News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government in April commenced the sale of over 20,000 tonnes of assorted fertiliser to the farmers for this year’s farming season.

A NAN Correspondent, who visited the distribution point in Bukuru, Jos South Local Government Area of the state, reports that each farmer is entitled to three bags of fertiliser.

Mr Olusola Ohunayo, Project Manager of Osoft Integrated Resources Ltd., the firm handling the distribution, told NAN that over 10,000 registered farmers had so far acquired the product in three local government areas of the state.

Ohunayo said that only farmers who registered for the Anchor Borrowers Programme of the Federal Government would benefit from the exercise.

He said that the new method of fertiliser distribution had eased the cumbersome process of the past.

He said that the new method had also reduced the activities of the middlemen which usually marred the process.

“From the feelers we are getting, farmers are really commending this new method of distribution because it is fast, transparent and devoid of the usual anomalies.

“Government decide to use us, an independent body, to carry out the distribution so as to curtail the diversion of both the product and the monies paid for the product by farmers.

“So, this will enable farmers to get what they paid for and government to get value for the resources it spent in making the product available.

“We are expected to distribute the fertiliser to over 80,000 registered farmers in the state but so far, we have given out the product to just 10,000 farmers in Bassa, Bokkos and Jos South Local Government Areas,’’ he said.

Mr Philip Azi, the Acting Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Plateau, lauded the initiative and described it as “farmers friendly’’.

He commended the government for the prompt distribution of fertiliser to farmers, saying that the gesture would lead to bumper harvests this year.

“This is about the first time in the history of this state that farmers are getting fertiliser at the beginning of the rainy season and this simply means there will be huge harvests this year.

“The method government has adopted for the distribution process will go a long way to ensure that the product actually gets to the real farmers in the state,’’ he said.

Azi, however, underscored the need to conduct more public awareness campaigns, as most registered farmers, particularly those in the rural areas, were still not aware of the initiative.