The government has started the process of reformulating 34,000 tonnes of fertiliser from Russia to churn out 100,000 tonnes of finished product ready for use by farmers.
Russian firm Uralchem-Uralkali Group donated the fertiliser, which will be part of the subsidised input that will be sold at Sh2,500 per 50kg bag, down from Sh3,500. The consignment, which docked at the port of Mombasa early this week, has been customised by the Ministry of Agriculture to produce soil and crop specific fertiliser.
“The process commenced this Tuesday, where 34,000 bags of the farm input was supplied to farmers,” A senior official in the Ministry of Agriculture to Saturday Nation .
Efforts to reach the Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary Kello Harsama for comment did not bear fruit, as he did not respond to calls and text messages.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture report released in June, an estimated 1.72 million bags of planting fertiliser and 1.3 million bags of top dressing fertiliser were redeemed by farmers in the maize, potatoes, coffee, horticulture and sugar cane growing zones during the long rains.
The report further indicated that farmers from maize growing areas in Rift Valley are the main beneficiaries of the subsidized fertiliser, that was going for Sh3,500 per 50-kilogram bag.
Farmers from Uasin Gishu redeemed 401,874 bags of fertiliser valued at Sh1.4 billion, Trans Nzoia 240,265 bags valued at Sh861 million, Nakuru 213,218 bags estimated at Sh746.8 million, while farmers in Nandi and Nakuru counties have purchased 109,218 and 108,323 bags of fertiliser valued at Sh382.2 million and 379.4 million respectively.
The country requires about 650,000 tonnes of fertiliser annually, and the government has introduced an array of measures to make available inputs at affordable rates to farmers. President William Ruto has announced reduction of subsidised fertiliser prices from Sh3,500 to Sh2,500 per 50 kg bags for the short rains, targeting to distribute 2 million bags.
“Today, I am proud to announce the commencement of the second phase of our programme. On this leg, we shall begin by immediately bringing down the price of fertiliser . . . from Sh3,500 to Sh2,500 per 50 kg bag. At this price, we expect significantly higher uptake of fertiliser,” said Dr Ruto.
“Since fertiliser is the gamechanger of agricultural productivity, this should translate to higher production in the next planting season. I encourage farmers to embrace better and greater use of fertiliser to increase yields in the coming seasons,” said the head of State on Wednesday at State House when he launched the program.
He said 3,536,162 bags of crop and region specific fertiliser has been distributed to farmers in 41 counties after issuing 3,628,512 e-vouchers to 5 million registered farmers.
“We are providing farmers with fertiliser whose formulation is customised to feed crops with their specific requirement of elements and address local soil nutrient composition. It is also the first time that fertiliser has been directly delivered to farmers on the basis of land acreage and crop production capacity,” added Dr Ruto.
He pointed out that the distribution of the subsidised fertiliser is expected to increase maize production from 32 million bags to 44 million bags this season, with a target of 61 million bags annually within the next five years.
