Posted on February, 12, 2019 at 08:58 am
By VICTOR AMADALA
High fertiliser prices have forced maize farmers in Trans Nzoia County to exchange two -90 kilogramme bags of maize for a 50 kilo bag of fertiliser ahead of planting season.
A market survey by the Star over the weekend in Kitale and Moi’s Bridge towns found a 50 kilogramme bag of DAP fertiliser retailing at between Sh3,100 and Sh3,500, almost twice last season’s price of Sh1,800.
Retailers said demand has pushed up prices ahead of the planting season expected to commence early next month.
“New prices are based on market forces of demand and supply. There are very limited bags left in stores. No shop in Moi’s Bridge for instance has CAN fertilizer,’’ said Harun Waititu who operates several farm input stores in Moi’s Bridge, Maili Saba and Kitale.
Farmers have termed the increase as exploitation, blaming it on uncertainty and delay of the government’s fertilser subsidy programme.
Ezekiel Chirchir, a maize farmer in Simatwet told the Star that a bag of fertiliser is now going for the same price with two-90 kilogramme bags of maize whose sale price has dropped significantly following a glut in the market. ‘’It currently makes no business sense to buy fertiliser to grow maize. Why should I sell two bags of maize only to buy a single bag of fertiliser? The government is not being fair to us. No subsidized fertilizer, no farming,’’ Chirchir said.
Silas Walubengo said that he had to sell most of his maize at a throwaway prices to middle-men in order to prepare for the upcoming planting season. ‘’I had to trade my maize for fertiliser since government was reluctant to buy my produce and now delay in releasing fertiliser. Most of my produce rot due to lack of effective storage facilities,’’ Walubengo said.
Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri was yesterday summoned to appear before the National Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Livestock to explain measures he is taking following a delay in the supply of subsidised fertiliser for maize farming. He said the procurement process is underway and that farmers will receive subsidised fertiliser starting February 18.
Source: Business Daily