The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) has begun a compensation process for farmers who bought low-quality or counterfeit fertilizer from its stores. Farmers affected must file a compensation claim using a form available at the NCPB depots where the fertilizer was originally purchased. After filling out their details, farmers must submit these forms along with proof of purchase from the national subsidy program and their original national ID cards.
Farmers who haven’t used the fertilizer yet need to provide the fertilizer as evidence. Those who have already used it and had their claims confirmed by the NCPB will receive a comparable amount of top-dressing fertilizer in return. The NCPB stressed the importance of matching submitted documents with existing records at their facilities.
The announcement comes following the distribution of 3 million bags of top-dressing fertilizer to registered farmers, aligning with the onset of the 2024 long rains. Farmers are still receiving notifications for subsidized top-dressing fertilizers and are urged to ensure they obtain their supplies from authorized NCPB depots under the Government Subsidy Programme (GSP). This move follows the discovery that a contracted company supplied substandard fertilizer, although the company has denied these allegations.
