Ghana's largest fertilizer plant will be commissioned in June

Company News of Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Source: Agrihouse Foundation

2019-06-04

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) and the secretariat of One District One Factory (1D1F) have given the green light for the commissioning of the largest fertilizer blending plant in Ghana planned for next month in Suhum, in the eastern region.

The construction of the facility – the Glofert blending plant, cost around 1.7 million euros and its total production capacity can reach 120 tons per hour (2,400 tons per day) nearly 900,000 tonnes a year.

Its implementation is crucial because the majority of smallholder farmers in the country have performance problems and, as a result, most of the crops they produce have a yield deficit greater than 50% of what they could produce. This is attributed mainly to poor agronomic practices and a poor application of fertilizer, among other factors.

The establishment of this new facility – which is also one of the largest in the West African subregion – will be instructively instrumental in significantly reducing the yield gap by 50% and increasing production.

The facility is also expected to complement the government's flagship initiative – the Plant for Food and Employment (PFJ) program – and substantially reduce fertilizer imports.

According to the UN COMTRADE database on international trade, fertilizer imports from Ghana in 2017 amounted to US $ 210.71 million, with volumes increasing to 444,236 metric tons against 239,883 metric tonnes in 2016, an increase of 85%. The considerable increase was caused by the implementation of new agricultural policies, including the PFJ program as well as the usual fertilizer subsidy programs in the sector.

S addressing Ghanaweb on the site of the Suhum plant at an international workshop on providing balanced nutrition to small farmers, Glofert Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Blending Plant, Mr Foster Benson, said the company would offer a tailored nutrient solution to farmers who cultivate different types of crops and complement the government's efforts under the 1D1F initiative.

"During full-time production, nearly 220 people work here. This is the essence of 1D1F. It's a good initiative and that's why we support the program while supporting farmers and the PFJ, "Benson said.

It is a state-of-the-art, unique, state-of-the-art mixing system consisting of five large hoppers and three smaller hoppers for secondary and trace elements. completed last year in November.

Its main mixed products include nitrogen, phosphorus and potbadium (NPK) for rice, millet, maize, sorghum, cotton and others.

The facility was chosen by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) – the world's fertilizer regulator – to organize its field visit in 2019.

The purpose of the trip was to help participants to provide smallholders with balanced crop nutrition and learn how to better produce fertilizer for optimal production.

Ghana has moved from cover fertilizer to balanced fertilizer. This implies that farmers should use different types of fertilizer depending on the crop, which requires a process to know what is in the soil and what are the needs of the crop.

"Such a blending plant will produce exactly the fertilizer required by the crop," said Patrice Annequin, leader of the IFDC group.