The government has flagged off the first consignment of 400,000 metric tons of assorted subsidised fertiliser to be distributed across the country to boost harvests during the long rain season.
Speaking at Bonje area Principal Secretary State Department of Agriculture Dr Kiprono Ronoh said that the government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has arranged to procure fertiliser close to 7.5 million bags for the long rain season.
Ronoh said farmers will be accessing the fertiliser at Sh. 2500 per pack of 50kg through agro-dealers, National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) and other identified sites in which the national government has worked together with the county government to get the fertiliser closer to the farmers.
He noted that the fertiliser will not only boost the morale of the farmers but also enhance the food security that the Kenya Kwanza administration has promised Kenyans.
“We are targeting to harvest at least 63 million bags of maize. We believe fertiliser is a key critical input to good harvests. We request our framers to go back to the farms and retrieve the fertiliser through the e-voucher system and ensure they utilize it well,” he said.
The PS said that the government has tested the fertiliser to ensure farmers are meeting the right quality adding that this will help a big deal considering the structure of the soil which over time has been made a little bit acidic but with the arrangement of blended fertiliser there is hope for a bumper harvest.
In a bid to grow the private sector, the PS said the Ministry has made arrangements this year to use a consignment model so that the agro-dealers can also get business through the programme of subsidised fertilisers.
16,000
“We have registered close to 16,000 agro-dealers who are working together with key manufacturers to ensure that they access these fertilisers and distribute them to the farmers. Through the consignment model we have realised is the best model looking at the business environment and the plan for the government to grow the private sector,” he added.
Ronoh said during the short rains the government will be distributing additional fertiliser close to 200,000 metric tons for the farmers growing their crops during that season.
He said the distribution has targeted key counties that are now planting the 14 food chains among them maize, potatoes, tea, pyrethrum, coffee, rice, wheat, cotton, avocado, sisal and tobacco.
He said close to around 45 Lorries are going upcountry to counties who are now doing large scale planting season.
“I want to urge farmers to register on our online platform by using (*616*3#) so that they can get information and confirmation from the agricultural officers from the county government who will visit their farms to ascertain the acreage, location and the soil structure of their farms before they are loaded into the system,” he said.
He urged the county government to move with speed and ensure they capture all the remaining farmers in the e-voucher system.
He noted that so far there are 6.4million farmers in the database.
He further urged farmers to move to NCPB to sell and store their maize saying the charges are favorable.
“We are charging Sh. 10 per bag and Sh.70 for drying whereas to sell we are paying Sh. 4,000 per bag. I want to request the farmers who have excess maize in their store to take advantage of the government plan to buy maize from farmers through NCPB,” he added.
He said the government has moved across the country to inspect all seed sellers to make sure the seed distributed are certified seeds and distributors who were found selling fake seeds have been arrested.
According to the PS, the government is looking at around 12 million bags of fertiliser for the whole year for both short and long rains and for the 14 value chain crops the country is engaged in terms of food production for export and local consumption.
