Industry & Commerce Manufacturing

Producing NPK fertiliser not enough, add micronutrients – experts urge

Agriculture experts have said that more nutrition-based fertilisers to replenish the soil are imperative to adequately address hidden hunger.

The experts made the suggestion in different presentations at a media workshop organised by the OCP Africa/Nigeria Fertilisers. The event held in Lagos with the theme: “Crop Nutrition in Addressing the Challenges in Plant Growth, Yield Formation and Human Nutrition”.

The OCP Africa/Nigeria Fertilisers is a leading exporter of phosphate rock, phosphoric acid and phosphate fertilisers.

The workshop was meant to train agriculture reporters on a more informed approach to reporting plant and soil nutrition.

Ismail Cakmak, a Professor of Plant Nutrition from the Sabanci University, Istanbul, said that hidden hunger was not only affecting humans but affecting economic growth.

Cakmak, who spoke on ”Food Crops for Improving Food and Nutrition Security”, said that Nigeria lost $1.5 billion in gross  domestic product to vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

He said that scaling up core micro nutrient interventions would cost less than $188 million annually. “Hidden hunger is lack of vitamins and minerals in food; so even when you eat, you still lack basic nutrients required by your body, to fight diseases and other foreign agents.

“Producing NPK fertilisers is not enough. We should have more nutrition-based fertilisers, by adding more magnesium, phosphate, sulphur, zinc and other micronutrients in fertilisers.

“There is a link between nutrition and infection; if nutrition is adequate, infection will not be present. That will reduce pathogenic attacks on plants and immunity, and stunted growth in humans.

“Agriculture should not focus on production of foods  alone, but also on healthy and nutritious foods, to meet nutritional needs of people during all season,” he said.

Cakmak said that Nigeria’s population would increase to 450 million by 2050; hence, the need to  triple food production, especially, nutrient inputs on cropland, along with good agronomy management.

He said that most African soils nutrition was poor because of the widespread of soil mining and soil nutrient depletion, which affected per hectare yields.

“Everybody is concentrating on producing more but we need to make these production high in nutrients. Nutrients removed by crop plants must be replaced,” he urged.

Managing Director of OCP Africa, Mr Hettiti Mohammed, said the training was to build a lasting relationship with agriculture reporters.

Mohammed said that it had become pertinent to properly report human nutrition and soil nutrients as well as crop micro nutrient requirements.

Mr Aniss Bouraqqadi, Head of Agronomy, OCP Africa, said that the workshop was to build a ‘comments discussion room’ to share developments in human nutrition.

The participants were journalists from major media houses in Nigeria.

 

 

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