Regulator: Why fertiliser prices will drop next farming season

Dar es Salaam. Fertiliser prices are expected to decrease significantly in the next farming season, according to the Tanzania Fertiliser Regulatory Authority (TFRA).

The authority said this yesterday during a press conference to announce commencement of farmers’ registration and updating of information for provision of subsidised fertiliser in the 2023/24 season.

The government started providing fertiliser subsidy in the 2022/23 season to control spiralling prices blamed on low domestic production and high global prices.

The Sixth Phase government is convinced that provision of subsidised fertiliser will increase agricultural efficiency and ensure food security and raw materials accessibility for industrial production.

During the programme’s implementation, farmers paid Sh70,000 for a 50-kilogramme bag of DAP instead of Sh131,676 and Sh70,000 for a 50kg bag of urea instead of Sh124,734.

Also, they paid Sh70,000 for a 50kg bag of NPK instead of Sh122,695 and Sh50,000 for a 50kg bag of SA instead of Sh82,852.

TFRA executive director Stephen Ngailo said there was a high probability of prices falling significantly next season.

“We are witnessing a promising trend following an increase in domestic fertiliser production that reached 71,000 tonnes as of March 2023. There is a real possibility that local production will cross 100,000 tonnes at the end of the current financial year.

“Coupled with ongoing global trends, there are hopes that fertiliser retail prices will go down in the coming season,” Dr Ngailo said.

He added that the provision of subsidised fertiliser would continue until the 2024/25 season.

Dr Ngailo said Dodoma-based Itracom Fertiliser Company Limited was increasing its production capacity, which is expected to reach its maximum by the end of 2024.

He said by March 2023, the company had produced and distributed 11,000 tonnes of fertiliser.

Fertiliser demand in Tanzania is expected to increase by over 32,000 tonnes in the 2023/24 season to 700,000 tonnes compared to last season’s 667,730 tonnes.

Dr Ngailo said despite the fact that only 363,569 tonnes of fertiliser were used by farmers as of March 2023, over 819,442 tonnes were made available.

According to him, over 280,000 tonnes of fertiliser were still in stock and would be carried forward to the 2023/24 season.

He said Ruvuma, Mbeya, Njombe, Songwe and Iringa were the five biggest recipients of subsidised fertiliser in the 2022/23 season.

Dr Ngailo said farmers’ registration season would be used to address challenges that were apparent in the 2022/23 season, including failure to reach farmers in peripheral regions, reducing walking distances in search of subsidised fertiliser and eliminating deceit.

“We are therefore calling upon farmers in different parts of the country to turn up in large numbers for registration and updating their information. Through extension officers, farmers should provide the actual sizes of their farms and get approval from leaders of local government authorities.

“Every farmer will be given a number that will enable him or her to access subsidised fertiliser. They will only be required to use the fertiliser for application in their respective farms,” Dr Ngailo added.

In order to address the challenge of poor fertiliser distribution recorded in the 2022/23 season, Dr Ngailo said TFRA has planned to make better use of the Tanzania Fertiliser Company Limited (TFC) in the 2023/24 season.

He said cooperative unions will be identified in different regions and districts that will ultimately be engaged in the fertilizers distribution processes and that fertilizer sale points would be increased.

“We are also going to identify warehouses owned by the government and cooperative unions. They will be registered as new fertilizer sale points. We will also act tough against incidents of theft and deceit.”

Furthermore, Dr Ngailo said the authority was finalising the preparation of a map showing fertiliser distribution networks countrywide and taking pre-requisite measures against places lacking fertiliser traders.

“The government’s target is to register seven million farmers by 2025. Therefore, farmers should effectively and actively engage in the registration process,” he said.

“Fertiliser importers and traders should start preparations that will ensure that fertiliser is available everywhere in the country reaching July 1, 2023,” he added.

Fertiliser subsidy committee chairman Louis Kasera emphasized farmers need to provide genuine information during the registration process, warning that the digital platform used is powerful enough to identify any cheating.

“Through the system, farmers, agro-dealers and importers will easily be reached and they will be dealt with accordingly,” he warned.