Stakeholders push for fertilizer bill to address adulteration, poor crop yield

Key stakeholders in the fertilizer sub-sector are currently brainstorming on the National Fertiliser Bill of 2013. The bill seeks to regulate wide spread of adulterated fertilizer that often lead to poor crop yield, pollution of the environment and spread of wrong chemicals in the soil that spreads cancerous diseases.
The thrust of the bill is to help regulate fertilizer production and the sale of fertilizer in the country, often characterised by all manner of sharp practices, including addressing concerns and threat of spread of adulterated fertilizer in the market.
“The bill has already gone through the first and second reading in the Federal House of Representatives, and we say before the bill is eventually passed, a group of professors were gathered to review the bill by Micro Reforms for African Agribusiness (MIRA), as to make better presentation to the National Assembly before the bill eventually scales through,” Emmanuel Ijewere, vice chairman, Nigeria Agri-business Group, said on Thursday, at the Economic Impact Assessment of Agricultural Reforms in the input sector and the review of National Fertilizer Bill, 2013.
“The professors who did the review are here now with other stakeholders and farmer group in the fertilizer sub-sector so that we get everybody’s input before we make our own presentation to the National Assembly,” Ijewere said.
“The whole idea is to make a better presentation of the bill to the National Assembly, while taking into consideration the plight of poor farmers in the country,” he said.
The key concerns also being discussed at the stakeholders forum is on the improve yield of our crops, whether commercial, field crops and ensure the right kind of fertilizer is utilised for farm produce to facilitate improve crop yields, he said.
“For instance, the farmers benefit because of the right kind of fertilizer as well as manufacturers and distributors, and everyone along the value chain benefits because they are getting the right products,” Victor Olusegun Okoruwa, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Ibadan, said during the stakeholders’ meeting.
“If we do not regulate and control, we will allow subs-standard fertilizer to flood the market. The implication is that we have reduced yield, the farmers will not get the right income and our soil is going to be degraded further,” he said.
It would be noted that in the past, some people who got contracts to‎ supply fertilizer muddled it up with sands and other adulterated substances, which led to poor crop yields, among other concerns.
Part of the ‎thing the law prescribed is a heavy fine for any violation with regard to adulteration of the fertilizer. Also, fertiliser procurement, blending, and distribution would not be all-comers affairs. There would be criteria for selection by relevant bodies.
Also, the farmers will also have recourse to Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN) for protection of their interests.
In addition, Gideon Negedu, liaison manager for FEPSAN, said at the meeting that quality control of fertilizer was key, saying that there was lot of local production of fertilizer going on that was largely unregulated, informing that the bill would address these concerns.
It would be noted that the bill had already passed the first and second reading in the House of Representatives, and it is already in the Senate. As a result, the stakeholders’ meeting is to ensure all issues and concerns on fertilizer are well presented before it gets to the President for assent.