Minjingu to double fertiliser production

By BERNARD LUGONGO

MINJINGU Mines & Fertiliser Ltd will double its fertiliser production from its current capacity of 150,000 tonnes, capitalising on President John Magufuli’s statement disapproving government procurement of imported fertilisers for local farmers.

The company’s Managing Director, Tosky Hans, told the ‘Daily News’ in an exclusive interview that they were in the process of doubling the current production capacity, to meet government supply of the subsidised inputs to farmers.
The government is currently implementing an initiative of buying and distributing subsidised fertilisers to farmers in an effort to boost agricultural production in the country. When receiving the 2016/17 CAG report recently, President Magufuli insisted on purchasing Minjingu fertilisers under the government programme to supply subsidised farm inputs.
Dr Magufuli said he knew about plans to import fertilisers and rejecting Minjingu fertiliser. The President hinted that he was aware that some unscrupulous individuals were engineering the importation of fertilisers while Minjingu fertiliser is sold in other countries.
“These individuals are claiming that farmers don’t need Minjingu fertiliser, while the contents are the same as those contained in the imported fertilisers,” he wondered. Above it, the locally made fertilisers are cheaper than imported ones, he said.
“We must meet our target by looking for cheap fertilisers for the benefit of the farmer,” he emphasized. Mr Hans assured that the industry would provide the required fertilisers at the best pricand on timely basis.
“We highly appreciate and are encouraged by the statement of His Excellency President Dr John Magufuli on the use of our Minjingu products, instead of imported fertilisers,” he said, adding that Minjingu will be a catalyst for bringing around the green revolution by increasing the use of fertilisers to boost yields for subsistence farmers.
“We once again assure that Minjingu products are of good quality, well accepted and shown good results in neighbouring countries – namely Kenya and Uganda,” he insisted. He explained that the usage of fertiliser in the country is currently 10-12kgs per hectare instead of the required 50kgs per hectare as per Abuja declaration, to reduce agriculture poverty by increasing yields.
The country’s annual demand of the agricultural input now stands at 350,000 tonnes. The company is based in Babati District – Manyara Region where it mines phosphate and produces fertilisers of different types using its organic phosphate resources.
Among other products, it produces Minjingu NAFAKA+ – planting fertiliser (NPKs+), Minjingu Top Dressing – Booster (NPCao), Minjingu Tobacco – Planting fertiliser (NPKs+) and Minjingu Organic Hyper Phosphate– (MOHP). The products are being applied for both sowing and dressing.
He dismissed claims that Minjingu fertiliser was not suitable for use in some areas such as Mbozi in Songwe Region due to the nature of the soil, arguing that the claims were a deliberate move to discredit their products so that they don’t enter the local market. Research by Uyole Agricultural Institute proved that the product worked quite well in the Mbozi area.