Zambia’s massive fertilizer import bill can be cut if the country can adopt the use of the latest technology in plant nutrition by pivoting to wide spread use of organic and liquid fertilizers.
Bulk fertilizer imports have been sighted as one of the key import items which is currently causing foreign exchange or US dollar outflow and causing the Kwacha to shed value.
The fact that the massive fertilizer import bill needs an urgent solution was confirmed by the Central bank – BOZ, when they sighted Agro input, petroleum and US dollar debt repayments as the three major contributors to straining the local currency and constituting the major forex drainers in Zambia.
One Agro firm – Orgachem Zambia Limited has proposed that the country which urgently needs to stabilize its currency and reduce on its import bill should consider a transformational approach and consider adopting the use of more technologically advanced and cost effective liquid or soluble fertilizers.
Orgachem Limited Chairman Ahmed Patel told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT in an exclusive interview that that his company does manufacture soluble fertilizer and European standard liquid fertilizers, which is both chemical and organic. He added that the company’s licenses are from Europe as this is new technology which may just be the solution for Zambia.
He said liquid fertilizer has advantages, which include covering a bigger area, cheaper than what is currently on the market, more effective as it is spread to the leaf rather than the soil and has different varieties, which will help both the soil and the plant.
Patel further said that soluble fertilizer is easy to manufacture and transport as it mainly comes in bottles, which are much easier to carry and is cheaper in terms of labour because it does not require very big machinery.
The Organchem Chairman mentioned that the company’s target is to reduce chemical fertilizers and encourage the use of organic fertilizers adding that the company uses vegetable waste, cow manure waste among other materials. These materials are locally available in Zambia.
He said the company rarely buys any raw materials from outside the country and strives to use the raw materials available in the country in order to keep the production costs low so that the fertilizer can be sold at a reasonable price. Orgachem range of fertilizers are sold below K200, which is almost half of the price for chemical fertilizers.
He however added that the company does import certain materials which are not available in the country but also gets some of the material the company uses to blend it’s fertilizer from its competitors as it tries to avoid importing materials because that increases the cost of production which might result in increasing the price for the fertilizer.
“People are no longer using the fertilizer that we are using here in Zambia, people are more into new technology which is liquid fertilizer, soluble fertilizer which are the things which am trying to introduce on the market”, he said.
Patel said the liquid fertilizer was introduced in January this year on the market and the company has been doing research on it for almost two years and have done trials in Zambia and Europe.
He said some small-scale farmers have responded positively to the fertilizer as well as commercial farmers, where some trails have been done. The company has also taken advantage of the current wheat season, and supplies some commercial farmers with the liquid fertilizer.
He added that the company will be able to decide what direction to take in December this year as they are still doing trails. He urged Zambian small scale farmers to try out this technologically advanced product.
