Gilbert Ekugbe
The OCP Africa Nigeria has announced plans to boost fertilizer production in the country as part of its contribution to address the nation’s food security challenges.
The Country Manager and Deputy Managing Director of OCP Africa Nigeria, Mr. Caleb Usoh, in a statement argued for the need to introduce soil and crop specific fertilizers against the current use of generic fertilizer blends for all soil and crop.
Usoh noted that the adoption of specialty fertilizers to address specific crop nutrition needs is the emerging trend in global agriculture practice due to different soil nutrient compositions.
He said: “OCP Africa, a world leader in phosphate and its derivatives, believes that efficient use of specialty fertilizer is one of the best ways to increase farmers’ productivity and ensure food security.
“For long, Nigerian farmers have been faced with several impediments to obtaining optimal value from their farmlands, ranging from low access to quality inputs, problematic soils, and inadequate training on good agricultural practices; these challenges if not resolved will pose a threat to the nation’s food system. ”
He said that the OCP Africa has taken the initiative to provide customised fertilizers in the Nigeria agricultural space by pioneering the research and development and production of crop and soil specific blends of fertilizer by establishing ultra-modern fertilizer blending plants in three states across Nigeria, namely Kaduna, Ogun and Sokoto.
According to him, each of the three ultra-modern blending plants tagged “Centre of Excellence” comprised of a blending facility capable of composing five macro and five micro-nutrient elements, a fertilizer and soil testing laboratory, a retail outlet for agricultural products and services called the “Farm and Fortune Hub” and a Model Farm.
