By Dele Ogbodo
The National Biotechnology Research Development Agency (NBRDA), has further stepped up the drive for food and nutritious security, this time, through the application of organic fertilizer processed from the country’s natural rocks on farm lands.
The Director General/CEO, of the agency, Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, while acknowledging that these rocks are ubiquitously found across the country, said the development is sheer innovation to smart way of farming and not any magic.
Mustapha, spoke to EXTRAORDINAIRE.COM at the sideline of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mr. Sam Davies, the CEO of Flux, a private organic fertilizer company/processor at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, during the week.
The DG, acknowledged that the framework with the Kenya based company is the way to bumper agricultural yields since the introduction of TELA Maize, adding that the sustainability of the soil in its potency is what is really going to change the equation as according to him…”As you know, our famers are having difficulty in getting fertilizer and so the solution has come.
“The solution is that you are going to get fertilizer almost for free and this is gotten from powdered rock that farmers will apply on the soil.”
He assured that the farmers will reap a high yield of about 44% and this will alleviate the suffering of farmers because of the reduced cost of production of food crops.
“As you know, we have introduced TELA Maize crop in the country, the soil will now be enhanced at almost no cost because when you apply it on the crops, it will remain in the soil for between 4-5 years, meaning that may not need to apply any other fertilizer again.
“The yield is projected to go up by more than 40% and this is the solution that we are bringing to the country, using our natural resources embedded in rocks, it will be processed before application on the soil.
On how to get the organic fertilizer, he said: “When we select the rock, we grind it into powder form, we have made some investigations as the rock will be tested and found suitable and fortunately Nigeria has those kind of rocks in the country.
“It is not that we are going to introduce something from outside the country rather we are going to harness what we have around us to that we can reclaim our soil to original status.
“All this that we are going to do is not any magic it is simply natural resourcing harnessing and applying it to the soil.” He said.
According to the DG, the release of TELA maize crop for commercialization which is aimed at improving food security in Nigeria will not be complete until we go back to the soil to see how we can improve its quality with our local natural resources.
Mustapha, said improving the social quality is now coming with harnessing the bio-resources that is around our environment which is the rock, explaining that it is the processed powder is going to be used in enhancing the quality of the soil to make the soil more nutritious at zero cost.
He said: “The farmers are going to find it very affordable and the yield is going to increase and the output will increase immensely and with that Nigeria will be food sustainable and with that Nigeria will go forward towards increasing the output of the food and nutritious security.”
In his remark, the CEO, of FLUX, Mr. Sam Davies, underscored that Nigeria is already leading the way in innovation, science and technology to change the narrative in smart agriculture for food security.
He explained that the company uses enhanced rock weathering through processing crystal silicon rock into powder, we spread that on the soil and it helps farmers increase their yields through increasing the soil health and it also captures carbon from the atmosphere.
He said: “So, that is the new innovation that we are bringing and we are proud to say that this collaboration is the first of its kind in Africa and so Nigeria is really leading the way in the continent on the new solution for food security and climate resilience.
“We use natural rock power and it is not bio-engineering its using natural organisms materials that we found already in the country…we take these powders crush them and that is what become the fertilizers for famers on the field.
On the pilot, we have demonstrated this in Kenya, the farmers have seen over 44% yield increase compared to normal fertilizer and we anticipate similar result here in Nigeria.