Kankia(Katsina State) – The Katsina State Government has purchased 26,000 metric tons of fertiliser for sale to farmers at a subsidised rate of N1,780 per bag, Gov. Aminu Masari said in Kankia on Friday.
The governor, who disclosed this while launching the sale of the commodity, said that 100 bags would be given to each polling unit in the 34 local government areas of the state.
Masari said that the subsidy was to reduce the hardship farmers encountered in obtaining fertiliser.
The governor said that the commodity would be sold only to genuine farmers irrespective of their political party affiliations.
He said that government had retrieved 1,000 tons of fertiliser that were given to individuals by the former administration in the state, and warned against the diversion of the commodity,
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“Anyone found wanting in the course of the distribution of the fertiliser will face the wrath of the law,” he said.
The governor said that his administration would accord agriculture a top priority to ensure self-sufficiency in food production, adding that government would resuscitate grazing lands in the state to minimise clashes between farmers and herdsmen.
Masari promised to rehabilitate some dams to encourage people to embrace farming, noting that the step would reduce rural-urban drift and create job opportunities.
In his remarks, the Kankia Local Government Head of Administration, Alhaji Umar Mustapha, commended the state government for according agriculture a top priority.
He appealed to the state government to rehabilitate the collapsed Kafin-soli dam that supplied drinking water to communities around the area.(NAN)