Fake fertilizers: 2025 agriculture report raises concern

The 2025 Wet Season Agricultural Performance Survey (APS) across the states in the country has reported a substandard increase in the supply of fertilizers in the country.

The Executive Director of the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), Prof. Yufus Sani Ahmad, highlighted this unfortunate incident during the 2025 wet season cultivations, stating that small-scale farmers battled with fake organic and conventional fertilizers particularly NPK.

Prof. Ahmad said that “If nothing is done to tame this deadly trend, production of many crops will dwindle."

The NAERLS ED said that APS findings revealed a very disturbing rise in counterfeit and low-quality NPK formulations circulating in local agro-input markets, adding that farmers reportedly receive products with misleading labeling, insufficient nutrient content, and harmful impurities that led to ineffective crop nutrition, lower yields, and wasted investment.

Prof. Ahmad stressed that the unfortunate incident happened at a time when fertilizer costs had risen by nearly 20% on average in 2025, pointing it further impacted the finances of small-scale farmers.

The APS also revealed that crop pests and diseases affected 19,358.5 hectares of farmland nationwide during the 2025 wet season, thereby resulting in an average yield loss of 22.5% within affected areas just as he attributed the losses to climate variability, poor input quality, and weak pest and disease surveillance systems.

“Our farmers have shown resilience, but we must protect them from exploitative practices in the input market. We cannot allow poor-quality fertilizers to sabotage our progress," said the ED.