The Plateau State Government has commenced the distribution of 24,000 metric tonnes of assorted fertilizers it acquired for onwards sale to farmers at a subsidized rate of N4,000 per bag.

The Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, at the formal flag-off of the sale of fertilizers to farmers in Bokkos Local Government Area, said agriculture is very key in his leadership drive.

Governor Lalong, while addressing the farmers, said: rRealizing that the bulk of our farmers and peasants can hardly afford the exorbitantly priced fertilizers in the open market, government has subsidized the product by 50 per cent so that farmers can access it at N4000 per bag.”

The governor said government has adopted the method recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture, which he tasked to develop a workable plan that would ensure accountability in getting the input to targeted small holder farmers within reasonable period.

He said the distribution would be done using a registered list of farmers who have been captured in farmers database.
According to him: “In this arrangement, the fertilizer supplier takes the commodity to a designated selling point for which 100 of these selling points have been earmarked across the state.

“The supplier will use the register of that selling point to sell the subsidized fertilizer at N4,000 per 50kg bag and maximum of three bags per farmer under the supervision of government officials.

“I urge farmers to be vigilant enough to ensure that this well thought out strategy formulated in their favour, works well in their communities.”

Lalong appealed to farmers who were not registered to be patient, pointing out that the registration would be continuous.
Lalong emphasized that his administration has placed a high premium on the development of agricultural sector.

He said the sector has occupied the third point of the five point policy thrust of the administration and it presents itself as a key area of comparative advantage with great opportunities for all.

According to him, government has realized that it has only 400 functional tractors, which translates to a dismal ratio of 0.2 tractors to 1,000 hectares as against the global ratio of 42 tractors to 1,000 hectares.

Lalong said: “Realizing the importance of mechanization, government has committed itself to a tripartite arrangement between farmers, banks and tractor suppliers.

“With the knowledge that issues of providing tractor services will better be handled and managed by farmers themselves.
“The government has graciously approved the provision of 40 per cent subsidy (30 per cent state and 10 per cent local governments) to capable farmers who desire to own tractors.”

Lalong advised farmers to key into the Anchor Borrowers Programme of the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Lynda Barau, said government has created a one-stop office for agricultural information and capacity building.

Barau said a database was being developed and would be domiciled in the office located in the state secretariat.

The Chairman of Bokkos Local Government Area, Luka Makut, commended the governor for choosing the local government as a focal point for agriculture development, stressing that it would encourage the people to engage in the production of large scale  variety of farm produce, especially Irish potatoes.

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Lalong provides Plateau farmers with fertilizer at subsidized rate of N4,000 per bag