Uasin Gishu farmers drop wheat on high production cost

Wheat acreage in Uasin Gishu County has dropped by nearly half on what farmers attribute to high cost of production and lower prices in the market.

The land under wheat cultivation has reduced to 18,000 hectares from 40,000 hectares according to the county government.

Uasin Gishu County executive committee member for Agriculture Samuel Yego said the trend, if not addressed will have a negative effect in the country as consumers will have to bare with high cost of wheat products.

Mr Yego said the price at which millers are paying farmers isn’t enough to sustain wheat farming in the long run.

“This is a very huge decline in acreage under wheat just in a span of 10 years yet we do not produce enough as a country,” said Mr Yego.

The official said cheap imports have also contributed to lower prices and that farmers are missing out as millers give priority to imports even with the current programme of duty remission scheme where processors are required to exhaust local wheat first before shipping in the produce.

Under the programme, each miller is issued with a quota for local crop basing on their milling capacity. Once they clear their share of domestic crop, they are then issued with import permits. The government sets the price at which the produce should be bought at.

This year, millers are buying the grain at Sh3,250 for a 90 kilo bag of grade one wheat with the second grade going at Sh3,150.

Mr Yego urged the government to reinstate the duty to 35 percent from the current 10 percent, and promote local farming of the commodity to cut over-reliance on imports.

Chairman of the Cereal Growers Association Farnie Kruger said wheat production has become expensive and farmers need better prices for their commodity.