MPs excited with organo-mineral fertilizer trials, pledge to lobby for its approval

Members of Parliament (MPs) under the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Science and Technology have expressed satisfaction with the efficacy of the organo-mineral fertilizer currently being tested in Lilongwe, Salima and Dedza districts.

Climate change and skyrocketing prices of chemical are raising fears of a global food crisis. Thus, through the Science and Technology Fund, the National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST) in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) developed a research project whose main goal is to address fertilizer needs of Malawian farmers.

The Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) was tasked to conduct the study on organo-mineraal fertilizers, which may become an alternative to chemical fertilizers.

Speaking after touring a garden where the trials are being conducted at Chitala Research Station in Salima on Friday, the Committee chairperson, Brainax Kaise, said they were impressed with the results, adding that the study offers hope for reduction in fertilizer prices.

“Having visited this trial site as education committee, we are very much impressed, and that is the way to go. There are a number of things that we have been impressed with. We are making our new research on organo-mineral fertilizer, which is very commendable. It will be the first of its kind in Malawi. That is one important impression that the education committee has taken,” said Kaise who is also lawmaker for Nkhotakota South Constituency.

But the chairperson expressed worry with the bureaucracy in the government system, warning any delays to approve the fertilizer will negatively affect food production in Malawi.

“We, Malawians, like to delay things so much. We have so many research that have been done in our institutions, but up to now, they have not been implemented. There are other people who sit on them. But the impact of this research, I’ve seen, it has got a lot of impact, a positive impact to the Malawians, as you all can see, it can reduce forex drains in Malawi,” he said.

However, Kaise assured that the legislators will closely work with NCST and LUANAR to ensure the project achieves its goals.

He said organo-mineral fertilizers have many benefits such as improving soil fertility ands well as increasing agricultural production.

“At the same time, Malawians will have the right type of fertilizer because it will be manufactured according to climatic conditions of Malawi, soil conditions of Malawi, and so many conditions that would be so it will be very important that if this fertilizer would have very positive impact on Malawi, it would be easy to access. It will not take a number of months to be in Malawi because it will be manufactured in Malawi, and again, this will help in creating employment,” he said.

Kaise pledged to lobby for enough funds to NCST so that it can continue innovating for a better Malawi.

In her remarks, NCST Director General Gift Kadzamira said the Commission realizes that as climate change continues to wreak havoc and the cost of chemical fertilizers rising on a daily basis, there is a need for proactive innovations in fertilizer research to maintain soil fertility.

Kadzamira said their desire to see the country producing fertilizer that is readily accessible and affordable to the farmer.

“We went around asking what the challenges for the Malawian population was, and that time, the challenge was a fertilizer. So we decided to come up with a fertilizer that would be cheap, that would be available, and maybe when producing that fertilizer, use locally available materials. So we are now working with researchers from LUANAR to develop that fertilizer,” she said.

“We started that in 2022 so we started the research with LUANAR in last year, and then we are expecting that maybe at by September, we should have a granularized fertilizer. Right now, the fertilizer that has been produced is in powdered form, but it needs to go to another step, where it’s in a granular form, and that could be used by our local farmers, if successful,” added Kadzamira.

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