Posted on January, 23, 2019 at 07:47 am
By ANDREW MBUVA
Makueni green gram farmers are set to reap big as the government steps in to promote the crop as a model for the county.
This was announced by Agriculture Principal Secretary Hamadi Boga on Thursday during a county farmers’ field day at Kwa Kathoka KALRO farm.
The event was organized by the county government in collaboration with the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services and was aimed at educating farmers on smart agricultural practices.
It was also meant to educate the farmers on the appropriate seeds to use for maximum productivity.
Boga said the people of Makueni would be given an opportunity to choose one model crop that the ministry would promote through farmer capacity building, marketing and other value chain linkages to ensure maximum profitability.
The farmers, under the guardianship of the Agriculture executive Lawrence Nzunga, picked ‘Ndengu’ as their preferred model crop.
The PS said Agriculture in Africa, Kenya in particular, is not doing good because farmers do it for trial and error purposes.
“Many farmers do not even know the right seeds to plant, they never have their soils tested, never care about the type of the rains or even do a market study of their crops before planting. They just plant anything, sit and wait for harvesting”, Boga said.
He asked farmers to work closely with the available agricultural institutions for proper guidance on what to plant and when.
“Trial and error leads to numerous losses in the sector. Before planting, farmers should get advice on what will do well during which season,” he added.
Makueni governor Kivutha Kibwana, who hosted the PS, said out of the county government’s support and that of its partners, the acreage under pulses (beans, cowpeas, green grams and Dolichos) in the county has increased to 255,432 hectares with an estimated value of over Sh8 billion.
He said the county is now focusing on grain processing with plans to construct an integrated grain processing facility.
This will add value to pulses and enable farmers access both local and export markets, he said.
Source: The Star