Cereal farmers in Uasin Gishu County may soon have a reason to smile following the passage of a motion seeking to have the county government provide subsidized fertilizer.
In a motion moved by Kipsomba MCA Joel Rugut, the ward reps note that a subsidy for farmers will help cushion them, especially due to the current prices that are not affordable to them.
A bag of planting fertilizer now costs Ksh5,600, and MCAs want the county to subsidize it to at most Ksh3,000.
They say the County Executive should factor in the subsidy in the upcoming supplementary budget.
“Last year, farmers had many challenges especially weather changes, and most of them did not get the average yield of 20 bags per acre. Now farmers are stressed as they are not able to buy a bag of fertilizer,” said Rugut, who also doubles up as the County Assembly Agriculture Committee Chairperson.
“If farmers don’t plant this year, food security will be at risk. I urge the country through the Department of Agriculture to budget for a subsidy so that they can cushion the farmers,” he added.
Langas MCA Francis Muya seconded the motion which he termed as timely.
Muya noted that, if possible, funds in the Agriculture Department should be rechanneled to the subsidy program.
“It will be so punitive to let all the burden go to the farmer. Farmers might decide not to plant and we will all be in trouble. The County Executive should set aside more funds in the supplementary budget to cushion farmers amid the high cost of production,” noted the MCA.
A majority of the MCAs present during the debate of the motion supported it.
The motion comes at a time farmers have expressed concerns over the high cost of inputs, with fears that they may not be able to plant this season if the situation is not mitigated.
Also Read: Farmers Unable To Plant This Season over High Cost of Fertilizer, Seeds
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