Nigeria remains low fertiliser consumer

THE Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs. Fatima Bamidele has said that Nigeria was currently among the lowest consumer of fertiliser in the world with an average rate of about 13kg per hectare, which was about 10 per cent of the world average.

Bamidele reiterated Nigeria’s resolve to achieve at least 50kg/ha level by 2015 for agricultural sector to sustain the projected growth in the economy as enshrined in the Africa Fertiliser Summit Resolution of 2006.            .

She stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ validation workshop on fertiliser regulatory and quality control system organised by the ministry in collaboration with Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

She said the Federal Government was poised to strengthening fertiliser regulatory and quality control system to ensure best practices in fertiliser production, procurement and distribution.

To achieve this target, she added that it was necessary to embark on effective supervision and monitoring right from the ports and production plants to the primary distribution points in the states and open markets.

To this end, the Permanent Secretary explained that the existing blending plants in the country are to be supported to produce customised blends that will be most suitable for the soils and cropping systems within their catchment areas.

She also added that investors will be encouraged to set up fertiliser manufacturing plants to increase local production capacity and reduce import dependence.

Bamidele therefore called on participants to brainstorm on the operational blueprint to be employed for the regulatory and quality control system to be effective.

Source : Guardian