SAO PAULO, March 18 (Reuters) - JBS SA, the world's largest meat company, said on Friday it will start producing organic fertilizer using waste from its own facilities.

JBS said in a statement that a unit located in Guaicara, in the interior of Sao Paulo state, will have the capacity to manufacture 150,000 tonnes of fertilizer products per year.

The initiative, announced as Brazilian farmers face a looming fertilizer crisis because the country relies on imports for most of its needs, required an initial investment of 134 million reais ($26.74 million), the company said.

Brazil relies on imports for about 85% of the fertilizer it consumes.

Russia, under Western sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, is the South American nation's biggest supplier of the NPK mixture of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium used to boost crop yields.

JBS said the investment marks its debut in the agricultural inputs market, adding that it will become the first Brazilian food producer to use waste generated from the company's own operations to manufacture fertilizer.

($1 = 5.0113 reais) (Reporting by Ana Mano Editing by Paul Simao)