The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development issued a warning to fertilizer suppliers who the ministry has observed to be selling.

The ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Hamilton Chimala said that the ministry’s scientists noted a Zinc deficiency in soils, which has been attributed to fertilizers that lack Zinc. The ministry has warned against a supplier who redeem FISP coupons and giving smallholder farmers a different formulation of NPK fertilizer to be retailed on FISP as per the signed contracts. 

Apart from soil, weather and pest constraints, farmers have debated on which fertilizer to use, noting that there has been an influx of new fertilizers available on the market since 2010. Some farmers have cried fowl on fertilizer choice while other celebrate bumper harvests, attributing that to fertilizers.