1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Agricultural policy in Nigeria has witnessed several changes since the colonial and post independence years (Yusuf, 2004). Agricultural policies and programmes were usually centered on stimulating great activities in certain specific aspects of agricultural production system. Before independence, emphasis was on the production of cash crops, such as rubber, cotton, groundnut, palm and cocoa products but after independence, the rising food shortages shifted focus to food crop production. The use of mineral or inorganic fertilizer is at the core of high-input agriculture, as the alternative to organic fertilizer when improved variety of crops was introduced. Thus mineral fertilizer application is a major feature of the green revolution, which accompany other inputs as requisites for realizing the output potential of hybrid or other improved varieties generally (Okeh, 2014).
The importance of fertilizer to agriculture and to the socio-economic development of Plateau State cannot be overemphasized. It is the largest sector of the economy and the largest employer of labour involving over 90% of the rural population. Plateau State is immensely endowed with agricultural resources such as large expanse of land, favorable climate and large bodies of water for agricultural production. Availability of subsidized fertilizer would increased agricultural production thereby increasing income and standard of living to farmers in the State.
In the past, fertilizer procurement and distribution in Nigeria has been fraught with fraud, discrepancies and inefficiencies. Governments at the Federal and State levels were spending a lot of money on farm inputs (fertilizer and seeds in particular) which were not reaching the intended beneficiaries (small holder farmers) and thus, had no impact on the national food output or farmers income. Government’s involvement in direct procurement and distribution of fertilizers also weakened the ability of private sector to participate and compete efficiently for market share. As with most subsidy regimes, the fertilizer sector was grossly under developed and the opportunities for fraud and diversion were rampant. In some States of Nigeria in 2006 and 2009 shown in table 1 and 2 below indicates that total amount of fertilizer procurement was 1213008.8 mt and 82016.7 mt respectively while the total amount diverted was 57715.1 mt (48%) and 27416.14 mt (33%) respectively.
