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{
    "id": 433882,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/433882/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 172,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr.) Ottichilo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 131,
        "legal_name": "Wilber Ottichilo Khasilwa",
        "slug": "wilber-ottichilo"
    },
    "content": "talking about. The technology that is available tends to go towards organic fertilizer which does not destroy the soils. So, as much as I want to support this Bill, there are many amendments that I would want to propose to make this Bill useful for this country. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the fertilizer board should, first of all, be able to know what is required in each of our soil types. This is because you cannot define fertilizer without knowing what the soil requires and what the plant you want to plant requires. Those are the key questions that one has to ask before you decide on what type of fertilizer to use. Therefore, the proposed fertilizer board should be able, among its functions, to conduct thorough research with relevant stakeholders’ institutions to determine the soil types in this country and the deficiencies of the soils as per the requirement of the crop you want to plant. That is because the crop you plant determines what type you want to use and it is determined by the type of soil available for you. Therefore, it is not a question of going to buy DAP. This is the mistake we have been making in this country for so long and that is why food production in this country has gone down. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to bet, if we continue using DAP and inorganic fertilizer, food production in this country is not going to increase. It will decline. Therefore, it is important to go back to the drawing board. First of all, we must determine what our soils are lacking before we can determine what type of fertilizer to procure. So, in determining what type of factory we want to bring or establish in this country, we must be able to know the requirements of our soils and what type of crops we want to grow. Secondly, we need the proposed fertilizer board to have the capacity to monitor, on a long time basis, the life and status of our soils. That is because as you put in organic fertilizer in your soils, you change the fertility of the soil. Fertility of the soil depends on the bacteria and the fungi and the viruses that are in the soil that break down the organic materials into small nutrients that the plants use. Therefore, without knowing all that, we can bring factories here that can manufacture fertilizers that are going to make our soils worse. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, as much as I support this Bill, I would want to bring more amendments to make it more relevant and more scientifically and technologically updated."
}