The chairman, Agro Dealers Association of Nigeria, the major input supplier, Alhaji Kabiru Fara, said they have enough fertiliser on ground to serve 10 million farmers for the wet season.
Mr Fara, who spoke with Daily Trust on Monday, stressed that they operate at two levels: in the open market where they do their normal sales business and at the subsidy market where government determined the number of farmers to get inputs.
On the first level, he said they have enough fertilizer under the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI) for farmers, in which they are registered members to buy and sell
He said: “The second level is that there is government programme called GES where government enlisted farmers nationwide to pay 50% of the cost and government gives us 50% later.
“For that, the preparation is still on and we are waiting to get the final notice from the Federal Government so that we can get ready for it because it involves distributing inputs to all 774 LGAs of the country. But for now we are operating our normal business in the open market.”
Speaking on the number farmers that may benefit from this year’s Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme, he said government will decide on how many farmers it wants to cover.
Last season, only 500,000 farmers were captured for the dry season as against 2.5 million farmers. Government may capture maybe five or ten million, he added.
On seeds, Fara gave reason why improved seeds will be in short supply. He said government still owned seed companies which means many of them are unable to provide good seeds for the farmers, unless government subsidises it.
“Seed producers need to be encouraged by the government,” he added.
Chairman of the presidential fertilizer initiative Mr Thomas Etuh last week said PFI will produce one million tonnes of 20:10:10 NPK for the 2018 rain-fed season.
Indorama Eleme Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited, a major producer of Urea fertiliser in the country has confirmed its plan to increase Urea fertiliser supply for Nigerian farmer’s need - 750,000MT – for the forthcoming farming season.
This is also in addition to the boost in the amount of Urea the company intends to supply to the Federal Government, from 180,000MT supplied last year to 360,000MT this year for the production of NPK (20:10:10) fertilisers.
https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/how-farmers-can-access-fertiliser-as-planting-season-begins.html
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