Ex-Commissioner Hails GES Impact On Delta Farmers

A former Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Delta State, Mr Jerry Ossai, says the Federal Government’s agricultural initiative, Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES), has impacted positively on farmers in the state.

Ossai stated this in an interview with newsmen in Asaba.

He said that the GES or e-wallet system, by which farmers were contacted through their cell phone to collect fertilisers and seedlings at designated points, had improved the lot of Delta’s rural farmers.

Ossai, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state, noted that the mechanism had drastically reduced corruption in fertiliser distribution in the country, unlike what obtained in the past.

“I spoke with some rural farmers who had the opportunity of using fertilisers for the first time this year.

“They testified that they had good harvest, using the two bags of fertiliser each of them got.

“We are happy that this scheme has impacted positively on the farmers.”

Ossai, however, said that while the two bags of fertilisers greatly assisted the small-scale farmers, their commercial counterparts did not find the scheme beneficial because of the small quantity of fertilisers involved.

According to him, government through the scheme, laid much emphasis on crops and neglected other sectors of farming.

“There are other types of farmers such as fish farmers, livestock farmers, farmers in agro-processing and those engaged in buying and selling agricultural products. “So I think the GES programme should be expanded to include these other farmers”, he said.

He called on the state government to complement the Federal Government’s efforts in revamping agriculture by repositioning the state’s Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) for better performance.

Ossai noted that agriculture was a very important segment of the economy, and called for adequate funding of the ministry to help the state government to realise its “Delta Beyond Oil” dream.