Sokoto Announces 70% Subsidy on Fertilizer

Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Saad Abubakar on Tuesday flagged off the sale of fertilizer for the 2016 cropping season in Sokoto state.

Speaking at the event, which took place at Silami LGA, Tambuwal announced that the state government has subsidized the cost of the commodity by 70 percent to enable farmers enhance production.

He said the government has procured three types of fertilizer – Urea, NPK and SSP brands.

“This year, Urea brand, bought by the government at N6859, will be sold to farmers at the price of N2,300; NPK, which was procured at the cost N6,400, will be sold at the rate of N2,200 while SSP, also bought at the rate of N6,400, will be sold to our farmers at the rate of N2,100,” the Governor said.

Tambuwal added that is administration would not relent on efforts to improve agriculture.

According to him, government has also procured 19,620 bags of rice seeds of 50kg size to be distributed to rice farmers for the 2016 wet and dry season farming.

“In the same vein, certified seeds of onions and lettuce have been sourced for distribution to vegetable farmers in Goronyo, Rabah, Wurno, Kware, Tambuwal, Wamakko, Silame, Kebbe, Sokoto North and Shagari LGAs,” he added.

Tambuwal said government will continue to explore avenues to enhance water management especially for the two major dams in the state, in order to mitigate flooding and its negative consequences, and at the same time improve wet and dry season farming.

About 9,000 metric tones of fertilizer was procured by the government for the 2016 cropping season.