The federal government of Nigeria has begun production of fertilizers in the country, a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by the Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande. said.

This is the result of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, with the production of more than 4,000 metric tonnes of locally-blended fertilizer in the first week of operation.

The objective of the presidential initiative is to procure the 4 constituent raw materials for NPK Fertilizer – locally-sourced urea, locally-sourced limestone granules (LSG), Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) imported from Morocco, and Muriate of Potash (MOP) sourced from Europe – and blend these locally to produce NPK Fertilizer at a much reduced cost.

Akande said the fertilizer would be delivered to farmers at a starting price of about N5,500 per bag, compared to the N8,000 – N9,000 cost of imported fertilizer.