From Sule Aliyu, Bauchi
Bauchi State Fertilizer Company (BSFC) has produced enough fertilizer for dry season farmers in the state and other neighbouring states at a subsidized rate of N8, 500 per bag.
The chairman of the company, Alhaji Bappah Aliyu Misau stated this when he interacted with reporters at the premises of the company in Bauchi, recently.
He said the political will and commitment of Governor Bala Abdulkadir Muhammad to revive the hitherto moribund fertilizer firm with the strategic injection of funds and other sound fiscal and operational policies were giving a new lease of life for the company.
The chairman said when the present administration came in May 2019, some of the facilities of the company were non-functional, the machinery idle and unused and hundreds of the company’s workers were demoralized.
He however said with the governor’s intervention, the Federal Government asked the state to pay the sum of over N700 million loans that they supplied raw materials for the production of the product.
He said the governor showed the necessary political will to bring back the company as it is now performing because he settled the loan and he raised production capital for the company, adding that the company produces NPK 20:10:10, a suitable fertilizer for nation’s soil mix comprised Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP), Muriate of Potash (MOP), Urea and Limestone granules with the last two components sources locally.
They also produced NPK 15-15-15 and NPK 23-5-5.
Alhaji Misau said the importance of fertilizer in the overall agricultural value chain could not be overemphasized, adding that it needed to replenish lost nutrients and ensure that plants have the food they need to flourish.
When asked about the high cost of the commodity, the chairman said: “we have to get profit as a company, remember the Federal Government removed subsidy on fertilizer and the commodity is sold at the market at 9,500.
“Some state governors purchased only 10 or 20 trucks and launched the farming season and sold the commodity at N6,500 just to celebrate.
“After celebration, you will not see the commodity again. But ours is genuine and we put it to compete with the real market price.
“We sold it to the government at N8,500 and government is selling it to its farmers at N8,000,” he stressed.
