Agriculture
A United State-based organic fertiliser company, Biowish-Crop, on Monday, said it would establish an African branch in Kebbi.
Biowish’s Chief Marketing Officer in Nigeria, Mrs Bill Stevens, gave the hint at a meeting with the state’s branch of the All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Birnin Kebbi.
Stevens said that the company, when completed, would employ over 1,000 workers.
She said that the company had earlier planned to establish the branch in South Africa but later opted for Nigeria.
“We don’t want to be importing fertilisers from the U.S. into Nigeria; rather, we want to have a factory here in this country.
“We have chosen Kebbi because the state has stable electricity for the industrial sector.
“Kebbi also has a lot of farmers and a lot of opportunities for the state to have a fertiliser company of pyre organics.
“So, we want to have such a company in Kebbi,’’ she said.
According to her, both the Federal Government and NAFDAC are aware of their presence of the company in Nigeria since 2014.
She pointed out that the company’s fertilisers have been experimented in Kwara, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna and Kebbi, and were adjudged to be best for crops output increment.
“Once the consumers patronise our product and they appreciate it, we can now start producing in Kebbi.
“So, there is no need to be importing any more.
“We can just be importing the inputs and be manufacturing here in Kebbi.
“If we start the factory, within the first year to five years, we can employ from 250 to 1,000, as we are expanding.
“This is because we are not only going to be producing fertilisers for Nigeria alone but for other African countries,” Stevens said.
She hinted that the company has reduced the price of the 250g organic fertiliser from N5,500 per bag to N5,000, as approved by the government.
The reduction, she said, came after vigorous deliberations with the farmers’ association.
Earlier, the state Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Alhaji Abdullahi Shehu, said that the ministry had received a lot of complaints from farmers on alleged adulterated fertilisers in circulation.
“They bought the fertilisers at exorbitant prices without improved outputs.
“Now, the cost of the fertiliser is about N10,000 plus; and the suppliers told us that that is the cost of bringing it from Port Harcourt, in Rivers to Kebbi.
“We have received many complaints from the farmers that they used the adulterated fertilisers and no results,’’ Shehu said.
In his remarks, the Chairman of AFAN in the state, Alhaji Usman Dan-Gwandu, welcomed the company to the state and appealed for a reduction in the price of the commodity, to enable farmers to buy at an affordable rate.
NAN
– Jul. 13, 2020 @ 17:59 GMT |
Tags: U.S.-based fertiliser coy to establish African branch in Kebbi
