Present and potential role of fertilizer in meeting Nigeria"s food requirements

Less than one kilogram of actual nutrients is applied per hectare of land in crops; moreover, a high proportion of the fertilizer purchased is now used on export rather than food crops. In the early 1970"s, fertilizer added the equivalent of less than one half of one percent to the total supply of starchy-staples. Fertilizer use on food crops has been constrained in the past by such factors as the unavailability of fertilizer-responsive varieties, unfavorable price relationships, lack of credit, and deficiencies in the procurement and delivery system. Apparently, very few farmers of food found it profitable, at least until recently, to use fertilizer on food crops, except for lowland or swamp rice and improved maize. The unavailability of supplies locally when needed also has prevented many farmers from using more fertilizer.