Reports that the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) has started distributing subsidised fertiliser to farmers is a step in the right direction. With the planting season rolling out, especially in the country’s bread basket region, the development must have been a long overdue move for the local farmers.
They have borne the brunt of a long season of harsh toil with little reward after cereal prices fell and the agency was rocked by scandals. We hope that as we usher in the new season, our farmers will begin to reap their just rewards from their sweat.
It is really quite demotivating for the farmers when they pump all their resources into their fields only to be let down by disease and poor prices.
According to the Agriculture ministry, 635,000 bags of fertiliser have been purchased under the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities while another 400,000 bags were carried over from previous imports.
The fertiliser will be sold at Sh1,3000 for a 50 kilogramme bag of Diammonium Phosphate which is used for planting while other brands such as NPK are going for Sh1,700 a bag.
We urge the ministry to hasten the distribution of the farm input to the grassroots so that the farmers can begin work immediately.
The cereals agency says that the fertiliser has already been distributed to its depots and it is only awaiting guidelines from the ministry. We opine that the government should ensure that the distribution of the farm input is not bogged down by red tape.
The agencies should ensure that it is supplied to farmers immediately. It is also disheartening to learn that fertiliser worth Sh2 billion that had been ordered under the subsidy programme might not get to the farmers on time.
This clearly smacks of lack of adequate planning given that our policymakers know how the farming season works.
The farm input should have been ordered much earlier and the funds released on time so as to ensure our farmers got the commodity without any hassles.
The cereals agency should also hasten the disbursement of monies to farmers for their previous produce supplies.
Farmers need all the necessary financial and other resources to get their farms ready.
We hope that this time round the farmers will not be left to suffer as cartels reap where they have not sowed.
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