In a bid to boost farming and reduce hunger, some farmers in Plateau have appealed to governments at all levels to subsidise fertiliser and make it available.
The farmers, who spoke with the News reporters, on Tuesday in Pankshin Local Government Area of the state, said cheap and available fertiliser would boost crop production and curb hunger.
Some of the farmers said that though governments at the federal, state, and local levels were encouraging food production, the price of fertilier in the market was, however, beyond the reach of peasant farmers.
Mr Wangshak Wutok, father of four, said many farmers were scared of going into farming, in spite of government’s efforts to boost agriculture, because of the high cost of fertiliser.
“How can a pensioner like me afford N50,000 to buy fertilser when there are lots of other needs at home?
“Government can assist us by making fertiliser cheap and available so that we can produce our food and live better lives,” Wutok said.
According to Mrs Everester Damulup, a widow with four children, the money she earns monthly from her cleaning job will not even be enough to buy a bag of fertiliser.
“If we don’t get any help from the government, that means farming is not for us, and the consequence of not farming will be dire for us,” Damulup said.
She, therefore, appealed to the government to come to their aid, most especially the widows who doubled as fathers and mothers with lots of responsibilities on their shoulders.
For Mr Golbak Samson, father of three, farming was the only occupation they had to earn a living, but the price of fertiliser was causing a serious threat to their source of livelihood.
“We often hear government sending fertiliser to farmers across the country which is commendable, but in most cases, these products don’t get to us the target farmers.
“We normally sell our grains to buy fertiliser, but prices of grains have crashed in the market. How many bags do you have to sell to buy a bag of fertiliser?” Samson asked.
He also pleaded with the government to support farmers to enhance their source of livelihood by reducing the prices of fertiliser and making the product available.
Mr Moses Dasung, on his part, said not everyone was meant to have a white collar job because to many people, farming was their major source of income.
“If the government wants to help us, they can subsidise fertiliser to make it cheap and available. With that, both government and its citizens can benefit,” Dasung said.
Mr Jan Sati, father of three, said people often devoted their time to farming with the aim of making a bumper harvest, but ended up getting little yield.
“You can’t go into farming without fertiliser, most of our farmlands are weak because of constant cultivation. The soil needs more nutrients to give better yield,” Sati stated.
He also appealed to the government to help farmers by subsidising the price of fertiliser because N50,000 for a bag of fertiliser was definitely not feasible.