Increase the efficiency of your crop production by Maksim Poltoradnev
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f we consider fertilisers in African crop production, they are the second most important factor after water. This is not surprising, since the soils of many regions are poor in organic material and/or consist of an insufficient nutrient composition. Therefore, these soils cannot fully provide plants with necessary nutrients in a quantity sufficient for healthy development and high productivity. The consumption of fertiliser in SubSaharan countries remains the lowest in the world today. The most striking example is the comparison of total imports of nitrogenous and potash fertiliser in Africa and Latin America. All 55 African countries import about 2,6 million tonnes of urea and 1,3 million tonnes of potassium chloride per year, compared to the 33 Latin American countries who import 10,2 million tonnes and 12 million tonnes per year, respectively. On average, an
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African farmer applies about 16 kg of fertiliser per hectare. For comparison, in South Africa, which is characterised by the most developed agriculture in the region, this figure is about 60 kg/ ha, in the USA it is 140 kg/ha and in Germany, it is 190 kg/ha. What is the reason for low consumption of fertiliser in African countries? Like agriculture in general, the problem is complex. The set of reasons can be divided into two large groups, namely those caused by external factors and those caused by human factors. The farmers name lack of access to educational and advisory services, limited funds, supplier distrust, lack of a market for finished produce and low commodity prices, as being major discouragements to investment in fertiliser. Equally important is access to reference information, professional agronomist advice and training programmes.
In Africa, the official distributor, United Fertilizer Company Limited (UFCL), exclusively represents the interests and products of URALCHEM and Uralkali. UFCL positioned themselves not only as supplier of fertiliser, but also as a versatile partner that you can count on, with whom you can effectively do business, build long-term relationships, and with whom any product that is new to the market can be promoted along the supply chain. They actively communicate with all players in the agricultural market, including importers and distributors, producers of seeds and crop protection companies, research, non-profit organisations, and, of course, farmers. The UFCL marketers, along with the commercial team, are directly involved in discussions on ways to increase the efficiency of agricultural production. They share developments in the field of balanced plant nutrition, one of the prerequisites in achieving high quality and quantity yields, using their rich positive experience in Africa and other regions of the world like Southeast Asia, China, India, Latin America, and Europe. More information on field tests is coming up in next issues and on their website, www.ufertilizers.com.
ProAgri 249 – November 2020
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United Fertilizers:
