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Soil Scientist Cautions Farmers On Chemical Fertiliser Usage
A soil scientist with the National Centre for Remote Sensing in Kano, Dr Ibrahim Yakubu, has advised against the indiscriminate use of chemical fertiliser on farm lands.
Yakubu, who gave the advice in an interview with newsmen last Thursday in Kano, said that it was necessary to test the texture and condition of the soil before applying chemical fertilisers to it.
“The failure to test and determine the condition of the soil makes it difficult to ascertain the quantity of the chemical fertiliser to apply, thereby leading to what he called “blind application’’, he said.
Yakubu likened the application of chemical fertiliser to farm land to the treatment of a patient without proper diagnosis and prescription.
The soil scientist explained that the corrosive nature of the various chemical fertilisers could have disastrous effects on soil fertility when applied in excess.
To butress his point, Yakubu cited the example of beans production which, he said, does not require nitrogen, the main component of both NPK and Urea fertilisers.
He, therefore, advised farmers to always take precaution and consult experts to determine the quantity of fertiliser to apply to their farms.
Our correspondent reports that chemical fertilisers especially NPK and urea, are very popular farm inputs among farmers who scramble for it and apply the input indiscriminately.