High fertiliser prices threaten wet season farming

There is an outcry among farmers because of the high cost of fertiliser as the rainy season sets in, Daily Trust reports. Both wet season and irrigation farmers heavily rely on fertiliser for high yield but many of them could no longer afford it. At the moment, the price of fertiliser is far beyond the […]

There is an outcry among farmers because of the high cost of fertiliser as the rainy season sets in, Daily Trust reports.

Both wet season and irrigation farmers heavily rely on fertiliser for high yield but many of them could no longer afford it.

At the moment, the price of fertiliser is far beyond the reach of millions of Nigerian small-scale farmers, who need it to achieve the desired yields.

In most places, the soil can no longer support the production of major grains without fertiliser, but access to the input is shrinking due to its high cost, resulting in declining productivity.

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Checks by Daily Trust revealed that a 50kg bag of fertiliser currently costs between N24, 000 and N30, 000 depending on the brand and location, and only a few farmers can afford one or two bags for a hectare, which is below the global standard of 4–8 bags per hectare.

 

We’re in dilemma – Farmers, others

Without fertiliser, production of maize, rice and others, which have huge value chain impact may suffer, farmers and other stakeholders told the Daily Trust, and pleaded with the government to do the needful.

They said any shortage of maize will have a direct effect on the organised poultry sector and other industries as the country witnessed during the COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions.

Sanusi Ibrahim, a maize farmer in Jere, Kaduna State, said the cost of fertiliser is forcing farmers to shift from the production of certain grains that demand much of the input.

“I’m actually having challenges producing maize because the soil will need more fertiliser, and with the current prices, it is hard to make any gain that is worth one’s efforts,” he said.

Mohammed Ma’aru, another farmer in Kano said he had reduced the hectares he used to cultivate.

“Three of my farms are 60, 47 and 33 hectares but I resolve to cultivate the smallest only this season because I can’t afford to provide fertiliser for the rest,” he said.

I am not the only one. Many farmers have taken a similar decision because it will be a waste of time to go all out to the farms without fertiliser,” he said.

A rice farmer in Yola, Adamawa State, Baffa Salisu, said he would not cultivate his farm this year.

“I would not take the risk because with the high cost of fertiliser, it is very unlikely to break even.”

Fauziyya Aliyu who has a poultry farm at Tilden Fulani, in Bauchi State said prices of chicken have risen.

“A broiler is now from N5,000…It is scandalous but we have no option but to increase the price because feed is also very expensive.

“Unless the federal government does something and brings down prices of fertiliser, many breadwinners would not be able to feed their families,” she said.

“I am particularly angry because this administration keeps saying they have revolutionised agriculture. In 2015, a bag of rice was less than N10, 000 but it is now around N40,000. I pity civil servants whose minimum wage is N30, 000,” she said.

 

Manure to the rescue

In Nasarawa State, many smallholder farmers now rely on herders to buy cow dung (manure) for their farms.

Findings revealed that the cost of fertiliser has created a huge demand for manure as farmers from the neighbouring state of Kaduna come to Nasarawa to buy poultry and cow droppings.

Mrs Rebecca Tungye is however using rice and melon chaffs, which she applies on her farm to enrich the soil. She told this reporter that apart from the cost of fertiliser, what they get now is no longer as efficient and effective as it used to be.

“The chaffs will work for the next three years but the fertiliser will do so for just two months and you have to apply again. I paid N10, 000 per truck to move it to my farm, and I will enjoy the benefits for the next three years,” she said.

Arch Kabiru Ibrahim, the National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, in an interview with the Daily Trust, advised that the incoming government should ensure that the real farmers enjoy the subsidy directly by strengthening the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI) and implementing the scheme properly and transparently.

The cost of production of fertiliser has a direct bearing on the market price of grains, with experts warning that if nothing is done to reduce the cost of production and inputs generally, the country might see a further rise in food inflation.

 

How ‘corruption’ affected reform

Although the fertiliser sector has witnessed significant changes in the past five years, the lack of access to the commodity over the last two years has been a major headache, coupled with erratic prices.

Sources said endemic corruption around the input necessitated reforms in the industry to strengthen availability and supply driven by the private sector with the federal government playing the role of regulator.

The industry witnessed several reforms and initiatives including a new law to strengthen it.

With the National Fertiliser Quality Control Act 2019, which ought to have been a game-changer for the industry, farmers are supposed to have greater access, including favourable prices, while also leveraging on the law as a powerful tool against adulteration and fake fertiliser.

The PFI anchored by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) under the chairmanship of the governor of Jigawa State was the fallout of bilateral agreement between the federal government and the Kingdom of Morocco with the goal of supplying the raw materials for blending enough 20:10:10 NPK fertiliser in Nigeria.

Under the scheme, the farmers enjoyed subsidy as fertilisers were sold at N5, 500, which was further subsidised to N5, 000 per bag as opposed to N5,500 before COVID-19.

However, in 2021 the NSIA complained that it could no longer support the subsidy regime and insisted that the blenders should buy the constituents and sell the blends directly to the farmers.

This pushed the prices of the NPK brand to between N11, 300 and N11,500, or even higher in some locations.

Last year, the Russia-Ukraine war and the apparent fall of the naira and transportation costs further pushed the prices of all fertiliser blends to N24, 000 and up to N30, 000 in some cases.

The situation has remained the same since the beginning of the wet season this year.

The Director of Fertiliser and Input Supply at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ishaku Buba, told the Daily Trust in Abuja that the prices of fertiliser will come down before the wet season is fully established.

His claim could not be independently verified considering that some farmers have already given up going to the farm this rainy season.

Buba said that the government has taken its hands off the procurement of fertiliser to allow the system to be driven by the private sector, adding that the role of the government now is that of the ombudsman and regulator.

The director said the government can only intervene by providing palliative measures where there are cases of disaster, crisis or emergency.

Buba, however, said the prices of fertiliser have started reducing, adding that it might come down to N14, 000-N15, 000 in the coming weeks.

Gideon Negedu, the Executive Secretary, Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN), said that the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative is still on, noting that about 75 operational blenders are ready to supply enough fertiliser to market.

But the FEPSAN executive secretary did not mention at what price per bag in view of the current exorbitant prices.

Negedu said the blenders have enough stock of raw materials to meet their blending needs.

On how many metric tons would be available this season, he said: “We have more than enough. We have about 75 blenders today in the country and there are arrangements for them to get enough raw materials and there is enough stock in the country both at the blenders’ plants and at the ports. We are very much ready for the season.”

He also said the Russia-Ukraine war is no longer a significant factor in the availability of the product, assuring farmers that FEPSAN has enough to meet their needs.

Our correspondent reports that with regard to urea, Nigeria has capacity to meet domestic demand as the three producers: Indorama, Notore and Dangote, have capacity for more than six million tons, but the price is the challenge.