Evaluation of quality of solid synthetic fertilizers along the supply chain in Uganda

Abstract

Increased agricultural productivity, rural households’ food security and income can largely be stimulated through enhanced access to quality inputs especially fertilizers. Fertilizer use in Uganda is the lowest in the region estimated at about 3 kg of nutrient per hectare against 9- 10 kg nutrients per hectare in East Africa. Incidentally, annual nutrient losses through harvest and erosion reported in Uganda are as high as 130kg/ha of nitrogen, 5kg/ha of phosphorus (P2O5) and 25kg/ha of potash (K2O). While fertilizer use remains low, nutrient depletion from the soil continues triggering severe soil degradation. Therefore, a fertilizer quality evaluation was conducted in Uganda in the second season, 2020. A total of 216 samples comprising Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN), Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP), Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium (NPK) and Urea fertilizers for three common brands were obtained from Central, Eastern and Western regions were tested. The study examined the quality of fertilizer stores at different levels of the supply chain to determine their effect on the quality of fertilizers in the market. The study also examined the moisture content and declarable primary nutrients. Moisture content was determined using oven method at 105 0C for 24 hours. The total nitrogen and soluble P2O5 were determined calorimetrically using spectrophotometer while K2O was determined using a flame photometer. The results indicated that Urea and DAP met the required moisture standard but CAN and NPK were wet. The nutrient analysis results indicated CAN, DAP, NPK and Urea contained total nitrogen content of 19.2, 16.0, 12.4 and 40.4, % respectively which were below the FAO fertilizer standards. The poor quality fertilizers were partly attributed to import of sub-standard products and the use of poorly ventilated stores at various premises. The report recommended for the intervention of government to strengthen monitoring for compliance to specified standards.