Nigeria: Farmers Tasked On Use of Organic Fertiliser

Jalingo — Farmers in the country have been asked to make use of organic fertilizers and other organic agro-allied chemicals for their beneficial effects on the soil and crops. General Manager, Retail Marketing of Zenith Energy Enzymes Limited, Attayi Umoru made the call in Jailngo, at a seminar for farmers on the benefits of organic fertilizers.

He said organic fertilizers are preferable to the inorganic because they are environmentally friendly, economical and safer in application especially among illiterate farmers, adding that, “the product from organic fertilizers is preferable because it has better effect on health. There are enzymes in organic fertilizers which speed up organic reactions in the soil thereby ensuring high productivity and yield of crops.
“The enzymes in organic fertilizers multiply the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the soil in billions and because of that, the soil has enough nutrients to feed the crops with. Organic fertilizers, unlike the non-organic fertilizers, don’t have adverse effects on the soil and the farmers applying them. The farmer can use his hand in applying organic fertilizer but the chemical fertilizer is usually corrosive,” he said.

 

He expressed dissatisfaction with the e-wallet fertilizer distribution process adopted by the federal government.

He advised government to instead concentrate on procuring and distributing more fertilizers to local farmers rather than wasting resources in buying phones for local farmers as being advocated by the minister of agriculture.
“In some of the communities we visited, there were no networks and how do you expect a farmer to receive a text message before going out to get fertilizer for his farm. The money should be converted to buy more fertilizers and utility vehicles to convey them to the real farmers,” he said.

He said that fertilizers should be made available to farmers early as late arrival of agro-allied chemicals will not augur well for farmers, adding that, “we understand that in most states, fertilizers get to farmers when they are about harvesting their crops. What are they going to do with the fertilizers at that point,” he queried.
Source: Daily Trust