Niger State Government has taken delivery of 68,087 litres of liquid gel fertiliser from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) under the National Food Security Council-Emergency Agricultural Intervention (NFSC-EAI) to farmers affected by the flood in the state.
The acting governor, Yakubu Garba, received the fertiliser in Minna when the director general (DG) NEMA, Hajiya Zubaida Umar, led other agency officials in handing it over.
Comrade Garba described the gesture as a boost to the state’s agricultural initiative, adding that the state has no reason to fail in agriculture.
While lauding the federal government and the management of NEMA for completing what it began in 2020, the acting governor assured that the fertiliser would be judiciously distributed to the beneficiaries.
He said Niger State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has the record of the affected farmers in the state and will ensure it gets to the targeted farmers.
The DG NEMA while handing over the fertiliser, explained that the liquid gel fertiliser is a replacement for the balance of the NPK fertiliser approved for Niger State under the NFSC-EAI which the distribution commenced in 2020.
The director general of NEMA represented by the director Planning, Research and Forecasting, Dr Onimode Bandele, said the distribution could not be concluded earlier due to the changes in the regulations by the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI), which terminated the former contract.
He said a new one commenced, substituting the granular powder fertiliser for liquid gel based on a recommendation from the Office of the National Security Adviser.
