The federal government, in collaboration with the Cross River State Government, has subsidised inputs for 500 farmers to produce 500 metric tonnes of wheat in the Obudu Local Government Area of the state.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, disclosed this during the input distribution to the farmers in Obudu on Saturday.
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Mr Kyari said that both governments decided to subsidise the inputs by paying 75 and 25 per cent, respectively, to spare the farmers the pain of sourcing funds.
Represented by Jessem Ubi, the chief administrative officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, the minister said that the wheat cultivation was under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP) programme.
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According to him, while the government committed N167 million for the 500 wheat farmers in Obudu, the Cross River State Government paid N56 million, representing 75 and 25 per cent, respectively.
“This payment also includes footing the bill for land preparation for the wheat farmers, and the farmers are expected to cultivate a hectare each,” he explained.
In his remarks on behalf of the Cross River State Government, the Special Adviser on Agriculture to Governor Bassey Otu, John Shiyam, said that the 500 hectares cultivated by the 500 farmers will be harvested between 85 to 90 days from now.
He further said that a lot of effort was put into harrowing and irrigation of the 500 hectares of land.
“Many farmers could not afford to pay the 25 per cent requirement, hence the reason for the state government intervention.
“We have concluded plans to cultivate 3,000 hectares by July during the rainy season; the 500 hectares are for the dry season, and we are doing this through irrigation.
“We already have a flour mill in Calabar that went as far as Kano and other northern states for wheat. There is also the Nigeria Brewery,” Mr Shiyam said.
On his part, the state chapter Chairperson of the Wheat Farmers Association, Alina Peters, stated that the federal government has given each of their members two bags of fertiliser and improved seeds for cultivation.
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Mr Peters added that the state governor also assisted his members in ploughing and harrowing the land.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that each of the 500 farmers received input, including fertilisers, seeds, and agro chemicals.
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