The Federal Government has stated that no fewer than 8,000 wheat farmers in Gombe State have been supported with subsidised inputs to cultivate wheat during the dry season.
The State Coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Ibrahim Bomoi, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Gombe on Friday.
Bomoi said the gesture was aimed at actualising the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, through the ministry.
He disclosed that each wheat farmer received two bags of NPK fertilisers, one bag of 50kg Urea, and a bag of 50kg wheat seeds to enable them to cultivate wheat during the dry season farming.
According to him, with the subsidy, each farmer is required to pay 50 per cent of the cost of fertiliser and 25 per cent of the cost of wheat seeds.
He stated that the farmers were selected from four local government areas of the state, namely, Nafada, Kaltungo, Yamaltu Deba, and Dukku, respectively.
“The Federal Government is supporting about 8,000 farmers in Gombe to boost wheat cultivation during the dry season.
“The input subsidy is 50 per cent for fertilisers and 75 per cent subsidy for wheat seeds. Some farmers have started receiving their inputs while others are in the process of receiving them.
“But within the next 10 days, all farmers are expected to have received their inputs to commence cultivation,” he said.
Bomoi said that the Federal Government’s gesture followed the cost-intensive nature of wheat farming.
He said the government also assigned aggregators to each cluster of wheat farmers to prevent market glut and ensure judicious use of inputs.
“This is the government’s way of supporting dry season farming in the state. Similar support was given to farmers during the wet season.
“The Federal Government supported no fewer than 6,120 farmers with inputs to boost the cultivation of sorghum, rice, and maize,” he said.
The state coordinator urged the farmers to make good use of the opportunity by ensuring proper utilisation of the inputs.