BAUCHI – An agriculturalist, Mr Adamu Gar, has urged farmers to use more of organic fertiliser in order to produce healthy crops for human consumption.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Wednesday that the measure would check harmful chemicals usually associated with the use of chemical fertilisers.
Gar, who is also a managing partner of an agricultural consulting firm, “Byally Associate Nig. Ltd.’’, said the use of organic fertiliser would also add value to agricultural production, and increase income.
According to him, crops produced using chemical fertiliser are usually contaminated by chemicals that are harmful to human body, while crops produced using organic fertiliser prevents diseases.
He blamed the rising cases of diabetes, hypertension and glaucoma, among others, to the high consumption of chemically-contaminated crops
“Whenever you grow any crop under organic system, it will be free of any chemical contamination and it will be good for human health.
“If you grow maize and give the maize fertiliser, spread herbicides, that concentration of herbicides must be present in the seeds of the maize.
“Whenever you take it, you would have the concentration of this chemical there, so it will have effect in our body.
“That is why we have all the cases of diabetes, cases of hypertension, glaucoma; many things, because the rate of chemicals that farmers are using is very high.’’
He also cautioned farmers against the use chemicals to preserve crops, adding that doing so could also contaminate crops with harmful chemicals.
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Gar advised farmers to instead use post-harvest preservation bags specifically designed to preserve grains.
The agriculturalist explained that such bags were airtight and could prevent insects’ infestation, which could also keep the grains in good condition.
He also advised farmers to plant early maturing seeds variety to check climate change, as it had been forecasted by weather experts that there would be shorter rain fall this year.
“Our forecasters have indicated that we are going to get late rain fall and it will seize within some short period.
“I advise our farmers whenever they get heavy rain fall, they should start planting without any waste of time, but early maturing variety.
“Farmers will plant the seeds and it will mature within some short period of time.
“I assure you that if the farmers obey the rules and the guidelines, they will get bumper harvest, but if they fail to abide by this, the harvest will be low.’
(NAN)
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