Bauchi Governor pegs prices of NPK, Urea fertilizer at 15,000/20,000, attributes high cost to Russia, Ukraine war

By Mohammed kaka Misau, Bauchi

Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi has fixed the prices of 50kg of NPK and Urea fertilizer at 15,000 and 20,000 respectively.

The Governor while speaking at the official launching of 2022 farming season and fertilizer distribution, said that the war between Russia and Ukraine has cause astronomical rise in prices of raw material for the commodity.

“As I stated earlier, the war between Russia and Ukraine has resulted in the shortage of ammonia which is the major raw material for the production of fertilizer”, he said.

“This has in turn, led to astronomical rise in the cost of fertilizer. This State of affairs would naturally have negative impact on crop production”, Governor Bala added.

He said that the state government has therefore decided to make fertilizer available and affordable to farmers by subsidizing the price of the commodity.

“Consequently, a 50 Kg bag of NPK would be sold at N15,000 while a 50Kg bag of Urea would be sold at N20,000”, Bala said while addressing farmers in Nabordo town, Toro local government area of the state Saturday.

The Governor noted that the annual launching of farming season and flag-off of sale of fertilizer is a deliberate effort by the government to motivate farmers to come out en mass for the production of sufficient food crops to cater for the increasing population and also to embrace
agriculture as an economic mainstay.

Governor Bala however, regretted that paucity of funds has been a constraint to the government towards meeting its various obligations.

He said despite the constraints, the agricultural sector has been accorded the priority it deserves by his administration.

“This priority can be attested to by the settlement of the Nigerian Sovereign investment Authority (NSIA) inherited debt which enabled the State government to produce fertilizer last year”, he said.

According to the governor, Ukraine is the world largest producer of ammonia which is the major ingredient for the production of fertilizer.

He pointed out that the current war between Russia and Ukraine has made the production of the raw material by Ukraine impossible.

Governor Bala said that the situation has led to low supply of the raw material with the attendant hike in the price of fertilizer worldwide.

The Governor noted despite the high competition for the supply of ammonia by various countries, Bauchi state government is highly committed to providing the commodity at any cost to enable the farmers have access to fertilizer at a reasonable price.

He said that the state government has in its relentless effort, trained youths and farmers on good agricultural practices.

Bala added that his administration has also spent over N75 million for the provision of a befitting accommodation to the State branch of the Agricultural and Rural
Management Training Institute (ARMTI).