No fewer than 1, 400 farmers in Bauchi zone under the dry season wheat farming benefited from the federal government provision of agricultural inputs such as fertiliser, seeds, insecticide and pesticides to grow wheat on 1, 400 hectares of land on the basis of one hectare per farmer.
An agro-dealer on the wheat dry season farming, with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Hon Sadiq Tijjani Kida said, “We have redeemed 1, 400 hectares, approximately 1, 400 farmers for the 2023/2024 wheat farming season in Bauchi zone of the scheme”.
Hon Sadiq Kida who is the managing director, K.T. Doma Investment Ltd, told reporters in Bauchi yesterday that he is in the process of redeeming the last batch of 29 wheat farmers from the figure of 1, 400 to beat the deadline of Friday 15th December, 2023 for setting up the farmers on the farmlands.
Kida explained that they are providing agricultural inputs that include 10 bags of fertiliser (3 Urea – 7NPK), wheat seedlings (1bag foreign and 1bag local), pesticides and insecticide upon a down payment of 50 percent of the total cost which is N160, 000.
It could however be recalled that the National Wheat Production Programme under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security under (National agricultural growth scheme and agro-pocket ‘NAGS-AP) allocated 3, 000 hectares of land to Bauchi State on the basis of one hectare to a farmer, from which the other three centres of Jama’are, Azare and Misau are having 600, 500 and 500 respectively.
A beneficiary of the scheme from Bauchi zone, Zuwaira Ibrahim told journalists that she has immensely benefited from the intervention and said it would boost her economic status, apart from the provision of foodstuff.
She stated, “I paid only 50 percent of the inputs total amount, so I am very grateful to the federal government for the gesture, and hope the programme will continue for the benefit of teeming farmers in the state.”
Another beneficiary, Maigari Mohammed also thanked the federal government and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
