A world leader in phosphate-based fertilizer production and exportation, OCP Africa, partners with the Nigerian Institute of Soil Science (NISS) on a capacity-building initiative towards the enhancement of soil nutrients to increase the productivity of farmers.
In the collaborative agreement, OCP Africa is responsible for the financial aspect while NISS offers the technical support required for the project.
The project will ensure farmers increase their yields per hectare and impacting their livelihood positively as they get further knowledge on how to manage their soil, therefore, improving soil nutrient.
The country manager, OCP Africa Fertilizers Nigeria, Caleb Usoh, during the inauguration of OCP Africa, NISS workshop called, “Disseminating Innovative Technologies for Managing Problematic Soils in Nigeria” said low yield per hectare experienced by farmers in Nigeria is linked to poor soil conditions, and it hopes to resolve the situation.
“Problematic soils come in one or two of acidic or alkaline or saline soils. They are soils in which the plant root system does not grow normally due to toxic hydrogen ions; permeability of plant membranes is adversely affected due to low soil pH, and enzyme actions may be altered since they are sensitive to pH fluctuations,” he said.
‘’They are soils in which Aluminum (Al), Manganese (Mn), and Iron (Fe) are available in toxic quantities. In problematic soils, phosphorous gets immobilized, which reduces its availability, and the activities of beneficial organisms like Azotobacter and nodule forming bacteria of legumes are adversely affected as acidity increases,’’ he further said.
Usoh, represented by the technical and production manager, Oluwatobi Asana, said, crop productivity will increase if the poor soils are managed well which can be achieved through soil addition of soil amendments to resolve the differences or by manipulating the agronomic practices based on the edaphic and climatic conditions.
He calls for a multidimensional approach – nutrition, agronomy, pedology, and breeding – as needed to breed specialized root system types that tally with the most urgent constraints of various locations; especially N deficiency, P deficiency, and aluminum toxicity.
He further stated that the event is to show the commitment of OCP Africa towards the development of the country’s agricultural ecosystem because using the right fertilizer on the soil will have an effect on the yield expectation during harvest, and this is an aspect majority of farmers are not conversant with, specifically those in the rural farming areas.
Usoh said their collective responsibility is to manage soils to ensure their sustainability for future generations, and this is the best time to start the challenge. He, then calls on all stakeholders in agriculture like the donor and developmental agencies governments, farmers, and the farming community to support the project as it needs the collaborative efforts of all of them to succeed.
‘’This project aligns with numerous other OCP Africa farmer-centric projects aimed at bringing precision to the practice of agriculture in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Some of our farmer-centric projects include OCP School Lab (OSL), soil survey and specialty fertilizer development, digital soil map, and enhancing distribution of farm input to underserved farming communities through our farm & fortune hubs across the country,’’ he added.
Uson added that “The projects match the numerous other farmer-centric projects launched by OCP Africa aimed at integrating precision to the agricultural practices in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Some of our farmer-centric projects include soil survey and specialty fertilizer development, OCP School Lab (OSL), digital soil map and enhancing distribution of farm input to underserved farming communities through our farm & fortune hubs throughout the country”.
The registrar of NISS, Prof. Victor Chude stated that the project aims to tackle the poor soils in Nigeria and improve their productivity.
We are targeting acidic soils, alkaline soils, and saline soils, there are other poor soils like soils with very thick laterite soil, because crops find it to penetrate such soils.
“But the major problem soils which is the acidic soil, cover about 75 percent of the country, then the alkaline soils, they don’t support soils. The implication is farmers facing these limitations suffer from making good yields,” he added.
The permanent secretary of, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Ernest Umakhihe stated that the proposed project focuses on the correction of poor soils for disseminating technologies.
He said there is undisputed evidence that the country has a massive area of land with less productive soils or have very low productivity.
In the collaborative agreement, OCP Africa is responsible for the financial aspect while NISS offers the technical support required for the project.
The project will ensure farmers increase their yields per hectare and impacting their livelihood positively as they get further knowledge on how to manage their soil.
The country manager, OCP Africa Fertilizers Nigeria, Caleb Usoh, during the inauguration of OCP Africa, NISS workshop called, “Disseminating Innovative Technologies for Managing Problematic Soils in Nigeria” said low yield per hectare experienced by farmers in Nigeria is linked to poor soil conditions, and it hopes to resolve the situation.
“Problematic soils come in one or two of acidic or alkaline or saline soils. They are soils in which the plant root system does not grow normally due to toxic hydrogen ions; permeability of plant membranes is adversely affected due to low soil pH, and enzyme actions may be altered since they are sensitive to pH fluctuations,” he said.
‘’They are soils in which Aluminum (Al), Manganese (Mn), and Iron (Fe) are available in toxic quantities. In problematic soils, phosphorous gets immobilized, which reduces its availability, and the activities of beneficial organisms like Azotobacter and nodule forming bacteria of legumes are adversely affected as acidity increases,’’ he further said.
Usoh, represented by the technical and production manager, Oluwatobi Asana, said, crop productivity will increase if the poor soils are managed well which can be achieved through soil addition of soil amendments to resolve the differences or by manipulating the agronomic practices based on the edaphic and climatic conditions.
He calls for a multidimensional approach – nutrition, agronomy, pedology, and breeding – as needed to breed specialized root system types that tally with the most urgent constraints of various locations; especially N deficiency, P deficiency, and aluminum toxicity.
He further stated that the event is to show the commitment of OCP Africa towards the development of the country’s agricultural ecosystem because using the right fertilizer on the soil will have an effect on the yield expectation during harvest, and this is an aspect majority of farmers are not conversant with, specifically those in the rural farming areas.
Usoh said their collective responsibility is to manage soils to ensure their sustainability for future generations, and this is the best time to start the challenge. He, then calls on all stakeholders in agriculture like the donor and developmental agencies governments, farmers, and the farming community to support the project as it needs the collaborative efforts of all of them to succeed.
‘’This project aligns with numerous other OCP Africa farmer-centric projects aimed at bringing precision to the practice of agriculture in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Some of our farmer-centric projects include OCP School Lab (OSL), soil survey and specialty fertilizer development, digital soil map, and enhancing distribution of farm input to underserved farming communities through our farm & fortune hubs across the country,’’ he added.
Uson added that “The projects match the numerous other farmer-centric projects launched by OCP Africa aimed at integrating precision to the agricultural practices in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Some of our farmer-centric projects include soil survey and specialty fertilizer development, OCP School Lab (OSL), digital soil map and enhancing distribution of farm input to underserved farming communities through our farm & fortune hubs throughout the country”.
The registrar of NISS, Prof. Victor Chude stated that the project aims to tackle the poor soils in Nigeria and improve their productivity.
We are targeting acidic soils, alkaline soils, and saline soils, there are other poor soils like soils with very thick laterite soil, because crops find it to penetrate such soils.
“But the major problem soils which is the acidic soil, cover about 75 percent of the country, then the alkaline soils, they don’t support soils. The implication is farmers facing these limitations suffer from making good yields,” he added.
The permanent secretary of, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Ernest Umakhihe stated that the proposed project focuses on the correction of poor soils for disseminating technologies.
He said there is undisputed evidence that the country has a massive area of land with less productive soils or have very low productivity.
