Nasarawa fertilizer blending plants to begin operation in June
As part of effort to revamp
agriculture in the state, the state Governor, Umaru Tanko Almakura, wooed four
Chinese investors to set up the fertilizer blending companies to ease
availability and supply challenges to farmers.
Almakura who stated this recently
in Lafia while conducting the Chinese investors round the dilapidated moribund
fertilizer blending company in the state established since 2003 explained that
all arrangements have been completed for them to commence operations in the
next 45 days
“The companies will produce about
40 tonnes per hour and the fertilizer type will be determined by the soil
texture of the area. The companies will go round the three geopolitical zones
of the state to take samples of soil for the purpose.
“We are hoping that in the next
few weeks, the Chinese companies will commence production of fertilizer in the
state so that we will be able to meet the fertilizer season for the year.
Almakura added that with about 70
per cent of Nasarawa state population being farmers, government will work with
the faculty of agriculture at the state’s university to add value to the
agriculture sector in the state.
Dr. Muhammed Haruna, Dean Faculty
of Agriculture, Nasrawa State University, Keffi, explained that their recent
visit to Pakistan on the directive of the governor to study the advances being
made in the field of agriculture is already yielding results, as for the first
time in the history of the state, basmati rice production would soon commence.
Haruna said that the procurement
of fertilizer blending machines for the sole purpose of producing fertilizers
at subsidised rates for local farmers will greatly address the problem of low
yield recorded by farmers in the state.
According to him, it will also
bring to the fore the full potentials of agricultural production in the state
since due to low soil fertility and lack of access to fertilizer many farmers
and communities have stopped growing certain crops particularly cereals.
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