Keffi farmers urge govt to provide fertiliser, other inputs to boost productivity

Farmers in Keffi, Nasarawa State, have appealed to the government at all levels to ensure early supply  of fertiliser and other farm inputs in this farming season.

 

Some of the farmers, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Keffi on Tuesday, said that such supplies would go a long way to boost the farmers’ productivity.

 

They said that they had been experiencing rainfall in the area in the last three weeks, adding that they had started clearing their farmlands, in preparation for this year’s planting season.

 

A NAN correspondent, who went round some farms, reports that the farmers were quite eager to key into the Federal Government’s agenda to develop the agricultural sector.

 

One of the farmers, Augustine Bawa, said that he had since cleared his farmland, in preparation for the onset of crop growing.

 

“As you can see, I am now burning the shrubs and grasses which I have cleared, and most of our people have also cleared their farms.

 

“We are only waiting for the rainfall to stabilise before planting our crops,” he said.

 

Bawa, however, said that the timely distribution of fertilisers to farmers would facilitate efforts to improve food production and boost food security in the state and the country at large.

 

Another farmer, Ahmadu Salihu, thanked God for the early rains, in spite of an earlier prediction by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) that rains would be somewhat delayed this year due to the effects of climate change.

 

“We thank God for his continued blessings and for giving us rains; that is why I am on my farm to clear the land and I am ready to start crop planting whenever the next rain falls.

 

“I want to use this medium to appeal to the government at all levels to provide fertiliser and other farming inputs at subsidised rates to farmers so as to boost food production and national development,” he said.

 

Besides, Helen Emmanuel, a farmer, said that she would begin cultivation of crops after finishing the clearing of her farm.

 

She also appealed to the government to ensure timely distribution of fertiliser and other farm inputs to farmers in order to boost their productivity.