Minna — Niger State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mohammed Kwatu has said that the state government has concluded arrangements to procure 5000 metric tonnes of fertilizer to cover the over one million farmers that were not captured in the newly introduced growth enhancement scheme of fertilizer distribution.

The commissioner, who disclosed this at the weekend in Minna, said the state government is purchasing the commodity because the new fertilizer distribution scheme would only cater for a small number of farmers.

According to him, only 148,000 farmers would have access to fertilizer at a subsidized rate under the new arrangement in which the federal and state government contribute 25 per cent for each bag supplied.

He added that each farmer would be entitled to two bags of fertilizer, and that the allocation of the commodity would be done through the phone.