AfriPulse
The 2025 Wet Season Agricultural Performance Survey (APS) released yesterday in Abuja has identified swelling supply of substandard NPK fertilizer products in the market.
The survey was conducted across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) by the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), in collaboration with 22 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), research institutes and development partners.
Presenting the report yesterday, the Executive Director, NAERLS, Prof. Yusuf Sani Ahmad, said smallholder farmers were confronted with high cost and surging supply of substandard NPK and organic fertiliser brands offering far less value for money to vulnerable farmers.
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Prof Ahmad warned that if nothing is done to tame the deadly trends, production of many crops will dwindle.
The executive director also spoke on many aspects of the report, which include mechanisation available to farmers, commodity price index, floods and climate impacts, as well as crop pests and diseases.
WAEC’s new subject combination is confusion masquerading as reform Trump predicts end of Gaza war as Israel marks Oct 7 anniversary “A total of 19,358.5 hectares of farmland were affected by crop pests and diseases during the 2025 wet season, with estimated yield losses of about 22.5% (within the affected farmland),” he said.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, while reacting to the report, said that the 2025 APS findings present both encouraging progress and critical challenges.
On a positive note, he said the report confirms steady growth in the production of major staples—rice, maize, sorghum, millet, cowpea, yam, and cassava—all of which show increases over 2024 levels.
“This progress, coupled with a significant drop in food prices across all zones, is a clear reflection of improved supply conditions and the cumulative effect of our ongoing interventions in input support, extension delivery, and mechanisation.
“However, the report also highlights persistent challenges. Rising input costs, particularly for fertilizer and fuel, continue to limit productivity among smallholders. Mechanization coverage, though improving, remains uneven, and postharvest losses, especially in the South-West and North-Central zones, pose serious threats to food availability and farmer incomes,” he said.
Source: DailyTrust | Read the Full Story…
