Officials from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development sealed up four illicit fertilizer mixing facilities that were operating without a license in Kano State and seized a truckload of contaminated fertilizer.
Albarka Agor-Allied and Chemical Fertilizer, Nagarta Agro Fertilizer, Samu Alheri Plant, Jido Community, Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area, and One Other Retail Shop in Getso Market, Gwarzo Local Government Area of the State are the sealed plants. They are all located in the Zara Community of Kumbotso Local Government Area.
In addition to mixing without the proper authorization, it was found that the plants were also combining inferior ingredients to create contaminated fertilizer, which they then sold to state farmers.
Director, Fertiliser Control Officer of the Farm Inputs Support Department of the Ministry, Oke Sunday, who spoke on the development said;
“There is a new law in town called the National Fertiliser Quality Control Act. There are a lot of things specified by the law, that for any individual to do business in the fertiliser sector, he must be registered with the Farm Inputs Support Department.
“This is a market operation, we are not interested in arresting anybody, our interest is to make people to comply with the provisions of this act.
“Fertiliser is a very critical input in farm production and the federal government will not tolerate any act sabotaging efforts to ensure food security in the country.
“We have sealed the defaulting shops, and in the process, we told them their offenses and told them not to temper with the evidences until we come back again.
“We have also found huge cache of fertiliser blending raw materials, which are not supposed to be sold in the market.”
Oke also said the defaulting marketers arrested in possession of illegal blending raw materials would be arraigned upon completion of investigation.
One of the marketers caught with fertiliser blending raw materials at ’Yan-Kura market, Khalid Muhammad, confessed to selling it to individual retailers, but claimed he was not aware of the implication of selling them in the market.
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