Farmers Face Hard Time Over Army's New Regulation On Fertilizer

fertilizer

Last month, the Nigerian Army impounded about 135 trucks of fertilizer belonging to Notore Chemical Limited in Lokoja, Kogi State.

The fertilizer was meant for various farming communities across the North as the rain-fed season has begun.

Daily Trust gathered that the 135 trucks were released after the intervention of the minister of agriculture and the Presidency. However instead of allowing the trucks to continue with their journey, they were directed to proceed to different military formations for the dealers who ordered the fertilizer to collect them after clearance.

This makes it extremely difficult for the dealers to get the fertilizer they ordered over a month ago on time, thereby creating scarcity of the product in the market.

Daily Trust also gathered that the Nigerian Army has now set a new regulation on the movement of fertilizer to any part of the North.

The military said that fertiliser must be accompanied by military escort in Hilux vans to every destination. This condition, however, did not go down well with Notore chemical company.

The army's argument was that urea is been used by the insurgents in the North to make IEDs or explosives. But sources from the company said urea is not the major component in the making of IEDs. The sources said nitric acid, which is used by few laboratories and industries, is the major element.

The source added that controlling nitric acid or banning it is more appropriate instead than urea that is used by mostly millions smallholder farmers.

Notore delivers about 50 trucks of fertilizer every day before the encounter with the military. By this new regulation, 50 hilux vans will have to be on the road daily.

This will make it difficult for the company to produce fertilizer for Nigerian farmers as sources told our reporters that it has since stopped production for the local consumptions.

This is because if the company bears the cost of providing these hilux vans to pilot every truck that delivers fertiliser on an average of 14 days, the poor farmer will be at the receiving end because the price will go up by 30% or 40%.

Scarcity of fertiliser in the country will also affect agricultural output by 20% and the product will be beyond the reach of many small scale farmers, thereby jeopardizing the nation's food security target.