Bauchi Gov Flaggs Off Sale Of Fertilizer, Warns Against Adulteration

Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir, on Saturday launched the 2022 farming season and flagged off the sale of fertilizer for the farmers in the state, while warning against adulterated products.

The governor during the flagoff ceremony at Nabordo, Toro Local government area of the state, said launching the sale of the fertilizer was a deliberate effort by the state government to motivate farmers in producing sufficient food crops to cater for the increasing population and also to embrace agriculture as an economic mainstay.

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Governor Bala noted that despite insufficient funds that constrained the government to meet all its obligations, the agricultural sector has been accorded the priority it deserves. 

He said as part of its effort, the state government had in 2021 settled the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) inherited debt that enabled the State Government to produce fertilizer last year.

He however lamented the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. According to him, the face-off is causing a global shortage of fertilizer. 

“It may interest the general public to know that Ukraine is the world’s largest producer of ammonia which is the major ingredient for the production of fertilizer,” said the governor. “The current war between Russia and Ukraine has made the production of the raw material by Ukraine impossible which lowers its supply with the attendant hike in the price of fertilizer worldwide.”

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He said despite the high competition for the supply of ammonia by various countries, the Bauchi State government is committed to providing the commodity at any cost so that farmers will get the fertilizer at a reasonable price.

The governor stated that a 50 Kilogram (kg) bag of NPK would be sold at N15,000, while a 50Kg bag of Urea would be sold at N20,000.

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He said: “State government has therefore decided to make fertilizer available and affordable to farmers by subsidizing the price of the commodity. Consequently, a 50 Kg bag of NPK would be sold at N15,000  while a 50Kg bag of Urea would be sold at N20,000.”

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The governor added that the state government has engaged the services of Techgen Agro Consultants Limited, an International Agricultural Consultancy Firm, for the development of 200,000 hectares of land for mechanised farming across the state, explaining that it is a N50 Billion Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) loan for Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS). 

He expressed dismay on whom he described as unpatriotic citizens that adulterate the inputs warning that anyone caught guilty would be dealt with appropriately.

Accordingly, he directed the Ministry of Agriculture and that of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to immediately constitute a task force committee comprising security agencies and all other stakeholders to arrest and deal with all culprits.

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