Several farmers in Katsina State have raised the alarm over the alleged diversion of subsidised fertilizer products procured and supplied by the state government through officials.

The farmers also alleged that the fertilizer products distributed in some parts of the state were substandard with many of the products said to contain soil and unhealthy chemicals.

The farmers who reside in communities in Dandume, Kankara, Musawa, among other local government areas of Katsina, had asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

At Mahuta ward in Dandume council, for example, the farmers while lamenting over the development, called on the state government to investigate the alleged diversion of the product meant for the area.

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A few weeks ago, the state government distributed 350,000 bags of assorted fertilizer to its 34 council areas of which each of the 6,652 polling units in the state got 45 bags.

The fertilizers would be sold to farmers at 35 percent subsidy whereas a 50kg bag of Urea, which sells at N39,000 at the open market, would be sold at N25,000.

Also, a 50kg bag of NPK fertilizer valued N45,000 at the open market would be sold at N25,000.

However, the farmers accused the officials in charge of selling the commodity at the council and ward level, of diverting and selling the commodity to dealers and middlemen.

They also accused the officials of replacing the commodities with substandard or mixed products.

The farmers threatened to reject the substandard fertilizer products sold to them in place of the ones procured by the state government.

“The persons entrusted with selling the NPK and Urea fertiliser distributed by the state government have diverted it, they have replaced it with substandard fertilizers mixed with soil and other unhealthy chemicals,” one of the farmers who is a leader in his community said.

He added: “We fear that if we apply it on our farms, it would harm our crops or stunt their growth, and we have already paid the officials N26,000 for the fertilizer product.”

He, however, called on the state government to “investigate the matter to guard against further diversion of the commodity”.

Attempts to reach the officials in charge of the fertilizer distribution were not successful as their phone lines were unavailable at the time of filing this report.