A section of coffee farmers in Uasin Gishu County has asked the county and national government to consider including them in the fertilizer subsidy program.
The farmers say the cost of fertilizer for top dressing their crops is too high hence the need for them to be considered as well.
Currently, the government is providing planting fertilizer to maize farmers at Ksh3,500 per 50-kilogram bag.
However, the subsidy does not cover coffee farmers.
“Fertilizer is one of the farm inputs that are very expensive to coffee farmers. We were requesting our county government if there is a formula that can be used so that the prices can reduce like what has been done to planting fertilizers for maize farmers,” noted Richard Tinga, the chairman of Kipsamo Cooperative Society in Kapseret Sub County.
Tinga who has about 700 tea bushes on half an acre piece of land also wants the government to help ensure they get pesticides at a lower cost.
Cooperatives
“For a farm like this, I need about two bags of fertilizers for a single top dressing. ” If I can get four bags a year, then I’m sorted,” he adds.
Similar sentiments were shared by Alex Arusei, also a coffee farmer in Kapseret.
“Cofee needs a lot of fertilizer and I we can get it at a subsidized price it would be better. Further, if the fertilizer can be delivered through cooperatives, it will lower the transport cost,” Arusei said.
Currently, maize farmers are purchasing fertilizers at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depots.
Aside from the subsidy on fertilizer, the farmers also want the government to help ensure they get the fertilizers through cooperative societies, as well as lowering the cost of pesticides.
Pulping machines
Further, they have challenged the county government to consider purchasing more pulping machines.
“Currently, once I pick my cherries, I have to take them to a pulping machine which is a bit far. This means I will incur transport costs. Being a chairman of Kipsamo Cooperative, if we get one pulping machine, it will help farmers in this area,” Tinga said.
Coffee farming is slowly gaining traction amongst Uasin Gishu farmers since the county started calling for diversification.
The latest data from the County’s Department of Agriculture indicate that there are about 1,300 coffee farmers in Uasin Gishu with a cumulated 1.3 million coffee bushes.
Of the total coffee bushes, 850,000 were distributed by the county free of charge to farmers.
