The Nasarawa State government says it has begun the distribution of free fertiliser to 73,500 farmers across the state to boost food production.

Peter Ahemba, Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to Governor Abdullahi Sule, disclosed this at a press conference on Tuesday in Lafia, the state capital.

Mr Ahemba explained that the gesture was meant to further boost farming activities and enhance food security in the state and the country.

According to him, 500 farmers from each of the 147 electoral wards across the state will benefit from the gesture.

Mr Ahemba added that the chairmen of the 13 local government areas of the state also got 100 bags of fertiliser each to be applied in local government farms.

He said the initiative was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s Renewed Hope Food Security Agenda.

The governor’s aide said that as part of the government’s commitment to revamp the agricultural sector, it had cultivated 3,500 hectares of rice at the state farm in Jangwa, Awe Local Government Area of the state.

In 2024, the Nasarawa State government acquired 10,000 hectares of farmland at Jangwa in Awe and cultivated 2,000 hectares of rice farm.

Mr Ahemba restated the government’s commitment to providing a conducive environment for investment in the agriculture sector through the timely provision of improved farm inputs and implements to increase production.

On rural infrastructural development, Mr Ahemba said the government had concluded plans to construct rural roads.

“The access roads are in line with the administration of Gov Sule’s determination to open up rural communities to have easy access to enable them to transport their farm produce to urban areas without hitches,” he said.

(NAN)