The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, on Thursday, flagged off the distribution of subsidised inputs to no fewer than 6,000 wheat farmers in Kano State, aimed at boosting wheat production, as the government gave the inputs at a 75 per cent subsidy.
The State Coordinator, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Alhaji Isa Hotoro, made this known when speaking on Thursday on behalf of the Minister at the Aggregation Centre at Alkamawa village in Bunkure LGA of the state.
According to him, the distribution of the input, which is under the Federal Government’s special program on wheat production, is expected to boost wheat production as the government gave the inputs at a 75 per cent subsidy.
He, however, emphasised that “the Federal Government gave the inputs at a 75 per cent subsidy while the farmers will pay the balance of 25 per cent.”
He further stated that “Each farmer will collect three bags of fertiliser and one bag of 50kg wheat seeds at the cost of N111,000, which represents 25 per cent of the total package.”
The farmers are expected to cultivate 3,000 hectares of farmlands in 12 special clusters at Alkamawa in Bunkure, Ajingi, and Gaya LGAs, he said.
He also highlighted that “Each farmer is expected to cultivate 0.5 hectares in the 12 special clusters in Alkamawa, Ajingi, and Gaya Local Government Areas of the state.”
However, in separate interviews, some of the farmers appreciated the Federal Government for the gesture as, according to them, the high cost of the inputs and transportation had compelled most of the farmers in the areas to reduce the number of hectares they used to cultivate.
According to Yakubu Ibrahim, he used to cultivate five hectares but had reduced it to two hectares due to the current economic crisis in the country.
He added that the gesture by the Federal Government would go a long way in enhancing the food supply and making the price more affordable for consumers in the markets.
They also urged the Federal Government not to relent in these laudable efforts, adding that it came at the right time, saying that the money they could have used to buy these inputs at ordinary markets would have been too much for some farmers to afford.
“Take it or not, this is the type of democracy dividends we have been yearning for, and we commend the Federal Government on this step taken.”
   READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then