By Mohammed Abubakar Dutse
As the the 2025 wet season farming sets in, the Jigawa state government has announced a huge fertilizer subsidy for farmers in the state to enable them met meet up with the demands of the products and boost agriculture in the state.
Governor Umar Namadi, who announced the good news while inaugurating the State Standing Committee on Fertilizer at the Secretariat of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, (ALGON) in Dutse, however, warned against speculation on the parts of both the farmers and officials responsible for the distribution of the commodities.
Represented by the Chief of Staff, (CoS) Sen.Mustapha Makama Kiyawa, who is chairing the committee, the governor said the state government approved a bag of fertilizer should be sold to the farmers at the paltry sum of N 28, 800 per bag as against the current marker price of between N 50,000-N 60,000 per bag.
To achieve this, checkpoints will be mounted on roads entering the state to prevent the fertilizer from being taken outside by agents. Therefore, he had requested the security agencies in the state to work in close collaboration with the committee to ensure that persons who flour the instructions are apprehended and brought to book.
However to curb incidences of speculation, the governor had directed that small scale farmers should not be entitled to more than 5,000 bags of fertilizer at a time, confirmed medium scale farmers should not be allocated more than 20 bags while confirmed large scale farmers should not be allowed more than 50 bags at a time.
He charged the committee to oversee the distribution of the fertilizer to farmers on loan, which will be paid back after harvest. and urged farmers who have collected their loan on fertilizer and solar pumps to pay back, assuring that the state’s agricultural sector will benefit from this initiative.
Makama, who has previously worked with the committee, commended the chairmen of the 27 local government areas for their readiness to assist the Governor in achieving his goals.
Namadi warned that fertilizer vendors and agents found moving the commodities outside the state will face punishment, emphasizing the state’s commitment to supporting its farmers.
“With this initiative, the Jigawa State Government hopes to increase agricultural productivity and improve the lives of its citizens.
“The move is seen as a significant step towards achieving food security and economic growth in the state,” he said.
The commissioners for Agriculture & Rural Development Muttaka Namadi and his Local Government counterpart, Ibrahim Hanungiwa who were present at the inauguration restated their commitments towards ensuring that the 2025 wet season agriculture is successful in Jigawa State.
The Agriculture Commissioner in particular lamented the reluctant of famers who previously enjoyed the government subsidies on agriculture inputs such as fertilizer, seedings and spraying chemicals, noting that the development could hinder the state government good intentions of helping the farmers to boost agricultural activities in the state.
He, therefore, charged the committee members as well as as the local government chairmen to work closely with the state government and prevail on the farmers fulfil their own sides of the bargain so that other farmers could benefit.
The commissioner, who described farming as the mainstay of the state economy appealed to the farmers to maximize the products to enable cultivate more to compliment what they have reaped from the dry season farming.
Speaking in the same vein, Hanungiwa called on the local government bosses to partner with the state government to help the state to translate it’s agricultural transformation agenda to be realized.
The Managing Director of the State Agricultural Supply Company, (JASCO), Alhaji Rabi’u Khalid Maigatari staid state government had set aside the sum of N2 Billion to purchase more commodities, noting that so far, 80 trucks load of fertilizer were on ground.
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