Yaw Frimpong Addo, Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture has stated government’s intention to increase the quota of organic fertiliser in the fertiliser subsidy programme in the 2023 budget; a move to improve food security in the country.
On behalf of the Yaw Frimpong Addo at the launch of the Sika Zeolite Fertiliser, in Accra on last Monday, the Director of the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Eric Quaye, indicated the ministry has targeted an increased usage of fertiliser per hectare as one of its strategies to improve food sufficiency.
He observed, although average usage of fertiliser per hectare is deficiently inadequate and falls short of the global average of 130kg per hectare, the government has put in efforts to increase it from 8kg per hectare in 2017 to 25kg per hectare and even more.
He emphasized, “The Ministry of Food and Agriculture through the 2023 Budget Statement is going to increase the quota of organic fertiliser in the fertiliser subsidy programme to the benefit of companies like yours to cover the shortfall in inorganic fertiliser supply and you should take full advantage.”
Government is facilitating the establishment and expansion of local organic fertiliser production plants with support from the EXIM Bank.
“I want to encourage Ghanaian farmers and consumers alike to patronise organic fertilisers. They are healthier, environmentally friendly and in the long run cheaper if we are patient to apply them consistently as we do inorganic fertilisers,” he elated.
Country Representative for Imarich Ventures, suppliers of the Zeolite organic fertiliser, Richard Nyamar disclosed the product has been tested on farms through demonstration and labs by scientists.
He said the product has been licensed and certified by both Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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He stressed the product was produced from volcanic ash, it has been tested in the lab and on the field, and scientifically proven to have soil repairing properties that increases crop yield, improves the absorption of nutrients by plants, reduces leaching which gives healthy organic yields that increases the lifespan of plants.
CEO of NEIP, Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, Prof. Samuel Adjei Nsiah of the Forest and Crop Research Centre, University of Ghana, the CEO of Tree Crops Authority, Mr. William Kwaittoo and Dr. Jerry Nboyine of CSIR, were all present to grace the occasion.
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