‘Lack of access to fertiliser is forcing us towards manure’

They said that shortage of the fertiliser in the market has led to the high demand for animal manure from abattoirs and animal farms, lamenting that manure was not helping them to get good yield in their farms.Malam Musa Mai-Albasa, an onions and potatoes farmer, said though he registered for the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) […]

They said that shortage of the fertiliser in the market has led to the high demand for animal manure from abattoirs and animal farms, lamenting that manure was not helping them to get good yield in their farms.
Malam Musa Mai-Albasa, an onions and potatoes farmer, said though he registered for the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) about two years ago, he only got subsidised fertiliser once, adding: “That was when four of us shared a bag of fertiliser and 2 cups of rice seed when I am not a rice farmer. When you go to the market to buy, they will tell you that a bag of fertiliser is N5,500 or N6,000. That is why the cost of food crop is too high in the market.”
The chief butcher (sarkin fawa) of Unguwan Shanu, in Kaduna, Malam Gambo Dangaye, said the increasing demand for manure by farmers was responsible for the acute scarcity of the commodity, adding that buyers have to book and wait for weeks before getting their supply.
He reminisced that the manure that they used to throw away as waste has now become a source of good money for butchers.
He said 100 kilogramme sack of manure now sells for between N2, 000 and N2, 500, depending on the availability of the product which he added is scarce during the rainy season.
Dangaye said buyers of manure come from Sabuwa and Dandume local government areas of Katsina State and Saminaka, Gadan Gayan, and Dutsen-Wai in Kaduna State adding that middlemen have now sneaked into the business by buying the manure in large quantity and selling to farmers.