NCZ distributes 42,000 tonnes of fertiliser

Government contracted NCZ to produce 70,000 tonnes of basal dressing fertiliser for the FISP programme that concludes on September 30, 2013.
NCZ marketing and sales manager Evans Mupeta said in an interview that the remaining 4,000 tonnes of the consignment for basal dressing should be produced within the next two weeks.
“So far, we have dispatched 42,000 tonnes of D-compound fertiliser for farmers and the remainder should be done within the coming fortnight,” he said.
Mr Mupeta said the company will only consider producing fertiliser for export once the local market was satisfied.
Meanwhile, Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL) has transported 5,196 tonnes of basal dressing fertiliser under an agreement with NCZ, during the ongoing FISP.
ZRL marketing director Sydney Tembo said in a separate interview that the company and NCZ had agreed that at least 14,000 tonnes of D-compound fertiliser would be ferried by rail.
“The challenge we have had is that some areas are not accessible by rail, so we fine tuned the 14,000 target into something more manageable basing on railway accessibility,” he said.