Ebonyi begins construction of new fertilizer plant

EBONYI State Government has commenced the construction and installation of a new fertilizer plant.

General Manager of the company, Prof. Ogbonnaya Chukwu, disclosed this in a statement.

He said the construction is to boost the production capacity of the state Fertilizer and Chemical Company Limited.

The construction, according to him, is to take advantage of the soaring demands for the various blends of NPK fertilizers that are produced in the country.

He said the David Umahiled government envisioned that the expanded capacity of the plant would make the company to meet the growing needs of the state, and those of the neighouring south-east and south-south states.

According to him, construction works had already reached advanced stage at the new site.

It is located behind the existing plant complex along the Abakaliki-ogoja highway in the state capital.

When completed, the new plant would add a produc- tion capacity of 40 metric tonnes of blended NPK fertilizer per hour to the existing plant.

The old one was built in 2004, and has a capacity of 32 metric tonnes per hour.

Chukwu, who also doubles as the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Umahi on Investment, commended the Federal Government for the vision.

He said farmers in the state have benefitted immensely from the programme, which has made it easy for fertilizer blends to be delivered on time and at affordable prices.

He said: “Ebonyi State Fertilizer and Chemical Company Limited is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative.

“The intervention by the PFI has helped us to raise our game in terms of employment generation and service delivery. Farmers in the state now get very high quality fertilizers early.”

Chukwu also explained that Umahi had designed a scheme to ensure that fertilizers are distributed to all the council wards at the official price of N5, 500 for a 50-kilogramme bag.