• Waiguru has tasked the departments of Agriculture, and Trade and Industries to work together to ensure the ginnery is revived.
• The farmers, under Kirinyaga Cotton Cooperative Society, are organised in five clusters—Riagiceru-Murinduko, South Ngariama, Nyangati, Tebere and Mutithi.
Image: FAITH NYASUGUTA
The Kirinyaga government is set to revive Mwea Cotton Ginnery after years of collapse.
This is in a bid to support cotton farmers whose number has risen following the introduction of the genetically modified cotton variety, Bt, in the county.
This season, 100 farmers have planted Bt cotton on an estimated 110 acres after receiving seeds from the Fibre Crops Directorate.
The farmers, under Kirinyaga Cotton Cooperative Society, are organised in five clusters—Riagiceru-Murinduko, South Ngariama, Nyangati, Tebere and Mutithi.
Governor Anne Waiguru says she has tasked the departments of Agriculture, and Trade and Industries to work together to ensure the ginnery is revived to support increased cotton production.
“Revival of Mwea ginnery may require upgrading of the existing equipment, as well as putting in new ones. I have, therefore, tasked my officers to look into this and immediately come up with an operationalisation model that can be implemented,” she said on Monday.
She added that the revival of cotton farming will go a long way in enhancing the agricultural potential of the county as farmers will benefit from the sale of their produce. Further, many jobs will be created in the cotton value chain, significantly contributing to the socio-economic growth and improving livelihoods and lives.
Waiguru said reopening the ginnery will give rise to textile industries in the area, thereby creating investment opportunities for residents. She noted that Bt cotton farming is advantageous as it cuts the cost of production brought about by the use of insecticides.
The conventional varieties that farmers grow are prone to bollworm attacks, which require spraying with insecticides several times before maturity.
The governor added that apart from being disease-resistant, Bt cotton takes a short time to mature and yields almost three times more.
"The production of Bt cotton per acre is projected at 1.4 tonnes against the regular cotton yields of less than 0.8 tonnes per acre. The potential for Bt cotton in the county is high given that there are over 800 acres suitable for cotton production,” Waiguru said.
Farm-gate prices for conventional cotton has been about Sh52 a kilogramme with the price of BT cotton variety having the potential of fetching up to Sh100 per kilo.
Farmers will sell their cotton through local cooperative societies to Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority-appointed ginneries.
Some of the markets targeted by growers in Kenya include the recently revived Rivatex textile factory in Eldoret, Kisumu Cotton Mills and Mt Kenya Textiles in Nanyuki.
“If we increase the acreage to about 500 acres and the farm gate price of Bt cotton increases from the current Sh52 to around Sh100 per kilo, we can have farmers in the county earning up to Sh70 million in a season,” Waiguru said.
The government legalised commercial cultivation of the Bt variety last year after years of trials at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation centre in Mwea. It is expected to be a major boost to the manufacturing pillar of the country’s Big Four Agenda.