late because the rains stops between September and October. We want to supply it early enough to our farmers, because if it is not given to them on time, the aim will be defeated.”

The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, noted that the intention of the Federal Government was to stop fertiliser racketeering.   “We have removed the corruption in fertiliser distribution in the country,” Maku said.