The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Muhammad Nanono, has advocated a more strategic partnership and robust collaboration with stakeholders in the fertilizer industry to boost its production and develop the sector.
Nanono said this in a statement by the Chief Information officer in the ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, on Sunday in Abuja.
He said the effort would ensure its affordability, increased production, self-sufficiency, easy access to products by the farmers and achieve food and nutrition security.
According to Ikemefuna, the minister said this at a working visit to the facility of Indorama Eleme Fertilizer and Chemicals Limited (IEFCL) located at Eleme in Port Harcourt, Rivers.
Nanono acknowledged the company for being a strategic partner in the development of the agricultural sector, especially in the supply of fertilizer products like NPK, UREA and DAP to farmers across the country.
He also commended the organisation for going beyond the sale of Urea fertilizer to farmers, to engaging in extensive Agronomy and Agricultural Extension Services and other laudable Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) across the country geared towards improving the quality of lives of the farmers and food production.
“The company is deeply embedded in the agricultural transformation agenda of President Mohammed Buhari’s Administration and the Nation’s Economic Development in general,” he said.
He lauded Indorama for its massive supply of Urea fertilizers to over 70 per cent of farmers in Nigeria as well as using its blending plants for the production of NPK fertilizers at a subsidized price to Smallholder farmers.
Nanono expressed satisfaction with Indorama for its excellent environment, production capacity, creating employment and providing business opportunities for Nigerian graduates, artisans, farmers and entrepreneurs.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Indorama Fertilizer, Mr Munish Jindal, said the vision of the company was to build the largest petrochemicals and fertilizer hub of Africa in Nigeria and to empower the Nigerian farmers by ensuring the production of quality fertilizer.
Ikemefuna said the highpoint of the working visit was the guided tour of the facility with different sections of the Trains 1 and 2 fertilizer plants including the State-of-the art Control Rooms, the Ammonia Plants, Urea plants, Power plants and gagging section.
He said the organisation has two fertilizer plants with a production capacity of three million metric tons of Urea fertilizer per annum.
