Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello, on Tuesday, inaugurated the 2018 cropping season fertilizer sales with the distribution of 300 tractors and 50 rice threshers.
The aim is to enable the state government to improve its productivity in the agricultural sector through making farming inputs available to farmers early enough.
Fifteen thousand metric tonnes of fertilizer is to be sold to farmers at the cost of 5,500 Naira per bag.
Under the current arrangement, the farmers are to get the fertilizers directly from the state government, unlike before where they were distributed to local government council chairmen before they get to the farmers.
This according to the state government is to ensure that a few individuals do not hijack the commodities.
More than 70 percent of the indigenes in Niger State are farmers, most of which reside in the rural areas.
The state also has the largest landmass in Nigeria with more than 80 percent arable land. But, the state is yet to explore much of that.
