The government has initiated a procuring process for planting fertilizer for the next season.
Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Rono says the government is targeting to provide farm input to farmers by November.
“We want to ensure we have sufficient fertilizer as early as possible. We have planned that from November, we will have fertilizers in every store across the country,” Rono said.
He spoke on Friday, September 6, 2024, during a visit to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) Eldoret depot.
The PS further pointed out that the tendering process for the fertilizer suppliers is already ongoing.
“Suppliers will be properly vetted to ensure the quality of the fertilizer,” Rono said.
There were concerns over the quality of fertilizers that farmers received this season – with some declared substandard.
However, the Agriculture PS is confident the same scenario will not happen again.
Meanwhile, Rono said the government’s subsidy programs remain in place as it has been in the last two seasons.
Farmers will get the planting fertilizers at Ksh2,500 per 50-kilogram bag.
Currently, most farmers in the North Rift region are preparing for the harvesting season.
“So far, maize harvested is at 70 million 90kg bags, the highest ever, and we’re likely to get more as we go into the harvest system,” the PS said.
The planting season for the region starts late in the year.
But ahead of the harvesting season, the Ministry of Agriculture has rolled out a program that will see some farmers be provided with sunflower seeds.
The seeds are meant to help in enhancing the quality of soil. 41 counties have been targeted under the initiative.
“In Uasin Gishu, we’ve given them 20,000 kilograms of sunflower seeds and we ask farmers to collect and plant them after harvesting maize to help in soil fertility and soil texture.” PS Rono said.
