Nigeria registers 2.5m farmers in North East #nigeria

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said it registered 2.5 million farmers in North-East zone as part of measures to leverage the nation's Agricultural transformation agenda. The ministry's Regional Director, North-East, Arabi Mohammed, made the disclosure at the opening of the zone's regional meeting of state directors in Jalingo. Mr. Mohammed said more than 1.5 million of the registered farmers had benefited from the 215,000 tonnes of fertilisers distributed by the ministry. He also said over 13,000 tonnes of improved seeds were distributed to the farmers. According to him, all the farm inputs provided to the farmers followed the 2.5 per cent counterpart funds paid by each of the six states in the zone. The director said that between 2012 and 2014, more than 13,000 hectares of land in the zone were cultivated under dry season farming. Mr. Mohammed listed the crops grown in the zone to include rice, maize, groundnut and wheat. He urged youth in the zone to key into the programmes of the ministry to improve their living standard. Also, Isa Musa, Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, in Taraba said the state had embraced the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the Federal Government. "The Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES) or e-wallet system of fertiliser distribution has recorded remarkable achievement in the state during the last year redemption exercise. "This system has eliminated middlemen in the process of fertiliser distribution thereby allowing inputs to reach the target farmers directly. "It is my prayer that it will be sustained," he said.