Enhancing inorganic fertilizer use in Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

For the period covering 1990 to 2011, more than USD 9 million was spent per day to import food in Nigeria. In the face of dwindling foreign reserve, and the population of Nigeria projected to be 400 million by 2050 this expenditure is not sustainable. The challenge of feeding this number of people is enormous but is achievable if the full agricultural potential of each state in the country is attained. The desired increase in crop yield is possible through sustained efforts towards increasing crop output per hectare rather than bringing more arable land into cultivation. Increased and more efficient fertilizer use hold the key to increase in crop yield per hectare, but there are limitations. This work, therefore, attempts a review of constraints to fertilizer use in Imo state including: high cost and unavailability of fertilizers; profitability of fertilizer use; lack of soil test; dependence on unpredictable rainfall due to climate change; traditional cropping system; tillage practices; and available fertilizer blends among others. A more efficient fertilizer use requires site-specific fertilizer recommendation. This will be facilitated by establishment of standard soil testing laboratories across the agricultural zones for easy access to farmers in addition to the use of appropriate soil test kits. It may also be necessary to have fertilizers packaged in quantities less than 50 kg bags which may be more affordable to farmers considering their small farm holdings. While irrigation should be used to augment rainfall, efficiency of fertilizer use can be improved by the use slowand controlled-release fertilizers in order to counteract fertilizer nutrient losses through leaching, volatilization and the consequent debilitating effect in the environment.

Keywords: fertilizer use, Imo State, soil test, cropping system, irrigation, rain fed