Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has launched the state's 2026 fertiliser and farm inputs distribution programme, unveiling a 51 per cent subsidy designed to cut production costs for smallholder farmers. The governor flagged off the exercise at the Benue Fertilizer Blending Plant in Makurdi, according to Daily Post.
Under the scheme, fertiliser will be sold to farmers at a subsidised rate of ₦28,000 per bag, with the state government absorbing 51 per cent of the cost, Daily Post reported. Alia described the intervention as more than a seasonal handout, framing it as part of a broader agricultural policy aimed at boosting food security, expanding cultivated farmland through land aggregation, and promoting rural economic development.
Coverage Across the Food Basket
The distribution will run across all 23 local government areas of the state to guarantee equitable access, with measures put in place to ensure transparency and prevent diversion of the products, according to Voice of Nigeria. Beyond fertiliser, the government said it would distribute improved seedlings, herbicides and other essential inputs to lift yields, and that it had increased the volume of supplies to meet a growing farming population.
Why a Food Basket State Matters
Alia noted that Benue's standing as the Food Basket of the Nation was built on the resilience of local farmers who feed both the state and the wider country, and he tied the programme to a vision of repositioning agriculture as the foundation of sustainable economic development, as Voice of Nigeria reported. The cost of inputs has become a central pressure point this season, with farmer groups elsewhere flagging fertiliser, seed and labour costs as the main threat to 2026 output.
FoodPrices Nigeria tracks retail food prices across Lagos markets. Production support in supply states like Benue feeds into the national picture that ultimately shapes what consumers in Lagos pay for grains and tubers.