The Government has allocated Rwf54.2 billion for subsidies on mineral fertilisers, and seeds (maize, wheat, and soybean) in the fiscal year 2024/2025, according to information from Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources (RAB).
The budget - which is slightly lower than Rwf54.6 billion allocated in the previous fiscal year 2023/2024 - consists of Rwf10.6 billion for seeds, and Rwf43.6 billion for fertilisers, RAB indicated.
About 65 per cent of the total budget on the farm inputs subsidies will be used during agriculture season 2025 A - this period runs from September 2024 to February 2025.
With the financial support, in the agriculture season 2025 A, a farmer can buy urea (fertiliser to provide crops with nitrogen to promote green leafy growth and make them look lush) at Rwf660 a kilo, instead of Rwf1,003 - thanks to a Rwf343 or 34 per cent subsidy from the government.
For DAP (fertiliser mostly used to increase yields in maize production), a farmer enjoys a Rwf574 or 44 per cent government subsidy, which makes them pay Rwf724 a kilo, instead of Rwf1,298 they would pay without the support.
Regarding NPK 17-17-17 (compound fertiliser commonly used in potato production), the government covers Rwf462 or 40 per cent for the farmer, to ease the price to Rwf684 a kilo from Rwf1,146 which would be the case otherwise.
For the selected seeds (maize, wheat and soybean), the government is covering more than half of the costs for the farmers.
Farmers who spoke to The New Times said the subsidies are important in supporting them to produce food needed by Rwandan residents, and get profit from agriculture.
Charles Uwamungu, a potato farmer from Musanze District says such subsidies help farmers to get farm inputs at relatively lower prices, observing that there are farmers who apply 300 kilos per hectare which would increase the cost for farmers in case of a lack of the financial support from the government.
"It helps lower the cost of production for the farmer and enables them to increase yield, adding that mixing mineral fertilisers and manure (organic fertiliser) results in better yields.
"You can harvest between 15 and 20 tonnes per hectare when you use NPK and manure, but when you only use manure, you get between seven and eight tonnes per hectare," he said.
For Jonathan Niyizanderera, a rice farmer from Rusizi District, the subsidies will ease their access to fertilisers and seeds, hence reducing their reliance on costly loans for investment.
"With the absence of subsidy, I can be forced to grow rice on a smaller plot of land, or rely on loans which makes me unable to get profit [because they are expensive]," he said, stressing the need for subsidies to help a farmer do agriculture and get profit from their investment.
Fertiliser, quality seeds uptake
Overall, during the fiscal year under review, more than 6.8 million kilos of seeds are expected to be delivered to farmers - including over 5.7 million kilos of maize, 912,000 kilos of wheat, and over 214,600 kilos of soybean, RAB data showed, adding that for fertilisers, over 78.5 million kilos are projected to be used.
They include 30 million kilos of DAP, more than 20.5 million kilos of urea, and more than 24.2 million kilos of NPK17-17-17, while NPK blends and micronutrient fertilisers will account for over 3.6 million kilos.
Florence Uwamahoro, Deputy Director General in charge of Agriculture Development at RAB said that expected fertiliser use estimates correspond to approved annual budget, but because the country wants to increase uptake of seeds and fertilisers, the institution does not set limitations on the purchases of such agricultural inputs based on the available budget size [as it might be insufficient].
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Instead, when the planned budget is exceeded, data is consolidated at the end of a season or a year, and then advocacy is made to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) so that the amount in question is available.
"You cannot say that because the budget is this much, farmers must only use that yet we want to increase yields and fertiliser and seed application," she said.
Currently, the rate of mineral fertiliser use is 72 kilos per ha [on average], data from RAB showed.
Under the second National Strategy for Transformation (NST2), the country targets to raise fertiliser use 94.6 kilos per hectare.
For seeds, information from RAB indicated, about 40 per cent of farmers use quality seeds, while an increase of 10 per cent in the use of inputs is projected annually over the next five years under the fifth Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation (PSTA5).
