Strengthen laws on fertiliser – ZARI

THE Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) says there is need to reinforce regulation of fertiliser in the country to enhance value chain in the agriculture sector.
ZARI director Moses Mwale said the regulation of the commodity will reduce the influx of counterfeit fertiliser on the local market.
“There is need to strengthen regulation of fertiliser in the country to promote value chain in the agriculture sector by recognising and working with local manufacturing companies that are mainly affected by the influx of counterfeit fertiliser on the market,” he said.
Mr Mwale said this at a two-day dissemination workshop on fertiliser project and fertiliser technical committee meeting organised by the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) and ZARI in Lusaka recently.
Recently, there has been an influx of counterfeit fertiliser on the market, which could have an adverse effect on the development of the agriculture sector.
He said there is also need to enhance border survey check-ups to prevent smuggling of sub-standard fertiliser into the country.
“We need to strengthen inspection at border posts to prevent the smuggling in of counterfeit fertiliser that is not only hindering trade practices in the country, but it is also affecting the growth of the agriculture sector,” he said.
Mr Mwale said inspection at market levels is also vital, as this will help bring the culprits to book.
He said, “Some of the counterfeit fertiliser found on the market is not correctly packaged, and that some of it has got wrong labeling, hence misleading the farmers buying the commodity.”