THE National Emergecy Management Agency (MEMA) on Monday commenced the distribution of fertilisers to over 16, 059 farmers in Nine local government councils that lost their farmlands to the 2018 flood in Kogi State.
A statement issued in Lokoja on Monday by NEMA said that the exercise was flagged off in Kogi Local Government area of the state by the Commissioner for agriculture, Mr Kehinde Oloruntoba.
The exercise is being carried out under the Federal Government’s Emergency Agricultural Intervention Fund ( EAIF), the statement signed by Mr Oluwatope Ajayi , the agency’s Team Leader for EAIF in the state said .
According to him, 16,059 farmers spread across 9 local government areas of the state will benefit from the gesture.
Ajayi said that each of the farmers will receive between five nine bags of NPK fertilisers, depending on the acreage of their farms.
The Team Leader . however, said that only rice, cassava, maize , yam, sesame seeds , soya beans will benefit from the free fertiliser distribution scheme.
“This is a follow up to the seeds, agrochemicals, sprayers and other agricultural inputs distributed earlier free of charge to the farmers,” Ajayi said in the statement.
He added that the intervention by NEMA was in line with the directive of the National Food Security Council, under the chairmanship of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ajayi said the distribution exercise will cover the affected farmers that have been profiled in eight other local governmentsn of Ibaji, Lokoja, Idah, Bassa, Ajaokuta, Ofu, Igalamela and Omala .
