Dear Editor,

Like most terrain in Africa, Rwanda too is facing serious soil infertility problem. Not much intensive agriculture can amount to credible output.

This soil barrenness is attributed to the removal of more nutrients from the soil annually through crops harvesting than what is returned to the soil as fertilizers.

At the end of it all, degraded soils become prone to erosion, poor water retention, and loss of organic matter that provides soil structure.

When the soils become depleted, farmers are likely to clear forests, savannah and destroy other natural habitats so that they can create arable land. With this crisis at hand, urgent attention needs to be given to the agricultural sector.

According to Nepad, research has proved that fertilizers of substantial amounts stimulate the increase in productivity necessary to attain increased yields.

While it is the case that much can be done to improve soil organic matter content and soil fertility through practicing more integrated soil fertility techniques, organic fertilizers can appropriately reduce this crisis.

I suggest that the government considers intensively using fertilizers. This will see the country’s food security stepped-up, household incomes increased and a growth in agriculture.

Kacyiru