Posted on September, 23, 2019 at 11:16 am
By AGATHA NGOTHO Science Writer - The Star
Farmers want the government to buy maize at Sh3,600, Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny has said.
He said MPs from North Rift will meet with the Strategic Food Reserve board to agree on the price of a 90kg bag.
“We know the government has about Sh6 billion from the sale of 2.3 million bags to millers in May at Sh2,300 per 90kg bag. SFR cannot say they do not have the money to buy maize from farmers. This year, we will camp at the National Cereals and Produce Board stores if we have to,” he said.
A 90kg bag of maize is currently selling at between Sh2,500 and Sh2,700.
Kutuny spoke on Thursday at the Ngonyek Cooperative Society where Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri was distributing milk coolers to dairy farmers.
Harvesting of maize has started in Western and North Rift regions.
Agriculture CAS Andrew Tuimur said the country is expecting a harvest of 33 million bags of maize this year, which is 11 million bags less than last year's 44 million bags.
“The acreage under maize production has reduced due to challenges faced by farmers. The delay in rain and lack of fertiliser for the long rain planting season made farmers reduce their acreage, while others shifted from maize farming to growing of early maturing crops like wheat,” Tuimur said.
Last year, Tuimur said, the area under maize production was 5.4 million acres which has dropped to 3.7 million acres this year. This is a 1.7 million-acre drop.
The country consumes 52 million bags of maize annually, which means there will be a deficit of 19 million bags of maize by June next year.
SFR board chairman Noah Wekesa, however, warned that due to the October rains, the country is likely to suffer from post-harvest losses.
"The rains may affect the drying of maize. Storage has been a big problem for small scale farmers. County governments should provide driers for farmers to help maximise the yields," he said.
Governor Patrick Khaemba said they have so far purchased four driers; two from the national government and two from the county.
He said they plan to have a maize drier for every ward in the county to help cushion farmers form post-harvest losses.
Khaemba said the county expects a harvest of 5.6 million bags of maize this season. This is an increase of 300,000 bags from last years' harvest of 5.3 million bags.
Wekesa said due to the ongoing harvests, the country is out of the woods as for now as far as maize shortage is concerned.
But some millers who spoke to the Star on condition of anonymity said the supply of maize is still low and will remain so until November when the local maize hits the market.
One miller said, “The maize inflows from Tanzania are drying out and what we are getting from Uganda is not dry and has a high moisture content of between 16-14 instead of the required 13.”
Source: The Star