Yobe State Government is currently selling a bag of fertiliser at N13,00 per bag in the open market.
The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr Mairo Amshi, who stated this during at a ministerial briefing in Damaturu on Saturday, added that the commodity was sold to the farmers at N5,000 per bag, representing 40 per cent subsidy
She said N2.9 billion has been spent on the procurement of fertilisers for farmers in Yobe State from 2019 to date, adding that N1.5 billion of the amount was spent on the procurement of 3,000 tones of NPK 20:10:10 fertilizer in 2021.
The Commissioner said a bag has been subsidised and currently selling at N13,000 in the open market, adding that N1.4 billion was spent in purchasing 7,500 tones of NPK 15:15:15 in 2020.
The commissioner , and that in 2019, government spent N882 million to purchase tractors, whuch had been given as loans to large scale farmers at N11million each, payable within four years.
Amshi said the state, in collaboration with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), had vaccinated over 1.2 million cattle, sheep, goats and dogs within the period under review.
The commissioner said that the state’s Livestock Development Programme was supported by 135 veterinary surgeons, 47 animal scientists, five equipped veterinary clinics and 17 Area Veterinary/ Livestock offices across the state.
She said that the state, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), set up livestock development centres at Jakusko/Nasari, Badegana and Gurjaje grazing reserves.
Amshi said that the facilities already provided at the centres included boreholes, earth dams, veterinary clinic, feed lot, fish ponds, access roads, electricity, artificial insemination and milk collection units, among others.
Similarly, the commissioner said a Livestock Investigation and Breeding Centres (LIBC) was equally established by the state in Nguru to enhance livestock production.
In an effort to boost irrigation farming, she said, over 2,000 hectares of land had so far been acquired for the take off of the 2022 LAVA irrigation scheme in some parts of the state.
Amshi said the state, in collaboration with Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, had established National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) North-East Outreach Station in Damaturu.
The commissioner added that the state secured an approval to participate in the Federal Government’s Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Programme ( L-Pres Programme).
