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Tea farmers to dig deeper for Sh2.6 bn fertiliser

fertiliser

A worker carries a bag of fertiliser at the NCPB depot in , Eldoret. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) has imported 76,153 metric tonnes of fertiliser for distribution to small scale tea farmers countrywide.

The more than 600,000 tea farmers affiliated to the State agency will pay Sh237 more for the NPK fertiliser, which is being sold at Sh1,730 per 50 kg bag compared to Sh1,493 last year.

According to the agency, the price hike is due to an increase in tender price which rose from $214 (about Sh22,106) last year to $252 (about Sh26,032) per metric tonne this year.

“The increase is mainly due to change in crude oil prices from Sh3,734 ($37.34) to Sh5, 090 ($50.90) this year leading to higher cost of fertiliser production,” KTDA said in a notice published in the local dailies.

The fertiliser, worth Sh2.6 billion, is set to be distributed through all the 64 KTDA-managed tea factories in the country.

At market price, a similar bag of fertiliser is selling at Sh2,700, which is 56 per cent higher than the KTDA price.

The final price of fertiliser to farmers includes costs such as clearing and forwarding, financing, handling, port charges and transportation.

The quantity farmers receive depends on the number of tea bushes they own.

On average, a 50 kilogramme bag of fertiliser is applied to 700 tea bushes, helping improve yield and leaf quality.

This year, tea farmers produced 977 million kilogrammes of the crop compared to 1.2 billion kilos realised last year.

The crop decline was attributed to severe drought experienced across Kenya's tea growing zones.

Key CBK Indicative Exchange Rate Used: $1 = Sh103.3

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