Agriculture and Livestock Cabinet Secretary Andrew Karanja. Photo/courtesy.
Agriculture and Livestock Cabinet Secretary (CS) Andrew Karanja has said that a bumper maize harvest in Kenya is expected this year due to favourable climatic conditions and the government fertilizer subsidy.
The ministry of agriculture said a crack down on fake seeds and fertilizer is expected as the government looks to improve its security
Speaking in Kitale, CS Karanja announced that the country’s production this year will exceed the last year’s maize harvest, which saw the country harvest 48 million bags of maize.
“Currently we are expecting around 70 million of 90 kilogram bags to harvest this year and this can be due to a true fertilizer from the government,” Karanja said.
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Alongside his announcement of an improved harvest of the staple food, CS Kanja said that some unscrupulous business people are selling fake fertilisers and seeds to unsuspecting farmers, causing losses to farmers
“The government will be working with all the agencies to eradicate the issue about fake seeds being materials packed by unscrupulous business men and women and sold to unsuspecting farmers which create harvoc as they don’t even germinate,” he said.
As part of climatic adaptation and mitigation, the CS said farmers in both the arid and semi arid regions will now have to develop alternatives of planting crops such as sorghum, millet and the cassava which are resilient to those areas.
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There is also a plan by the ministry of agriculture to invest in local seed research and production under the Kenya Seed Company (KSC) so as to boost food security in Kenya
“I am glad that the Kenya Seed through seed production unit are ensuring that they produce more seeds which will go along way in ensuring adequate seeds available for the next planting season,” CS Karanja said.
