The Federal Government plans to slash the price of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK) fertiliser to N5, 000 per bag to encourage farmers to boost agricultural production in the country.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, who made this known to newsmen in Abuja, said the plan is to make food production easier and enhance profit for farmers in the country.

The minister said the government would take delivery of the first shipment of 800, 000 tonnes of NPK fertiliser from Morocco by January 27.

According to him, government wants the blending to take place everywhere in the country so that farmers can have access to fertiliser at the lowest possible cost.

A bag of NPK costs between N7, 500 and N9, 000 in the open market. But with the first shipment of phosphate from Morocco expected to arrive today in Lagos and then the blending done here, Ogbe said: “We are bringing the price of fertiliser to N5, 000 per bag.”

He explained that the government wants to ensure that every blender in the country who has the capacity will blend. “If we can bring the prices of fertiliser to N5, 000 per bag, food production will become easier and farmers will enhance their profit,” the Minister said.

He said this was why the King of Morocco (Mohammed VI) came to Nigeria and the reason why President Muhammadu Buhari visited Morocco. “The target we have is about 800,000 tonnes of fertiliser per annum from Morocco, but the problem we have is that we do not only satisfy Nigerians, our neighbours always come in and take a bit,” Ogbe said.

While noting that Nigeria cannot deny her neighbours entirely, he said “we have to satisfy ourselves first.’’

It would be recalled that indigenous conglomerate Dangote Group and the OCP Group of Morocco had in December 2016 signed an agreement to import more than two million tonnes of customised fertiliser into Nigeria.

The agreement was meant to boost fertiliser production and businesses in the country within the next three years.

The OCP Group is said to be a global leader in the phosphate and phosphate derivatives market.