The federal government, through the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), has announced a support package worth N1.6 billion for ginger farmers, tagged the GRATE package, which stands for Ginger Recovery Advancement and Transformation for Economic Empowerment.
The Executive Secretary of NADF, Mohammed Ibrahim, disclosed this at the launch of the Ginger Blight Epidemic Control Taskforce Support Initiative in Kaduna, saying the task force was established in response to the epidemic crisis facing ginger in three states and Abuja.
The NADF Secretary disclosed that 15,000 ginger farmers from Kaduna, Plateau, and Nasarawa states, including the FCT, were affected by the recent ginger blight epidemic in the country, which coincided with a period of significant growth in ginger exports.
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Ibrahim lamented that the National Bureau for Statistics (NBS) has started reporting a significant increase in revenue from ginger exports, reaching N10 billion in Q2 of 2023, compared to N4.6 billion in the same period in 2022.
He highlighted the support package for ginger farmers, which includes 1pc 20kg bag of high-yield seed variety, 4pc 50kg bags of NPK fertilizer, 2pc 50kg bags of urea, 2pc 1kg bag of fungicide, 1pc 1ltr of insecticide, 2pc 1 liter of herbicide, and 1pc 2 liter of post-emergence herbicide.
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“At the first instance, the federal government, through the NADF, is providing support valued at N1.6 billion, starting with 1 ha of input packs aptly named the GRATE package, which is the Ginger Recovery Advancement and Transformation for Economic Empowerment,” he said.
The Technical Assistant on Agriculture, Office of the Vice President, Marian Moon, remarked that the presidency is addressing agriculture and ginger farming as part of the government’s renewed hope agenda, while encouraging farmers to boost ginger production in the country to meet global demand for Nigerian ginger, citing Mexico’s efforts to grow it due to its high quality.
