Economy

Ministry denies inferior fertiliser claim, blames heavy rain for poor crop

PS

Agriculture Principal Secretary Richard Lesiyampe. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU

Heavy rains have been blamed for draining of fertiliser nutrients which has seen maize in Uasin Gishu County turn yellow as the government absolves itself from claims of issuing substandard manure. 

The Ministry of Agriculture, in statement Monday, said the rains coincided with the planting season leading to leaching (absorption of fertiliser) below the roots level and denying the crop essential nutrients.

This had raised fears of a poor crop in Gishu County, which is Kenya’s food basket.

The ministry said that out of the 100,000 hectares of land under maize in the county, less than one per cent of the crop had turned yellow.

The ministry further said that farmers whose crop has been affected used NPK fertiliser, which takes longer before having impact on the maize. 

The ministry dispatched a team of crop protection and fertiliser experts from Kenya Plant Inspectorate Service (Kephis) and the county government officials to determine the cause of the yellowing following protests from farmers.

“The situation was caused by too much rain at the time, leading to leaching of nitrogen nutrients and poor root formation hence yellowing and stunting of the maize,” said agriculture Principal secretary Richard Lesiyampe.

“Preliminary findings indicate that the yellowing was manifested in fields planted with NPK 23-23-0. This is a slow-release fertiliser whose nutrients are available to the crop after 20 days hence yellowing three weeks after germination is not unusual,” he added.

Mr Lesiyampe said imported fertiliser is inspected for quality and standards in the country of origin and that it is also thoroughly tested in Mombasa before discharge.

“Routine testing is also done in the counties by Kephis inspectors to ensure conformity,” he said.

All the consignments complied with Kenya’s standards and were thus accepted for distribution, he said. The PS assured farmers that the fertiliser distributed in the country is up to standard and there is no cause for worry

This year the government has provided 2,758,520 bags of subsidised fertiliser which is being distributed through the NCPB’s depots throughout the country.

Out of this, 95,234 bags of DAP and 228,010 bags of NPK 23-23-0 have been distributed in Uasin Gishu. Total bags used by close of season were 323,244 bags.

Farmers have petitioned parliament over the matter.