Farmers in Uasin Gishu County are now being asked not to use DAP fertilizers in the upcoming planting season.
County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Agriculture Edward Sawe says the advice is based on the fact that soils in the region have in the recent past witnessed a rise in acidity.
Speaking during a meeting with farmers in Ainabkoi Sub County, Sawe said they have already engaged with the national government and agreed that DAP will not be part of the subsidized fertilizers to be availed to farmers in the county.
“The government has helped our farmers access subsidized fertilizer and because our soil has acidity issues, we have removed DAP from that program. We will only have NPK, more blends and CAN,” said the Agriculture executive.
For a long time, farmers have been using Di-ammonium Phosphate popularly known as DAP for planting.
DAP contains both Nitrogen and Phosphorus which are primary macro-nutrients and part of 18 essential plant nutrients.
DAP (NH4) 2HPO4: Fertilizer grade DAP Contains 18 per cent Nitrogen and 46 per cent Phosphorus (P2O5).
However, almost similar components are in CAN and NPK. CAN is a nitrogen fertiliser which contains equal parts of fast-acting nitrate-nitrogen and longer-lasting ammonium-nitrogen while NPK contains three essential nutrients needed for plant growth and overall plant health – nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).
The County Executive further expressed optimism that with the use of fertilizer with less acidity, farmers in the region will register higher yields.
“On average a farmer gets about 20 bags of maize per acre but with better fertilizer accessed at a lower price, we expect to increase yields to between 25 and 30 bags per acre,” Sawe said.
