HADEJIA (Jigawa) – The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) on Tuesday commended the Federal Government over the distribution of fertilisers to farmers across the country.
AFAN Vice President, Alhaji Idris Maiunguwa, made the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Hadejia, Jigawa.
He said that the various agriculture support programmes initiated by the Federal Government had encouraged farmers to produce more due to availability of farm inputs.
Maiunguwa, the Treasurer, Jigawa chapter, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) said the Federal Government had distributed fertilisers, seeds and chemicals to over 200,000 registered farmers in Jigawa this cropping season.
He said that the fertilisers were distributed to the farmers under the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) programme via electronic mail otherwise called ‘e-wallet’.
According to him, GES is a critical component of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA), designed to enhance farmers’ access to fertilisers, seeds and other inputs.
Maiguwa told NAN that under the scheme, farmers had redeemed fertilisers without difficulties, saying that the scheme also resolved the scarcity and exorbitant price of the commodity in the market.
He called for the adoption of proactive measures to expand the scope of the programme for sustainable development in the agriculture sector.
Commenting on the activities of the association, Maiguwa said that AFAN had encouraged development of mechanism for price stabilisation of farm produce in the country.
He explained that the association had set up platform that promoted favourable market condition, regulate prices and deal with post harvest losses.
AFAN Vice President said that the measure had also encouraged growth of farmer enterprising skills and protects them from exploitation by grain dealers.
“We are sourcing for marketers willing to mop off produce at reasonable prices.
“AFAN is monitoring prices of agricultural commodities at international and local markets; it uses such indexes to determine prices of farm produce,” he said.
He explained that price stabilisation of farm produce was a major achievement recorded by the association since its inception in the year 2000.
The AFAN vice president added that the association was collaborating with federal and state governments, research agencies and organisations to promote training of farmers on modern preservation techniques.
Miaunguwa said that the association had also encouraged distribution of fabricated steel silos to small holder farmers and a new regime of polyethylene sack for storage of cow-pea, groundnuts and cereal crops.
According to him, the polyethylene bag was designed for preservation of crops for a longer period of time without application of chemicals.
He added that the association had also encouraged training of farmers on proper application of chemicals to reduce wastage and food poisoning. (NAN)
