North Rift farmers have protested the delay by the government to supply fertiliser.
They said time is running out yet no directive has been given on planting fertiliser for the long-rains season. Kenya Farmers Association director Kipkorir Menjo yesterday said they may end up with many problems throughout the season if they don’t get the input in time.
“The rainy season will set in by March for those planting long rains crops,” he told the Star on the phone.
On Monday, the government, through the Agriculture ministry assured it would provide planting fertiliser. It met with the taskforce looking into the maize crisis. The meeting began last week. Key issues being deliberated on include timely access to fertiliser and the planned purchase of two million bags of maize by the Strategic Food Reserve.
By December last year, the ministry had yet to order the purchase of subsidised fertiliser for the March-May long rains season.
“By last year, the ministry was yet to get approval to order the import of 150,000 tonnes of CAN, NPK DAP and blended fertiliser for the long-rains planting season,” a senior official from the ministry said.
“Delivery of fertiliser in the country requires two months after which maize farmers from the North Rift start buying fertiliser from January and plant from mid-February to mid-March.”
The government had entered into a two-year contract with the Export Trading Company Limited to supply imported fertiliser and the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities to supply some local blends.
The contract expired on January 11 and the Star has learnt that the government still owes the company billions of shillings from the fertiliser delivered last season.
National Cereals and Produce Board acting MD Albin Sang said the country has fewer than 500,000 bags of top dressing and other assorted fertiliser in its stores. Farmers need about three million bags to plant this season.
Menjo urged the government to adopt the e-voucher system to allow farmers to get fertiliser from any agrovet outlets, instead of covering long distances to the NCPB depots.
“In the past, farmers had to travel from far to get fertiliser from the NCPB depots. It does make sense for a farmer to get fertiliser at a cost Sh1,500 and then spend another Sh500 or more on transport. With the electronic system, one can just go to the nearest agrovet and get the fertiliser,” he said.