Accra, August 7, GNA - A new fertilizer variety, Proterfert LN 6, 5 natural organic fertilizer based on amino acids and rich in yield increase has been introduced in the country to help farmers increase their productivity.

Protifert LN 6,5 is a liquid fertilizer ecologically produced from amino acids and peptides of natural origin, and gives plants the necessary ingredients needed while saving the biological energy required for their synthesis.

Mr Oreste Odelli, Managing Director of Sicit 2000, manufacturers of th= e product, from Italy, launched the product in Accra at the weekend. He said the product was sold in over 50 countries worldwide and expressed the hope that it would help improve farming in the country. Mr Odelli said Ghana is the first country in the West African Sub-Region to be introduced to the product due to the country's efforts i= n food production and advised farmers to make judicious use of the fertilizer to help increase food production.

Mr Mohammed Sulemana, Managing Director of Tropical 2000, local agents of the product, said Ghana had made strides in food production hence the need to convince the producers to extend their supply to Ghana. He said Tropical 2000 would embark on the necessary education countrywide to ensure that farmers understood how to apply the product and that the fertilizer met Ghana's Ministry of Agriculture specification for use in the country.

Mr Yaw Effah-Baafi, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of crops, in a speech read on his behalf, said fertilizer use in Ghana was necessary because soil fertility was low and required the use of the produc= t to increase food productivity.

He said fertilizer use in the country was low as compared to the quantity being used in other countries. Mr Effah-Baafi said this year the government had distributed over 150,000 tons of fertilizer to farmers at subsidised prices to increase food productivity to address hunger and poverty.