The Bauchi State Director , Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammad Yusuf, said on Wednesday that 31,000 dry season rice farmers in the state are to receive fertlizer and other inputs at subsidized rate under the Federal Government’s Growth Enhancement Scheme(GES) .
Yusuf told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi that beneficiaries had already received notifications of their allocation through text messages (E-wallet).
According to him, distribution will commence on Monday, Feb. 6, adding that the exercise had to be stopped as a result of some communication gap with beneficiaries.
Yusuf said that the rescheduling of the distribution was a result of the refusal by some of the beneficiaries to accept liquid fertiliser.
“The distribution was to have started earlier than now but some of the beneficiaries refused to accept the available product because the text messages sent to them indicated Granular Urea fertilizer.
“The one we received from the Federal Government was liquid urea, and so they rejected it.
“Some were willing to collect the liquid while some rejected and even allegedly said that we diverted the granular fertilizer,” he said.
He said that as a result of the hitch, distribution had been suspended and that a ceremony would be held to invite Government officials to brief beneficiaries on the fertilizer.
He said that the liquid fertilizer was recommended by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
