Farmers to get 400,000 bags of cheap fertiliser

Uasin Gishu county government has ordered 400,000 50kg bags of subsidised fertiliser from the National Cereals and Produce Board in readiness for next year’s planting season.

According to county agriculture officials, this will cushion commercial wheat, barley and maize farmers from the usual long wait for the fertiliser.

Agriculture County Executive Richard Birir said the challenge many farmers have been having over the years was unavailability and untimely arrival of fertilizer.

“We are not taking chances on our farmers. We have already ordered 370,000 bags of assorted subsidized fertilisers and top-dressers as early as this to curb the hustle for inputs come next year’s planting season,” Mr Birir said.

TOP-DRESSERS

The move was also motivated by the ongoing boom in the wheat harvest where farmers are expecting over three million bags. Timely delivery of farm inputs contributed to the bumper harvest.

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The agriculture boss hailed wheat farmers for not giving up on the crop despite facing numerous challenges like fluctuating prices and erratic weather conditions for years.

Birir said the top-dressers and the subsidised fertilisers will retail at Sh1,000 to Sh1,800, a price he believes is affordable and preferable for commercial farming.

In order to protect small-scale wheat farmers, the executive said, the county was working on a legislation to standardise the amount of wheat that can be held by a combine harvester.

“Some hold 18 bags but the brokers estimate it at 15 bags or below and in the long run, they exploit the farmer,” Birir said.

He said small-scale wheat farmers do not realise maximum benefits from their farming due to poor agronomic practices such as failure to top dress, test their soils and in some cases, unreliable access to machinery.