Farmers have raised the alarm over circulation of fake fertilisers across the country, a development that not only has severe implications on crop production and consumption, but also affec farmers’ livelihood, the environment and human health.
According to experts, the rising menace of counterfeit fertilisers usage is responsible for the poor crop growth, and reduced yields. It also causes reduction of soil fertility and makes crops more susceptible to diseases, thereby putting the country’s food security dream at risk.
Farmers like Omotayo Omoniyi, Ibrahim Usman, and Abdullah Abdul Rahman are battling this ‘crisis,’ as the development has plunged them into debts.
At the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Lagos Gate Farm, Usman, a farmer with 20 years experience, lamented the grave impact of the counterfeit fertilisers he got from farmers cooperative society and how it failed to nourish his crops, rather, the fertiliser “often burn my crops, especially vegetables and made them become unsellable.
“It’s unfortunate that these fake fertilisers and chemicals most often originate from the government and they don’t work effectively. It is sad that there is absence of loan facilities or training support from the government to assist us.”
Usman added that this lack of support, often force farmers to rely on their own knowledge, noting that this has been compounding their woes and taking them away from solutions to market access and weather-related crop failures.
To Omoniyi who also echoed this concern, he emphasised the devastating impact of sun standard fertilisers on plant health and farmers’ finances.
He noted that while purchasing these fertilisers in small quantities from dealers owing to limited funds; the farmers often unknowingly buy substandard products that lead to significant losses.
Omoniyi urged government to subsidise fertiliser production companies to make genuine products more affordable, a move he said, could boost agricultural productivity nationwide.
On his part, Rahman, whose perspective differs from the other farmers, noted that while he has not personally encountered fake fertilisers, their prevalence is well-known.
He explains that while experienced farmers can identify these substandard products, he added that these products, while marginally effective, their quality falls short of genuine fertilisers like NPK. Rahman also highlights the Lagos State’s fertiliser distribution process, which he believes does not involve fakes, as large quantities are broken down for farmers and market sales.
However, based on experts’ position, they are raising concern that as the issue of counterfeit fertilisers persists unabatedly, this development will continue to undermine Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
To combat this menace, farmers and experts are calling on government and other industry players for urgent action.
“There is need for government subsidies to lower fertiliser costs, investigations into fake products distributed by cooperatives, and training programmes to equip farmers with the skills to identify and use genuine products.”
They noted that to attain its food security dream, addressing the scourge of fake fertilisers is critical to Nigeria, by empowering farmers and ensuring sustainable agricultural growth.
