Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) has reminded farmers countrywide to be alert and desist from buying re-packaged fertilizers that are insufficiently labeled or not labeled at all.
ZABS head marketing and public relations Hazel Zulu says a recent investigation conducted in collaboration with the ministry of agriculture in Kasama last week to check on fertilizers being sold on the market revealed that some of the fertilizers on the market had expired.
Mrs. Zulu says ZABS is concerned that some unscrupulous suppliers are actually taking advantage of the farming season to deceive unsuspecting consumers by selling them substandard fertilizers.
She warns that insufficiently labeled or not labeled at all fertilizers may have been mixed with non-nutrient adding materials that could render the product substandard and adversely affect crop yields.
Mrs Zulu has however, assured the public that ZABS is alert and has henceforth, intensified inspections of both local and imported fertilizers especially during this farming season to ensure that farmers not only get value for their money, but obtain increased crop yields as a result of applying fertilizer that meets specified requirements.