Fertilizer use in Sub-Saharan Africa remains below recommended rates, contributing to low yields, and increasing poverty. Poor quality fertilizer – whether perceived or real – is often cited as a reason for low adoption rates. In Ghana, for example, there are widespread but often unsubstantiated claims of substandard fertilizers. This is a concern for farmers with limited purchasing power and without the means to independently substantiate the quality of agricultural inputs. This paper describes the agricultural input sector in Ghana, compares farmers’ perception of fertilizer quality with those of input dealers, and analyses chemical tests of fertilizers performed in a laboratory. The fertilizers were sampled from selected districts participating in the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative, a large-scale farm input subsidy program. We find that input dealers and farmers are somewhat suspicious of the quality of commercially supplied and government subsidized fertilizers. However, the true quality measures based on laboratory testing of fertilizers sold in agricultural input shops were found to largely meet the labeled chemical composition.

Organic manure is the decomposition product of dead plant and animal residues, which is added to soil to enrich soil fertility. All the decomposable residues can be made into manure including human and animal excreta. Manures, Fertilizers and Soil Fertility is a comprehensive textbook comprising of eleven chapters that cover the prime areas comprise of manures, fertilizers and soil fertility, thoroughly covering the syllabus, sequentially arranged, which imparts broad knowledge on three important areas of soil fertility management viz., manures, fertilizers and soil fertility. This book will be useful for undergraduate students in the field of soil fertility and its management at various agricultural/horticulture universities.