10,000 farmers get N5.7bn soft loans for dry season wheat farming in Bauchi

In its efforts to boost wheat production through dry season farming, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is ready to disburse over N5.7 billion as soft loans to 10,000 farmers in Bauchi state under its ongoing anchor borrowers scheme.

The disclosure was made by the Bauchi Branch Comptroller of CBN, Saladu Idris, at the flag-off of the programme held at the NUJ Secretariat in Bauchi on Thursday, saying that so far, 4,500 farmers have benefitted from the scheme in the state.

The CBN Branch Controller also said that each farmer will be given the sum of N370,000 cash, six bags of urea, four bags of NPK fertilizers, a pumping and spraying machines for the scheme for one hectare of farmland.

He further explained that the CBN has taken proactive steps by reaching out to the farmers through associations so that only those targeted will benefit warning that diversion will not be treated with gloves.

According to him, “this dry season farming is a very easy thing that people can do. The CBN has observed that all the Flour Mills in Nigeria have become moribund, everything is at a standstill. It observed that wheat is imported into the country and this requires the use of dollars which is difficult to access and it is as a result of this that the CBN decided to set aside some money to give farmers to encourage the farming of this wheat.”

He also said that “each farmer is supposed to get a minimum of N370,000 per hectare and the other inputs which include the bags of seedlings, the six bags of urea, four bags of NPK, the pumping machine and the spraying machine. All these are given to a farmer per hectare.”

“The total amount of money set aside by the Central Bank of Nigeria for wheat farming in Bauchi state alone is over N5.7 billion. We have budgeted to fund 10,000 farmers. So far, we have distributed to about 4,500 farmers in Bauchi state,” he said.

According to him, “the new seedlings were brought in from Mexico and these seedlings have a shorter time of cultivation, unlike the local one that takes a longer period of time.”

He also said that “The Mexicans came into Bauchi about three weeks ago and they were taken around the 20 local government areas of the state and they saw the areas to be used for the cultivation.”

The CBN Comptroller lamented that some farmers under the Anchor Borrowers Scheme for rice farming have defaulted and have failed to pay back the loan therefore making it difficult for others to benefit from the scheme.

He said that: “Most people have paid back but there are a few who have failed to pay back. We called the leaders of the rice farmers associations and reported these people to them. They gave us the assurance that they will follow them up and ensure that they pay.”

He explained that “Part of the terms of the agreement was that as soon as the harvest is done, they are to pay back. Those who fail to pay, we will take appropriate action against them. They will be arrested and locked up until they payback. And for those who pay back fully on time, they will be rewarded with higher amounts of money and more inputs.”

He however expressed worry on those who collected these items and sell them off saying that, “when you look at it, these people who sell off their items are the ones giving us headache by refusing to pay back.”

He said that “We have taken steps to ensure that henceforth, anybody that will benefit, the leaders of their associations must guarantee that they are the ones that will refund the money on behalf of their members.”

While flagging off the 2021 dry season wheat production, the Commissioner of Agriculture, Bauchi State, Jidauna Mbami, called on the beneficiaries to utilize all they have gotten from the CBN and “ensure that they pay back all the loans they have collected when it is time for them to do so; this is even so because the CBN has promised to give double of these things to those who are faithful in paying back based on the terms of the agreement.”

The Commissioner warned that the state government will not take it lightly if any beneficiary defaulted in repaying the soft loan because according to him, it is supposed to be a revolving scheme for others to benefit.

Jidauna Tula assured that the Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir led PDP administration will continue to promote Agriculture in order to ensure food security in the state saying that all the required inputs will be made available for the farmers.

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