The Zamfara State Government has registered 1,290 farmers for 2017 dry season farming under the Fadama III project.
The State Fadama III Project Coordinator, Alhaji Aliyu Altine-Shinkafi, told newsmen in Gusau on Friday that the farmers were registered through their groups and associations.
“We have a total of 129 farmers’ groups, with each group having between 10 and 15 individual farmers,” he said.
He said the farmers would be given farm inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and agrochemicals.
According to him, each farmer will be given six bags of fertilisers, 75 kilograms of seeds, six litres of agrochemicals and other farming equipment.
Altine-Shinkafi said that each beneficiary would be required to pay only 50 per cent of the total cost of the inputs he received, while the government would pay the 50 per cent balance.
“We will also provide farming equipment and machinery for them through their groups at 80 per cent subsidy.
“All the support offered to them under this project is not loan but free of charge.
“We selected only two crops, rice and sorghum, to be cultivated under this Fadama III dry season farming project.
“We also selected Bakura, Maradun and Talata-Mafara Local Government Areas for the dry season project because of their advantage of being near the Bakalori Dam, which is good for irrigation farming,’’ he said.
Altine-Shinkafi, however, said that sales of farm inputs to farmers in the areas had started.
“We have already sensitised all the registered farmers and we will continue to monitor their activities in order to improve their capacity,’’ he said.
The project coordinator, therefore, urged farmers to utilise all the inputs and training given to them judiciously in order to achieve the desired goals of the project.
He said that government embarked on the project to boost the food security of the country, while reviving the national economy through agriculture. (NAN)