Horticulture farmers earned Sh158 billion in 2018

Horticulture farmers in the country earned Sh158 billion from exports in 2018, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) Managing Director (MD) Dr. Esther Kimani has said.
Dr. Kimani said that the earnings were accrued from the sale of flowers (roses), vegetables (French beans and green grams) and fruits (avocado, mangoes, capsicum and macadamia) to mention a few.
She said this on Friday during a field day held at the farm of Chief of Staff and Head of Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) Mr. Nzioka Waita in Sultan Hamud in Mukaa Sub-county.
While saying there were opportunities in agriculture, the MD did not however disclose the amount of money each crop earned during the period under review.
Dr. Kimani advised farmers to only purchase seeds from registered and certified vendors in order to get quality and quantity produce.
“The farmers should take seriously what they have learnt and put it into practice and boost our crop production in the country,” she said.
On his part, the Kilome Member of Parliament (MP) Engineer Thaddeus Kithua Nzambia said lack of water was a major challenge to the farmers in the area.
In this regard, he said that he would lobby in Parliament to ensure more money was allocated to agriculture so that the monies would be channeled to construct earth pans that would help farmers initiate irrigation in their farms.
“I shall lobby for money in budgetary allocations in Parliament. The money will be channeled to remote areas to construct water pans to harvest rain water to help cultivate the land,” he said.
By Patrick Nyakundi