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- Tita Onyebuchi, Nze >Abuja<

AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION with ORGANIC FERTILIZER 

let's meet you Sir

I am Chief Greg Okehi, the CEO, Managing Director of Bio AG Technologies Limited.

We manufacture probiotics for agriculture, which we call organic fertiliser. It is in two forms, one for crops and the other for livestock, our factory is in Abuja. 

The product has gone through government certifications, laboratory analysis was carried out by Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike, Umuahia, it is also approved by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Abuja and we've been test running the product for some time now, 

Okay, we will conduct elaborate interview on how you came about the product and all that, but for now, please tell us the difference between this product and the ordinary fertiliser in the market?

Thank you very much. Our own is natural fertiliser. We call it organic, because it is manufactured from natural things we see, the leaves, animal wastes and so on; we combine these things I mentioned to bring a healthy product that is beneficial to health.

Let me compare this with other chemical fertilisers. The chemical fertilisers we use is called Urea or NPK which is a synthetic product, synthetic fertiliser. 

If you don't know, google the advantages and disadvantages of chemical fertilisers. You will realise that chemical fertilisers are not healthy. When you apply them on the soil, it drains the water and releases the nutrient, the natural nutrients of the soil is depleted. It drains the soil and even enters into our well, our borehole, our streams and we drink the water.

That is why you see sicknesses of all kinds everywhere, kidney failures, diabetes, blood pressures and so on, because of food you grow with chemical fertilisers, which are absolutely unhealthy. 

Normally, our forefathers and even people of today in the villages try to get organic farm produce from one spot, by leaving the same portion for like two three years, go to another portion of land to farm, so as to enable the farm get back the manure, but now, with our own organic fertiliser, you can be farming on the same spot from month to month, year to year without going to another place, and the more you farm, the more nutrient the soil gets, because you are applying our organic fertiliser.

How often do you apply the organic fertilizer?

Three applications, first one while tilling the soil, then next, after two weeks, the third and the last, when photosynthesis occurs that's all.

So what's the implication to farmers?

Low yield! If you use inorganic fertiliser for a long time, the soil will become acidic. Infact, I think the manufacturers of these chemical fertilisers tailored it so that consumers will beg to be dependent on them. For example, plant 100 bags of seedlings, you will get 80 the year after and the year after, you  will get 60; it continues to deplete. If you ask farmers, they will testify, they will concur to what I'm saying, that they are just languishing in pain; but use organic fertiliser, the nutrients in the soil increases, the yield increases; If you are getting 100 bags of maize or rice, for example, you get about 150 to 200 bags. And again, because the organic fertilizer retains water in the soil, the more you use the product, the more the soil is fertilised naturally and you can afford to be farming on the same spot every time. The more you farm, the more nutrients it gets. 

I'll give you an example of a colleague somewhere in Dubai, they are using probiotics now to produce wheat; yes, wheat, that Ukraine have been supplying them. You know there is war in Ukraine and wheat is very expensive now, you can see that the cost of bread, the cost of everything is high, but United Arab Emirates has about 50 hectares that uses this probiotics to produce wheat now in UAE.

In Russia, it is a criminal offence to use chemical fertilisers, if you do, you are executed for smuggling it into the country, but we can't help it here, everybody is using chemical fertiliser to produce food.

We generate modern culture, beneficial bacteria that fortifies this product, which is the difference between our own organic fertiliser and others. That is why our vegetable, our crops, our livestock are better than any other one you use in Nigeria, we have the capacity. 

Compare the price of your product to the normal chemical fertiliser

To farm a hectare of land, ordinarily, you will need about eight to ten bags of the chemical fertilisers, and a bag is currently sold for about N40,000, if not more, then you multiply that by 10bags; but if you want to use our fertiliser, our product comes in liquid form. One litre of our product is more than one bag of fertiliser, and for you to use nine bottles of our product, you need just N108,000.

You mix one litre of our product with 200 litres of water, it doesn't drain away like what synthetic fertiliser does, it retains. The more you farm, the more fertilised the soil becomes. 

I've heard you talk about animal waste, the smell and everything. What does your fertiliser do to the smell of animal waste?

Our organics, our probiotics for poultry farmers, we encourage them to mix our probiotics with their feeds and put a little in their water for the birds to drink; within 48 to 72 hours, the smell from your poultry will varnish, you will not perceive any stuffy odur again. The birds will become very, very healthy and agile, and once you are giving them these probiotics, you don't need any other medicine nor vaccine for the animals, including cow, you don't need any other thing to give them. The probiotics gives them natural immunity and protects them from any form disease. 

Broilers and chicken produces fat if you use other products to breed them, but If you use our product, you will not see a single fat when you slaughter them, the fats are converted to muscle and the meat will taste natural. Our product is natural, no chemical whatsoever, and very healthy. So organic is the way to go. 

We have international customers in Abuja, who have tested our product, they took it to their lab and confirmed. In fact, we have people enquiring and buying already, sending to Europe, Canada and America. As we speak, Ghana is buying, Cameroon is buying, Cote d'Ivoire is buying, Senegal is buying.

I heard you talk about a company in Europe that wants franchise.

Yes, they've approached us, they've sent in their documents for us to consider. They've tested the product and said they don't have this type in Europe, if we can allow them to export. Infact they've just placed order for one million litres.

Are you in a position to supply the nation if demand is high, are you in a position to meet the high demand for export? 

Yes, we can supply the nation. The raw materials we use are from Nigeria, we are not importing anything. END

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