All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Niger has said that the late allocation of fertilizers by the state government to its members this year may result in low crop yields.
Alhaji Shehu Galadima, the state Chairman of the association made this known on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna.
Galadima said that the measure would affect their crops’ yields adversely because many of the farmers could not apply fertilizers to many of their crops owing to the high cost of the commodity in the open market.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) check reveals that the state government had challenges in subsidizing the commodity for the farmers.
”The fertilizers were allocated to the farmers after a breakthrough on the subsidy arrangement with a private partner.
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“Honestly, the late allocation of fertilizers to our farmers is a problem to us, because the farming period is a seasonal thing.
“It is time-bound, in the sense that if you don’t cultivate a particular crop within the time, you are supposed to and apply fertilizer you will not get a good yield,” he said.
Galadima said that the commodity was supposed to be made available early to enable farmers to utilize it to increase production.
“We still appreciate the recent allocation of fertilizers by the state government at a subsidized rate of N15,000 per bag against N16,000 to N26,000 in the market.
“Although the fertilizer came late, it will be utilized for the remaining part of the wet season and fully utilized during the dry season farming,” he said.
