FROM SAMSON ALFA, MINNA
Niger State governor, Mohammed Bago said the state is ahead of others in the country in modern agricultural mechanisation.
The governor stated this yesterday while launching the 2024 farming season sale and distribution of fertilizer and other agricultural inputs at 50 percent subsidised rate in Minna.
He said his administration is highly committed to prioritising agriculture, investing in machinery and technology to boost productivity in line with the ‘New Niger’ agenda.
Bago said his goal is to achieve sustainable food security, reduce food cost and address unemployment to ensure affordability, and subsidise fertiliser prices by 50 percent.
In his address, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Musa Bosso said the ministry had prioritised the directive of the governor to cultivate 10,000 hectares of land in each of the 25 local government areas, while the ministry is working with Niger Food to actualise the dream.
Bosso noted that the Ministry of Agriculture and Niger Mechanisation Development Authority, NAMDA, is working in collaboration with Niger Food to address the needs of 20,000 small holder farmers and 10,000 medium holders to access 1,000 power tillers and agro inputs.
He, however, urged the governor to give support to the resuscitation of the state’s buffer stock programme that has been out of use for several years, so as to have enough fertilisers in stock for sale at subsidised rates.
