The coming of advanced technology in agriculture is helping to meet the food needs of an ever-increasing world population. Although the population has been growing and available land for agriculture has been shrinking, intensive agriculture that involves heavy and continuous use of fertilizers has ensured high crop productivity.
The availability of water alone is not enough for the growth of plants. Because fertilizer is essential to increase yield and ensure healthy produce by supplying the right balance of nutrients to the soil. Nevertheless, the price of fertilizers increases across the world which affects the farming activities in a country like Ethiopia.
Ethiopian Shipping and Logistic Service Enterprises chief executive officer (CEO) Roba Megersa said that Ethiopia has been exporting soil fertilizers at a reasonable price. But currently, the Russia-Ukraine war and the world situations make it difficult to export soil fertilizer. The war increases the price of soil fertilizer by 50 percent and it is also expected to increase by two folds.
Ministry of Agriculture State Minister Professor Eyasu Elias added that due to various reasons created by the current situation, the price of soil fertilizer has significantly increased from its previous international price and caused supply problems.
In order to not reduce production and productivity and other related challenges in the coming years, it is important implementing sustainable soil management works which include replacing soil fertilizers with natural fertilizers, he explained.
Various studies indeed confirm that natural fertilizers are sustainable and environmentally friendly. Because some synthetic fertilizers runoff into our waterways harming marine life and water quality. Organic fertilizers do not run off as easily and are associated with soil structure. According to the Organic Trade Association, organic fertilizer also increases species biodiversity by 30 percent compared with synthetic fertilizer.
Besides, the preparations of organic fertilizers include animal wastes from meat processing, peat, and slurry. They are carbon-based compounds that increase the productivity and growth quality of plants. In many aspects, organic farming was the way of life as it is a method of farming. Soil nutrient depletion and likely degradation have been considered serious threats to agricultural productivity and have been identified as major causes of decreased crop yields and per capital food production. The positive effects organic farming has on the environment and quality of food, also greatly helps a farmer to become self-sufficient in their requirements for agro-inputs and reduce their costs.
Hence, it is important to produce organic fertilizers from available resources to supplement soil fertilizers. “All we need is to feed our crops with nutrients, for that reason, there are so many technologies and alternative options that would supplement soil fertilizer,” Professor Eyasu said.
Whatever resources the country should be efficiently utilized to supplement the insufficient resource that it has for fertilizer purchase. Stating the abundant resources for fertilizer production in Ethiopia and the significant price increase of fertilizer on the global market as well as the supply restrictions, the state minister underlined that the increasing price for importation cannot be sustained unless domestic production of fertilizer is started, according to him.
Taking the increasing price of fertilizers into account, the House of People’s Representatives Agriculture standing committee has suggested the concerned federal and regionals authorities find other means to replace soil fertilizers inside the country. Hence, various efforts are being made by the head of state and kebele, and experts to develop natural fertilizer as an alternative to soil fertilizer.
Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture Soil Fertility and Improvement Director Tefera Solomon said the increase in soil fertilizer prices in the world market could have a significant impact on the 2022/2023 crop year. This problem can be solved by replacing soil fertilizers with natural fertilizers. Hence, everyone is expected to do a lot of work to solve the problem, he said.
It is a fact that in the face of national and international security challenges, oil shortages, fertilizer supply problems and rising prices will be more challenging than ever to bring soil fertilizers to the country in a timely manner.
Therefore, natural fertilizer preparations are necessary to address the problem. Because lands, that have been using soil fertilizer for many years, could not give the anticipated production. As a result, there will be a severe shortage of production and productivity that will lead to famine and further hardship for our citizens. The next step is to develop a variety of natural fertilizers that will be available in the short, medium, and long term, he underlined.
Organic fertilizers are different from chemical fertilizers in that the materials were a by-product of vegetables, animals, or minerals. The decomposing matter from these sources, breakdown naturally and would provide nutrient and minerals to the soil. When considering lawn maintenance, it was necessary to make sure that the lawn or farmland gets the all of nutrients that are needed for healthy growth. Although nutrients were available in regular soil, fertilizers can provide and ensure that the plant had a balance and suitable access to nutrients, proper lawn care include providing for the health of the lawn and garden. So, working on organic or natural fertilizers provides various benefits.
According to Professor Eyasu Elias, “we can’t really sustain at this level of price escalation. The Ethiopian government should immediately start local domestic fertilizer production.” The government has discussed the issue of domestically producing fertilizer amid the significant increase in fertilizer price on the global market and the disruption of supply to Ethiopia.
The country has been recently facing a serious problem with fertilizer supply, he noted, adding that fertilizer supply is a problem for the very first reason that Ethiopia is a net importer of fertilizer and totally dependent on external suppliers. Therefore, domestic fertilizer production is crucially important to Ethiopia.
Accordingly, the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture urged the concerned bodies and researchers to think of alternative sources of inputs and nutrients that would supplement fertilizer and help in enlightening the application of domestic resources. Preparing natural or organic fertilizers is not a new practice in Ethiopia because farmers are used to it for centuries. Organic fertilizers could be sourced from peat, animal wastes (often from slaughterhouses), and plant wastes from agriculture and sewage sludge.
Searching for alternative ways to replace soil fertilizers with natural fertilizers is imperative since the price of soil fertilizers universally increases and affects Ethiopia. But advising and saying implementing alternative mechanisms to replace soil fertilizer with natural fertilizer is not enough. It needs support from federal and regional leaders, experts, and professionals at all levels to use natural fertilizer to increase agricultural productivity. Besides, the preparation of natural fertilizers must be of high quality and quantity to prevent the shortage of fertilizers supply and increase production and productivity.
BY EPHREM ANDARAGCHEW
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 24 APRIL 2022
