Experts decry high cost of fertilisers

Experts in the Nigerian agriculture sector have warned that the surging prices of fertiliser could have dire consequences on food production and sufficiency in the country, saying the farm input now sells for twice its price last year. They observed that the price of a 50kg bag of urea fertiliser had increased by 183 per cent to an average of N17,000 from N6,000 in 2021. The average price of a 50kg bag of NPK fertiliser, mostly used by Nigerian smallholder farmers, has surged by 112.5 per cent to N17,000 from N8,000 in 2021. They blamed the global surge in fertiliser prices to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, leading to high food prices by adding to worries over food security.

According to the experts, high fertiliser prices translate to higher production costs, making more people poorer as food accounts for about 80 per cent of household spending. Reacting to the fertiliser price spike, the Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Muda Yusuf, said fertiliser was a very important input for boosting agricultural productivity, adding that its exorbitant price would have a knock-off effect on food prices. Yusuf also noted that food inflation, one of the biggest issues affecting the economy, might get worse as a result of price increases.

Furthermore, the Chairman, Folhope Nigeria Limited, an agricultural production company, Chief Emmanuel Ogunnaike has said that subsistence farming is the only way out of the food scarcity being experienced in the country. Ogunnaike said: “In order to put an end to this currennt food scarcity in the country, we need to embrace subsistence farming. With this, regardless of your occupation, every one should take crop production as secondary job in addition to your present or choosen occupation. People should convert all available virgin land within their vicinity and backyards to food crops production centres”.