The federal government says it has supported at least 8,000 wheat farmers in Gombe with subsidised inputs to cultivate wheat during the dry season.

Ibrahim Bomoi, the state coordinator at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, said this in an interview in Gombe on Friday.

Mr Bomoi said the gesture aimed to actualise President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda through the ministry. He disclosed that each wheat farmer received two bags of NPK fertilisers, one bag of 50kg Urea, and a bag of 50kg wheat seeds to enable them to cultivate wheat during the dry season farming.

According to him, with the subsidy, each farmer is required to pay 50 per cent of the cost of fertiliser, and 25 per cent of the cost of wheat seeds.

He stated that the farmers were selected from four local government areas of the state, namely, Nafada, Kaltungo, Yamaltu Deba and Dukku, respectively.

“The federal government is supporting about 8,000 farmers in Gombe to boost wheat cultivation during the dry season. The input subsidy is 50 per cent for fertilisers and 75 per cent subsidy for wheat seeds.

“Some farmers have started receiving their inputs, while others are in the process of receiving.

“But within the next 10 days, all farmers are expected to have received their inputs to commence cultivation,” he said.

Mr Bomoi said that the federal government’s gesture followed the cost-intensive nature of wheat farming. He added that the federal government had also assigned aggregators to each cluster of wheat farmers to prevent market glut and ensure judicious use of inputs.

The state coordinator urged the farmers to make good use of the opportunity by ensuring proper utilisation of the inputs.

(NAN)