LAGOS: Alhaji Bukar Tijian, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development yesterday that farmers in Nigeria are to redeem their Growth Enhancement Support Program (GES) fertilizer and seeds through the electronic wallet system. This disclosure was made by the minister at the flag-off of the GES program in Abuja. The GES program is an initiative of the federal government aimed at subsidizing costs of major agricultural inputs such as fertilizer and seeds for farmers in the country. The scheme aims to empower farmers to increase their yield and encourage a shift from subsistence to commercial farming, based on an electronic registration and validation process. The minister revealed that beginning from April 30, 2012 farmers in the southern part of the country are to redeem their Growth Enhancement Support electronically. He added that the beneficiaries would use their voucher cards to redeem the supports and the seeds to be disbursed are mainly rice, maize and soy bean plantation.