LOCAL NGO, INDIAN FIRM PRODUCE CHEAPER FERTILISER
AN agricultural non-governmental organisation has partnered with some investors to produce affordable fertiliser as a way of reducing the current high cost of crop production in Zambia.
Zambia Agriculture and Rural Development Initiatives (ZARDI) executive director Gilbert Mpanga, said the proactive move by the partnership was intended to promote the nation’s agricultural potential and ensure that the staple food was made readily available to people.
Ms Mpanga said Zambia needed solutions to boost the economy through agricultural diversification, which was key to achieving food security, improved nutrition and increase in rural employment.
He said the newly developed fertilizer was already certified and suitable for the Zambian environment.
“As an organisation, we have partnered with an Indian company to develop fertilizer which is suitable for our Zambian environment and it is affordable and easy to carry,” Ms Mpanga said.
He said, “This was necessitated by the complaints by farmers about expensive inputs, and that is why we are trying to put in place an affordable commodity on market to ensure more people are encouraged to do farming to actualise the growth of the agriculture sector.”
Mr Mpanga said Zambia was capable of producing crops at an affordable cost if more stakeholders came on board with innovative skills that could make farming much easier.
He said a bottle of the Zinc multi-purpose fertiliser was pegged at K350 and could cater for 1 hectare of land, which was equivalent to 4bags of a 50kg fertilisers.
“Where a farmer is supposed to spend about K1600 for 4 bags of fertilisers for a hectare of land, a bottle of K350 can do. This we are trying to see how best we can work with farmers to ease the burden of expensive farming inputs,” he said.
Mr Mpanga said farmers would still require more knowledge and sensitization on the new fertilizer in order for them to use it correctly and achieve the appropriate results.
He said his organisation was now trying to work with farmers that were willing to increase their crop productivity.
He said his organisation was now on the ground to encourage farmers’ practice organic farming, which it did not pose any risk of soil and underground water contamination.
Mr Mpanga appealed to the Government to fund more projects in the agricultural sector to enable more people participate in agriculture related activities that would add value to the nation.
As an organisation, we have partnered with an Indian company to develop fertilizer which is suitable for our Zambian environment and it is affordable and easy to carry.