Police cautions against selling government-donated fertilizers

GATSIBO - Police has warned that anyone caught selling government-donated fertilizers will be punished. Speaking to The Sunday Times on Friday, Police spokesperson, Supt. Eric Kayiranga, said that some people were involved in illegal selling of the fertilizers countrywide. Recently, the government announced that an estimated Rwf 28bn will be spent on fertilizers and seeds to help farmers in the country realise bumper harvests this season.The funds are part of Rwf 44bn that the Ministry of Agriculture had budgeted for this farming season. According to reports from the Ministry, about 25,020 tons of fertilizers will be supplied countrywide for maize alone; 16,680 tons of DAP and 8,340 tons of UREA respectively.However, just weeks after the exercise kicked off, Police in Gatsibo District in the Eastern Province arrested several residents who were attempting to sell seventy sacks of the just donated fertilizers. Kayiranga said that Police was mounting major operations country-wide to track the illegal trade. “What people should bear in mind is that the government supplies them with these fertilizers to help them get rid of poverty. Police has put up strong measures and those arrested will be severely punished,” he said in a telephone interview. ”All district police commanders in the country have been ordered to work tirelessly and arrest the culprits”. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, about 166,800 and 14,968 hectares of maize and wheat respectively will be planted countrywide and that farmers will only meet 50 percent of the cost of the fertilizers while government will meet the remainder. The two crops were selected after government realized that they were rarely grown by farmers in many parts of the country and the subsidy was introduced in order to increase their production and ensure food security. The Ministry also targets to supply about 17,000 tons of NPK 1717 type of fertilizers for rice, Irish potatoes and beans where for this particular fertilizer, farmers will buy their own but at subsidized prices. Ends