By Rita Michael, Bauchi
The Bauchi State government has procured 30,000 tons of fertilizer to be sold at N5,500 per bag for this year’s farming season.
Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar of Bauchi State made the disclosure at the launch of fertilizer distribution for the 2017 farming season in Kirfi council of Bauchi State.
He said that the governor increased the tonnage of the fertilizer from the 10,000 tons procured and distributed in the 2015 farming season to 30,000 tons for this year’s farming season because the state and Federal Governments are diversifying sources of revenue from oil to non-oil sector, especially agriculture.
“Bauchi State government has already written a letter of commitment to the federal Ministry of Agriculture targeting 30,000 tons for this year’s farming season to be sold at N5,500 per bag”, he said.
The governor explained that his administration was according priority attention to the development of agriculture for which the state committed N400 million for the state to “become full and committed participant in the National Anchor Borrowers programme even before obtaining the loan package from the CBN”.
Governor Abubakar further said that the state had purchased and distributed a complete package of inputs for rice production under the National Anchor Borrowers scheme including water pumping machine, 30kilogram of rice seed, two liters of liquid fertilizer, six bags of fertilizer and 30,000 cash support and waiver of interest on the total loan package to each active participating farmer.
He said that Bauchi State Project Monitoring members had been selected and inaugurated for the programme to be adequately implemented in the state, while inputs were provided to farmers at affordable rates, stressing that the present government has trained extension workers.
The governor revealed that under the Federal Government fertilizer procurement initiative, President Muhammadu Buhari directed that each bag of fertilizer be sold to farmers at a cost not more than 5,500 anywhere in the entire country.
He said that arrangements were being concluded by the administration to engage unemployed graduates in crop production, livestock and fisheries programme under the youth empowerment in agriculture to make them self-reliant.
He thereby warned against diversion of fertilizer, saying government will not take kindly anybody found diverting the product to neighbouring states.