The Federal Goverment/International Fund for Agricultural Development- Value Chain Development Programme (FG/IFAD-VCDP), on Saturday, began distribution of wet season inputs to 976 rice, cassava farmers in Nasarawa State.
Dr Eunice Adgidzi, FG/IFAD-VCDP Coordinator in Nasarawa, said this at the flag-off of the distribution exercise in Lafia.
She said the exercise was geared towards supporting farmers to produce the quality and quantity of food need to feed the growing population.
According to the coordinator, the beneficiaries are from 69 farmers’ organisations across five local government areas in the state – Lafia, Doma, Wamba, Nasarawa and Karu.
Adgidzi listed the inputs to include 3,880 kg of improved rice seeds, 3,600 bundles of cassava stems, 870 bags of fertilizers (NPK and urea) as well as 338 litres of selective and non selective herbicides.
“We are also ready to deploy quality extension services to ensure that farmers adopt the best agronomic practices that would yield the desired output.
“We did this last year and the result was massive. Majority of our rice farmers exceeded the 4.5 metric tons per hectare standard of IFAD.
“Ozanawa farmers in Doma LGA recorded the highest yield of 7.8 metric tons per hectare. Hopefully, we shall achieve more this year, ” Adgidzi said.
The programme coordinator appreciated the state government and other stakeholders for support towards the success of the programme.
The State’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Water Resources, Nuhu Oshafu, who flagged-off the exercise, challenge the farmers make judicious use of the inputs.
Oshafu was represented by the Deputy Director, Agriculture Extension and Engineering Services, Mr Solomon Abundaga at the ceremony.
He said the state government prioritised agriculture and was committed to collaborate with development partners to ensure the growth of the sector.
“The partnership with FG/IFAD-VCDP is a product of Gov. Abdullahi Sule’s unreserved commitment to agriculture.
“Government is investing is investing so much in agriculture. But this will not yield any result without the cooperation of farmers.
“We therefore, expect farmers to complement this effort and give us the best,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Emmanuel Alanana, Programme, Nasarawa Agricultural Development Programme, challenged the beneficiaries not abuse the opportunity given by government to boost food production.
He warned them against selling the inputs, especially fertilizer giving the high cost of the commodity in the market.
Some of the beneficiaries, Daniel Amanza, Victoria Khaki and Hanatu Agwele thanked FG/IFAD-VCDP for the gesture.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the inputs they got from the programme last year helped to improved their yield and expressed optimism for a bumper harvest with the current input support.