Fertiliser industry stuck with 300 000t
Tuesday, 25 October 2011 00:00
Elita Chikwati Agriculture Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S fertiliser industry is reportedly stuck with 300 000 tonnes of
the commodity as farmers do not have money to buy.
Many farmers are preparing for the summer cropping season, but there has not
been any meaningful change in the uptake of fertiliser.
Fertiliser sales peak as the farming season draws near but this time this
has not been the situation on the ground.
Fertiliser industry representative, Mr Herbert Chakanyuka, said farmers were
failing to buy fertiliser because they did not have money.
“The Government through its various input schemes has become our sole
customer. Besides Government, there is no significant moving of stocks of
fertilisers,” he said.
Mr Chakanyuka said the industry used to export excess fertiliser to Zambia
and Malawi.
“Malawi used to be the major buyer but that country’s budget is donor funded
and this year they do not have funds to buy the fertilisers,” he said.
He said the industry could only make profits if the fertiliser was sold in
huge volumes.
Mr Chakanyuka said fertiliser companies have credit schemes for trusted
farmers. However, these farmers need bank guarantees for them to benefit
from the scheme.
Depending with the soils, a local farmer requires between 300 to 350
kilogrammes (six to seven bags) of compound D fertilisers per hectare and
250kg to 300kgs (five to six bags) of ammonium nitrate, which cost US$416 at
most to grow maize.
A 50-kg bag of fertiliser costs between US$28 and US$32.
Regional prices of fertiliser range between US$850 to US$900 per tonne
although the fertiliser compounds are different from the local ones.
Windmill chief executive, Mr George Rundogo, said in a normal situation the
country required 560 000 tonnes of fertilisers per year. “We cannot talk of
shortages at the moment as we are stuck with the available stock. Last year,
we faced the same situation and we had to carry over the stocks to the
following year,” he said.
Mr Rundogo said fertiliser prices in the region were difficult to compare,
as the fertiliser components were different. Most local farmers are failing
to buy fertilisers since the introduction of the use of multiple currencies
in the economy and now heavily depend on input schemes.
Some farmers have, however, blamed the Grain Marketing Board for failing to
pay them their money for the grain delivered on time. GMB takes long to pay
farmers as it receives money from Treasury, which only releases the funds
for grain already delivered.