The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Adamawa Branch, said 360,000 farmers in the state were registered under the Federal Government’s Growth Enhancement Scheme.
The Chairman of the association, Mr Venantius Jiddere, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Yola at the commencement of the e-wallet based agricultural scheme in the state.
“This is a remarkable event in the lives of over 360,000 farmers who have been registered.
“But out of the total, only 201,555 farmers have been captured and are the beneficiaries of the e-Wallet for the 2013 farming season in the state,’’ Jiddere said.
He said that the remaining farmers would be recorded in 2014 and would also benefit from the agricultural subsidy enjoyed by their colleagues.
The chairman said the e-wallet exercise was smoothly going on in the state, adding that many peasant farmers who had not benefitted from farm inputs subsidy were now receiving.
“Over 30,000 farmers have received similar subsidy assistance from the state government in the past three years.
“These farmers have also received training and acquired skills in various agricultural ventures,’’ Jiddere said.
He said that the sustenance of agricultural sector was not only about the distribution of fertilisers and the rest, but the transformation from traditional farming to mechanised system.
Jiddere said that there was need for farmers to shift from traditional farming to the advanced system of farming with the support of agricultural research institutes.
He said that the proposed expansion of national agro-based industries would not be realistic if governments at all levels continued to neglect and politicise the agricultural sector.
Jiddere said that most of the agricultural loans given by commercial banks were not getting to the common farmers.
He urged the government to look at the issue of agricultural insurance, pointing out that due to the poor insurance policy, a lot of farmers lost billions of naira yearly.
Jiddere said there was need for government to ensure the realisation of national food security and agricultural development through proper agricultural insurance policy.
He said that Nigeria had the potential of feeding itself and exporting foods, but due to the poor agricultural policy and implementation, the country still imported foods from other nations.
