Mr Jamil Zakari, Nasarawa State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, says the state will start large-scale, commercial production of fertiliser in 2019.
Zakari said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lafia.
He said that efforts were underway to establish four modular fertiliser-blending plants in the state, adding equipment for the plants was recently imported from China.
He said that the fertiliser-blending plants, which would be sited across the three senatorial zones of the state, would produce various kinds of fertiliser that were suitable for different soil types across the state.
“We do not just want to produce a `one-fit-all’ commodity, we want to produce fertilisers that are tailor-made, organic and receptive to our peculiar soil types.
“So, we took the pain to bring experts, who took soil samples across the state, and came up with the fertiliser blending plants.
“The structures have been erected and machines are already installed at various sites; production will soon start,’’ he said.
The commissioner said that the rationale behind the establishment of the fertiliser-blending plants was to ensure that farmers in the state had hitch-free access to fertilisers that were suitable for their soil types at affordable rates.
Zakari said that problems relating to the late acquisition of fertilisers by farmers during cropping seasons would be over, as the blending plants would engage in all year round production.
He said that the state government will soon apply to join the Federal Government’s fertiliser initiative so as to ensure that its fertiliser-blending plants are licensed to boost food production in the country.
“Already, the Federal Government has licensed 14 fertiliser-blending plants across the country and the plants are captured in the Nigeria-Morocco fertiliser agreement.
“Nasarawa State will soon be one of the fertiliser producing states in our country, and by 2019, we will produce large quantities of the product on commercial basis,’’ he said.
NAN reports that an agreement between Nigeria and Morocco, anchored by Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers of Nigeria (FEPSAN) and OCP, a Moroccan company, is expected to produce one million tonnes of fertilizer for Nigerian farmers.
OCP, a majority state-owned company of Morocco, is a world leader in the production of phosphate and its derivatives.
The agreement also seeks to promote the use of agricultural inputs, including improved access to fertilisers, as a major means of boosting agricultural production and farmers’ income.
