The Kogi State Government says it has distributed no fewer than 103,200 bags of fertilizers, valued at N3.2 billion, free of charge to 30,000 farmers across the state, as a gesture of support from the state government.
Mr. Timothy Ojomah, the Commissioner for Agriculture, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lokoja on Thursday.
The commissioner said the 103,200 bags, made of 51,600 bags of Urea and 51,600 bags of NPK, were distributed to three clusters of the senatorial districts of the state.
Ojomah noted that the state government had initially distributed 2,000 hectares of land to farmers in the state, in preparation for the 2025 wet season farming for massive food production.
“We ensured that each cluster got 17,200 bags of Urea fertilizer as support for their farming activities across the 21 Local Government Areas of the state.
“This product, valued at N3.2 billion, is part of Governor Ahmed Ododo’s administration’s deliberate support effort to farmers for massive food production and security in Kogi.
“The governor is aware of how costly fertilizers are in the markets and decided to support our farmers this season for a bumper harvest,” he said.
Ojomah said the beneficiaries were carefully selected through an enumeration and verification process, conducted in 2024 to determine genuine farmers through their respective commodity associations or cooperatives.
According to him, the support to 30,000 farmers was aimed at enhancing the productivity of value chain crops like rice, maize, and cassava under the agricultural development agenda of the government.
He further disclosed that the state had invested in the training and retraining of farmers, along with the deployment of extension workers who are currently supporting farmers with technical guidance and monitoring fertilizer application across farming communities.
The commissioner tasked the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the fertilizers given to them to improve their farming businesses and better the living standards of their families and the residents of Kogi.
The 2025 wet season in Nigeria is expected to begin between late March and early May, depending on the region, with Kogi State typically experiencing rainfall around mid-April.
The season will focus on cultivating value chain crops such as rice, maize, and cassava, key staples for boosting local food security and economic growth.
Early forecasts from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) indicate that the 2025 wet season may bring slightly above-average rainfall, which, if well-managed, could enhance agricultural productivity.