Small scale farmers introduced to high nitrogen fertilizer

Small scale farmers in the Sissala East and West district of the Upper West Region have been empowered to adopt a newly introduced fertilizer to increase production.

The new fertilizer, with an improved Slow Release Technology, contains 25 per cent of Nitrogen per bag. About 600 farmers drawn from selected communities in the Sissala East and West districts have been empowered on best agronomic practices to increase maize production in the area.

The Sissala East district is currently the leading producer of maize and cotton but most farmers still do not adopt best agronomic practices especially on fertilizer application.

Most farmers due to the size of their farm, fail to bury their fertilizer, therefore losing a good amount of it after application. It’s against this background that the Agriculture Management Group Limited (AMG) has introduced the improved Slow Release Technology fertilizer called the AMG fertilizer, to boost maize production.

At a Savannah Agriculture Research Institute (SARI) demonstration farm at Tumu, the Sissala East district capital, farmers were taken through the maize farm to make their choice of fertilizer in the upcoming farming season.

The new fertilizer come with its own line of distributors across the country to ensure that farmers receive their fertilizer early and even at their doorstep without extra charges.

The Sissala East District Director of agriculture Dr Sindem Thimothy, expressed satisfaction about the AMG fertilizer but cautions farmers to adopt best agricultural practices to improve yield.

The General Manager of the Agriculture Management Group Limited (AMG) Mr Hennry Otoo told TV3 that government is introducing two programmes including the fertilizer subsidy and the planting for food and job, which he said will introduce farmers to more fertilizer.

He assured farmers of getting fertilizer in time to start the season. Some farmers who were taken through the farm have expressed interest in acquiring the fertilizer for the upcoming farming season. A farmer in Tumu, Simon Aguo, said he would prefer AMG fertilizer due to its high nitrogen.