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Hundreds of cotton farmers in Homa Bay have expressed fears of low harvests this season following delayed subsidised seeds.
The state, through the Homa Bay government, had been supporting more than 400 cotton farmers by providing them with seeds to promote production.
Homa Bay is one of the counties that the national government had identified as areas where it wants to source cotton for its textile industries.
According to the Agriculture and Food Authority, Homa Bay farmers supply the best quality and adequate cotton for processing at the ginneries. The quality is attributed to its clay soil.
Cotton farming is majorly done in Rangwe, Karachuonyo, Suba South, Homa Bay Town and Suba North constituencies.
On Friday, the farmers, under the Homa Bay County Cotton Value Chain Cooperative Union, said they will most likely not meet their target this season. Chairman John Akoko said they produce at least 128 tonnes for processing.
“Our hope of supplying more cotton produce to ginneries this year is dwindling because we don’t have subsidised seeds. We’re approaching April and there are no signs of us getting the seeds,” Akoko said.
He said many growers are considering maize, sorghum and other food crops as alternatives as they cannot afford non-subsidised cotton seeds. They say it’s expensive.
They are always advised to purchase certified seeds, mainly Bt cotton that is resistant to pests and diseases and can do well in adverse weather conditions, from licensed distributors.
“The subsidised seeds provided by the government are cheap and of high quality. The Covid-19 pandemic has also affected people economically,” Akoko said.
The lack of subsidised seeds is also demotivating residents who wanted to join cotton farming, he said. Ginneries were considering increasing the amount paid for purchases from farmers. Currently, a kilogramme of cotton is sold at Sh48. But there was the possibility of increasing it to between Sh55 and Sh60.
“This was a very good method of encouraging more people to venture into cotton production. The government should intervene to enable local industries,” Akoko said.
Homa Bay Agriculture executive Aguko Juma said AFA had not procured cotton seeds from licensed distributors, hence the delay to deliver subsidised input.
He said his office received a notification from AFA that the government had not provided funds to purchase subsidised cotton seeds this year.
“The delay occurred because the Ministry of Agriculture had not released funds for purchasing subsidised cotton seeds,” Juma said.
Juma said his department is in talks with the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project to provide farmers with subsidised seeds.
He said Narigp has allocated Sh9 million to support farming in the county.
“We’re trying to make sure cotton farmers plant their crops before the end of the long rains,” he said.
