BY MUSSA MUHAMMED
Soil fertility has a key role in improving agricultural productivity in an agriculture-based economy and environmental protection as a whole. The success of most of the development aspirations of Ethiopia such as the green legacy campaign, food security, climate change prevention and improving agricultural productivity is also reliant on the works to improve soil fertility.
Concerned government organizations such as the Ministry of Agriculture, regional state governments and non-governmental organizations and the likes have been investing in and providing financial and other resources as well as technical support to improve soil fertility. This will have significant implications for the success of the overall development aspirations of the country as it is directly related to the climate-resilient economic strategy and agricultural productivity.
In this regard, encouraging activities have been undertaken in Oromia regional state in treating farms that have a large amount of lime in the soil. The soil treatment in agricultural lands has brought about a significant change in improving soil fertility, hence agricultural productivity.
Treating soil from the effects lime has brought about change in increasing farmers’ agricultural production as they are now managed to plough land which was previously uncultivable, as to the regional agriculture bureau.
To support production and productivity, applying manmade soil fertilizer is one way of treating the soil. For this reason, the government has been distributing fertilizer to farmers to treat the soil prior to the start of the rainy season.
The government tries to come up with context-specific solutions prior to the start of the production season every year. Besides the locally produced fertilizer, the government has signed a contract with a foreign company to supply modern fertilizer to the farmers at the right time. The importation process has already begun for the 2021 production season, announced the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to the Ministry, in collaboration with the Ethiopian Shipping, and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE), the agricultural inputs necessary to improve productivity and improve soil fertility will be available in the hands of development agents in different parts of the country.
Sani Redi, State Minister of Natural Resources at the Ministry said importing the fertilizer earlier than the start of agricultural production season minimizes the time it takes to distribute the inputs to the farmers and enable the country to meet to production targets for this year. That is why the ministry signed a contract with well-experienced transportation agents in Djibouti to handle the matter. It is expected that the task will be finalized soon.
Siraj Abdullahi, acting deputy chief executive of the goods in transit forwarding service, signed the agreement on behalf of ESLSE. The signed agreement is also stated that the convention includes the putting in place of vehicles provided by ESLSE.
Accordingly, the importation process for the 2021 fiscal year agricultural production has already begun. As per the agreement, the transportation company known as SDTV is already facilitating the process, as to The Ethiopian Shipping, and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE).
Following the signed agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture to transport the fertilizer from the port to the domestic destinations for the 2021 production season, ESLSE is carrying out the necessary preparations to deliver the fertilizer to the local distribution centers on time.
All in all, Ethiopia has planned to import 1.8 million metric-tons of soil fertilizers for the 2021 fiscal year agriculture activities said Roba Magersa, CEO of the ESLSE.
Out of the plan 1.8 million metric tons of fertilizer to be shipped this year, 660,000 metric-tons will be handled at the SDTV terminal and the remaining 1.14 metric tons of fertilizer will be handled at Doraleh Multipurpose Port (DMP). From this amount, 50 thousand metric-tons will arrive via the MV Global Brave Boat from Egypt Adabay station. The remaining amount of fertilizer will also arrive earlier as per the signed agreement with agents and this will enable the farmers to access the fertilizer earlier.
In the same token, for the previous farming season, the ESLSE has announced that during the 2020 budget year, some 1.45 million metric-tons of fertilizers were distributed to farmers as per the plan. The fertilizers play a key role in boosting agricultural production and in meeting the target for the budget year.
The Ethiopian Herald February 11/2021
