Action on implementing soil/crop specific fertilizer application commences

soil/crop

Based on the approval of the memorandum on the need to adopt soil/ crop specific application viz-a-viz complimentary use of organic and inorganic fertilizer by farmers, the newly constituted National Fertilizer technical Committee has since swam into action by meeting with blenders in order to intimate them into keying into Federal Government directives of production in line of the new formulation.

In a letter sent out to farmers’ associations based on the outcome of the meeting with fertilizer blenders as directed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural development Chief AuduOgbeh, the chairman of the Fertilizer technical committee Prof. Victor Chude stated that “ following the approval of the last National Council on Agriculture meeting in Kano, 8^th-12^thFebruary of the memo crops/soil specific fertilizer recommendation in Nigeria, the Hon Minister of Agriculture has since directed that these new formulations should be produced for the Nigerian market. 

Based on this directive, the newly constituted National Fertilizer committee met will all fertilizer blenders on 20^th April at 2pm in the HMA’s conference room to secure their buying and readiness to produce the new formulation. The meeting ended on a positive note. This is for your information and that of your members, please”                                                                            

MEMORANDUM ON THE NEED TO ADOPT SOIL/CROP SPECIFIC FERTILIZER APPLICATION VIZ-A-VIZ COMPLIMENTARY USE OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC FERTILIZER (BALANCED CROP NUTRITION) BY FARMERS

Memorandum by the Director, Farm Inputs Support Services Department,

Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Abuja

1.       The purpose of this memorandum is to apprise the council of the need to adopt soil/crop specific fertilizer application in all the 36 States/FCT and the complimentary use of both organic and inorganic fertilizer by farmers.

According to available information, Nigerian soils are inherently micro-variable within short distances.  The spatial variability lends itself to geological formation of the soil that ranges from rocks of the basement complex, old rock formations which extend from the South West to the Northern fringe with various formations.

These different formations impose their mineralogical impacts on the particles that form the soil in different locations.  This is complicated by geographical location, climatic factors, vegetation, and land use.

The implication is that the native soil fertility is not uniform; therefore, any amendment of such soil with exogenous material like fertilizer must be applied with caution after appropriate soil testing and precise calculation for nutrient balancing.  Therefore, there is no scientific basis for extrapolative application of fertilizer, except if the soil grouping is found to be the same across the same region.

If the soil does not have the essential nutrient in its mineralogy, there is a need to find sustainable way of adding and conserving the nutrient and making it available to the crop when needed.

2.       There are 16 essential elements, 3 of which are naturally supplied while the remaining 13 may be supplied with mineral fertilizer.  Currently, the focus has been on the primary elements NPK; in most crops, the assumption is that the needs fall in the order; N>P>K and not N=K=P.

While this is so in theory, in practice and with the intervention of different environmental impacts and variability, the assumption has to be modified even though, it is the most basic parameter.

Micro nutrients are also essential if they are not adequate in the native soil and are not added in the mineral form as fertilizers, alternative means need to be considered.  Since the soil is the main medium of crop production, soil limitations arising from different agro-ecologies is therefore a major budget concern for crop production.

An alternative source of nutrient is Organic Manure (OM). OM is a storehouse of nutrients and is positively correlated with NPKs, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) and other exchangeable cations and micronutrients.

Agro-ecology influences soil release and conservation of meagre nutrient reserve in tropical soils.  Soil pH is affected by rainfall and in turn time of planting, fertilizer application and its use efficiencies.

3.       Fertility Map is a useful guide for fertility evaluation.  However, holistic approach is needed to determine meaningful diagnosis and recommendations.

Fertility Maps should be used only for national indications of fertility levels not individual farmer’s needs.  The farmer needs to ground truth the prescription of national nutrient map which can be done through soil testing.  Creating awareness for soil testing by farmers will begin to make fertilizer application the right technology to revolutionarize agriculture in Nigeria.

There are many challenges to sampling soils such as lack of facilities and logistics problems i.e. transportation and labour.  A State by State soil testing programme has been conducted under the FAO/National Programme for Food Security (NPFS) in 2005.  With the availability of GIS, modern techniques can be used to go beyond soil fertility map to evaluate soil capability and suitability and develop calibration curves for each crop in each State/LGA.  Moving to this level of evaluation is essential to achieving a true agrarian revolution improvement in food security and environmental conservation.

Unfortunately, the current system of blanket fertilizer use results in a colossal waste of scarce fertilizer investment because the soil is not well prepared to take the nutrients for root interception within its short lifespan of arable cropping.  The cost implication of this to the average poor farmer is enormous.

In order to address the above challenge, the FMARD is introducing soil test kits called Soil Doctor through the Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Land Management Services to farmers across the country.

4.       Up until 2005 when the current fertility maps were developed, maps available to policy makers and donors supporting Nigerian fertilizer have been mineralogical or geological and did not provide the direction needed for fertilizer recommendations based on soils, crops and many other factors determining nutrient needs.  Soil Testing is an important management tool for monitoring chemical, physical and biological balance and assessment of inherent fertility.

Use of low analysis fertilizers has remained with Nigeria over time.  Existing NPKs as basal have serious limitations.  While urea has been generally accepted, the original concept of DAP as a basal has been lost.  DAP is a very good basal fertilizer as it contains small amount of N needed after seeding and the P required.  If there is a K deficiency, application of MOP (0:0:60) makes since economically and allows the flexibility to get the K in the right ratio.  Farmers can be trained to apply high analysis fertilizers on their own once they know their soils nutrient requirements through soil test.

An investment in soil testing will radically correct the present nutrient imbalances.  The savings that will accrue from not overdosing through soil test and wasting nutrients can be channelled to increasing fertilizer quantity that will provide the nutrients needed.

5.       Adopting the model of the Fertilizer Association of India (FAI), the agro-input dealers in Nigeria (AIDA/FEPSAN) can be used to reach millions of farmers with sample soil nutrient status maps throughout the country.  This will provide guides for the best types of fertilizers for their various locations.

Nigerian farmers love their soil and will do anything and everything to preserve it.  Many of the farmers are progressive and they do adopt new technologies readily despite what some critics say, particularly after they have seen the benefits.  They do not use soil tests because they have not been oriented to them.  The generic fertilizer recommendations may not only have cost them more, but may have been detrimental to their soils.  They therefore need re-orientation as well as education on soil testing viz-a-viz soil/crop fertilizer formulations/recommendations.

6.       Using available chemical data, a first approximation to the soil fertility map has been produced for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, soil acidity, zinc, boron for the various states of Nigeria including FCT.  The criteria for soil fertility classes are as defined below:

Low              -        The value below critical level

Medium         -        The range above critical level where variable response to

                             fertilizer is expected

High              -        The range where response is unlikely and fertilization may not

                             be necessary

7.       Arising from the various soil fertility maps, specific fertilizer formulations for 36 States and FCT were developed for different crops to enable the crops express their maximum genetic potential in an enabling soil environment.Lekan stop here don’t carry the diagram..