Posted by By Bekai Njie
The National Food Security Processing and Cooperation (NFSC) on Thursday in Banjul, received about 21, 340 bags of NPK fertilizers from Vietnam. The fertilizers were donated by the Islamic Trade Finance Cooperation (ITFC), a private window of the Islamic Development Bank that focuses on commercial transactions in various parts of the world.
The NFSC is the body that replaced The Gambia Groundnut Cooperation (GGC) and the main purpose for the purchase of these fertilizers is to provide farmers with quality input at a subsidized price as they approach the rainy season; thus it will enrich the soil to enable a productive harvest for the farmers.
Anthony G. Carvalho, the managing director of NFSC said the 7500 metric tons of fertilizers comprise two types of compound fertilizers which are NPK 15:15:15:4 and NPK 6:20:10 and are worthD182,100,000. He added that the fertilizers are intended to be sold to the farmers at a subsidized price by the government.
He said they have received the first consignment, noting that more is expected to arrive in the coming days. The fertilizers, he added, will be examined by SGS –a Canadian based organisation responsible for assessing the quality of fertilizers after which distribution will commence; targeting key areas such as Basse South, Bansang, Kudang, Kuntaur, Kaur, Kerewan, Barra and Sarro. “The distribution will cover the length and breadth of the country and farmers are to access these fertilizers through the cooperative societies.”