KTDA experts finish soil tests in tea growing zones

Agronomists at the Kenya Tea Development Agency Management Services (KTDA-MS) have finished carrying out soil and leaf tests in all tea growing zones in the country.

The sampling, which started in 2016 in all the 16 tea growing counties, aimed at establishing soil nutritional status in all tea growing zones in the country.

The exercise was done through a joint venture between KTDA-MS and the International Finance Corporation.

“This exercise that is being carried out by experts will guide us in ensuring we procure fertiliser that enhances productivity for the smallholder tea farmers under our management,” said KTDA chief executive officer Lerionka Tiampati Thursday in a statement.

Contrary to the expectation of many farmers, maximum yields are not achieved only after employing good agricultural practices such as fertiliser application and use of certified seeds but soil also plays a key role.

It is out of this reason that the national tea development agency has been conducting soil and leaf tests in small-scale farms in tea growing regions to determine the best fertiliser that should be used in planting.

“The soil structure and chemistry may have also been altered by many years of tea production and fertiliser application yet there is no deep soil analysis that has been conducted.

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“The soil and leaf analysis exercise that concludes this month will establish the fertility status of the soil to support maximum yield. We also check the percentage of macro and micro nutrients in the soil and whether these are adequate,” said Mr Tiampati.

 KTDA leverages on economies of scale by importing fertiliser in huge quantities.

Last year, the agency procured 80,000 metric tonnes of NPK fertiliser and distributed to smallholder tea farmers at a rate of Sh1700 per 50 kilogramme bag.

The KTDA price was 34 per cent below market rate of Sh2, 300 for the same quantity of fertiliser.