Farmers in Tseikuru, Kitui county, have called on the government to complete the Usueni Irrigation Scheme project. The scheme is currently overgrown with bushes in plots where farmers used to grow crops and looks abandoned.
Most of the farmers have abandoned the plots, saying they no longer yield anything. The Star visited the scheme last weekend and found a few farmers still tending their crops. They said they have been toiling in vain as water supply to their farms is not guaranteed.
The farms had either withering or stunted maize crops. Most canals supplying water to the phase one of the scheme were dry, a sign that water had not flowed for long. Farmers called on both the national and Kitui county governments to come to their aid.
They said unless the government moves with speed, the project will collapse and farmers leave. Mzee Kirenge Kimwele said lack of constant supply of water has led to crop failure.
Mutethya Ngui said many people have been discouraged from working on their farms. She said her husband has already migrated to Meru county to look for a job.
Josephat Musyimi said the problem at the scheme has been aggravated by the fact that the government has not deployed agricultural officers to the scheme to guide farmers on irrigation farming.
Tseikuru MCA Kilonzo Kauthi said he has been pushing the county Agriculture executive Charles Kang’e to visit the scheme and address the farmers problems but his calls have fallen on deaf ears.
However, Kang’e said he is planning to make a fact-finding visit to the scheme soon. He said the county government will take full charge of the project if the National Irrigation Board agrees to a partnership with the Kitui government.
