Organic Fertilizer for Farmers

By Emmanuel Kubi

Daily Guide: Sept,29,2010

THE DEPUTY MINISTER for Food and Agriculture (MOFA) in charge of crops, Yaw Effa-Baffi has urged farmers, Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) and players in the agricultural industry to consider shifting away from encouraging the use of chemical fertilizers to organic ones.
According to him, the basic idea of using fertilizers is to boost food and raw material production to feed our factories and ensure food sufficiency but the high cost of these chemical fertilizers rather increases the overhead cost of production for farmers and leave negative residual effects on the soil.
The deputy minister made the observation in a speech read on his behalf by Vesper Suglo, Director of Land Protection and Regulatory Directorate in Accra during the launch of the new organic fertilizers DI Grow Green and the DI Grow Red.
Effa-Baffi said “the cost of chemical fertilizers is about US $700 per ton using urea as the standard in inland areas like Malawi and Uganda. This price increases when transport cost is added and this is not too different from Ghana,” he said.
He was of the view that “even if fertilizers are used rather than agro forestry technologies, you must sell enough crops to pay for the cost of the fertilizer meaning other technologies such us the organic ones that require less cash and cheaper inputs is the technology to be embraced,” he added.
Mr. Effa-Baffi said it’s about time Africa and Ghana shifted from obsolete practices that destroy soil and invest in soil health so far as it is at the lowest safe option available.
“Accessing plant nutrients at lowest cost, planting fertilizer trees, nitrogen fixing leguminous trees as well as providing mineral and organic nutrients are possible sources that enrich the soil fertility.”
For Joseph Tontoh, President of VEPEAG, crops grown with organic fertilizers are always free from chemicals and toxins that affect people’s health.
“Most people are moving away from consuming food substances produced with chemical fertilizers. For this reason organic agricultural products are safe and even attract higher economic return for farmers.”
According to Tontoh, organic fertilizers leave no chemical residue in the soil after production and increases plant resistance against diseases. These characteristics he said protect smallholder farmers from spending too much on insecticides and pesticides.
He believes that adhering to the use of organic fertilizers would encourage the country’s produce industry to enter organic niche markets across the global.
DI-Grow Green and the Red organic liquid fertilizer are produced from seaweeds. They enhance crop blossoming and produce no residue in the soil after use. It has the ability of improving the soil’s water holding capacity and improves soil structure as well.
The DI-Grow Red Liquid fertilizer encourages fruit setting and therefore improves fruit yielding outputs. It also prevents flower and fruit shedding thereby maximizing output.
This family of organic fertilizers also enhances fertility in livestock and in beds.