By Buba Gagigo
During his State of Nation Address on Thursday at the National Assembly, President Adama Barrow revealed that his government has formulated and validated a national fertilizer policy
President Barrow said the Agriculture sector is strongly committed to strengthening its policy environment and program implementation efforts. He said In that respect, emerging challenges will be persistently addressed through new policies and initiatives.
“To provide examples of such undertakings, a national fertilizer policy has been formulated and validated, and the development of a strategic plan is at an advanced stage. This policy seeks to enhance fertilizer access and targets subsidy beneficiaries for greater production,” he said.
In pursuit of commercial farming, President Adama Barrow said the sector will promote mechanized land preparation by supplying labor-saving machines.
“Since harvesting is among the least mechanized production activities of the target commodity value-chain crops, investments will increase to mechanize the harvesting of cereals and stimulate increased mechanical threshing,” he said.
He said his administration is also enhancing the capacity of breeders and introducing Gambian farmers to fortified, short-term, and high-yielding varieties that are resistant to the adverse effects of climate change.
President Adama Barrow made these remarks during his State of Nation Address at the National Assembly on Thursday morning.