Government to Pay K15, 000 for FISP Fertilizer Bag

Ministry of agriculture, irrigation and water development has said will pay 15, 000 kwacha for each of the two bags of fertilizer in this year’s farm input subsidy program.

Speaking at a press briefing in Blantyre Minister responsible Kondwani Nankhumwa said the beneficiaries will be paying the difference between commodity market value in shop and amount of money shown on coupon already paid by government.

Nankhumwa says government has come up with special arrangements for farmers to benefit in this FISP than before such as getting legume seed completely free but maize either zero or very minimal.

He said government has improved coupon features to ensure their security and eliminate chances of cheating by fortune seekers in the program.

“My Ministry has reformed the program by implementing paperless coupon following recommendations made by various stakeholders,” said Nankhumwa

He said the design is ready for pretesting purposes this season and full implementation in 2020/2021 season after ironing out possible challenges.

Nankhumwa further said government has awarded contracts to 57 private suppliers plus two public institutions ADMARC and SFFRFM and most of the fertilizers are already in the country.

To ensure that inputs are supplied at selling points and hard-to-reach direct suppliers will be reporting to District Councils for guidance regarding areas to operate.

Nankhumwa said 90,000 Metric Tonnes of fertilizer will be accessed this year of which 45,000 MT is NPK and 45,000 MT is Urea to 900, 000 beneficiaries