Farmers' pain: no cash for subsidized fertilizer

The government will not be offering subsidized fertilizer for maize farmers ahead of the planting season.

This is after the Treasury failed to release Sh3.68 billion to the Ministry of Agriculture for the same.
Farmers will thus have to contend with buying fertilizer from local dealers, which costs Sh 3, 200 per 50kg bag, as opposed to the cheap fertilizer they get from the government at a cost of Sh 1, 800 per 50kg.

Speaking yesterday during a National Assembly Agriculture Committee, Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri said that the ministry had made plans to procure at least 2.7 million 50kg bags of fertilizer. However, the treasury was yet to release the funds, making it impossible to go on with the plans given that the planting season will begin mid March.

The CS addressed the farmers’ fears poor quality fertilisers from local dealers by assuring them the governments commitment to ensuring they purchase high quality fertilisers from vendors.

“We have very stringent rules that are being applied by Kenya Bureau of Standards and therefore I want to assure the question of standards is very clear,” he confirmed.