A section of farmers in Murang’a have decried the high cost of farm inputs and the looming scarcity ahead of the planting season.
The farmers claim that farm inputs including certified seeds and fertilizer are not readily
available in local agro vet outlets in some parts of the County while those available are priced highly.
One of the farmers, Jeremiah Thiong’o who spoke to KNA on Monday revealed that prices of maize seeds purchased at several agrovet outlets in the county are extremely high.
Thiong’o, who is a maize farmer, said that one of the popular certified maize seed varieties that farmers in his area plant has seen a price hike of Sh 400.
“In my piece of land, I usually plant maize among other plants. In the recent past, the maize seed variety that I planted called DK cost Sh. 1200, up from Sh 800” said Thiong’o.
He said that he is finding difficulties in acquiring the right seeds due to their high cost and also their scarcity in the market and agrovets.
He further added that he will have to recycle the produce from last season as he can’t afford the price of the high-yielding seeds.
Gabriel Ndirangu another farmer says some of the challenges that he is facing is the scarcity of inputs like fertilizer that he needs to enrich the soils of his farm for higher produce.
Ndirangu says that it was unfortunate that for one to access the subsidized fertilizer provided by the government, one has to be registered with the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).
“I went to NCPB in Maragua but I was not able to access the subsidized fertilizer because I am not a registered member,” he said, adding that he was not among the lucky farmers who had benefited from the program.
He divulged that he was afraid that the county might face famine because many farmers can’t afford the high costs of farm inputs thus leading to poor yields.
Ndirangu observes that there are chances that most likely, farmers will opt to shift from maize planting to alternative crops that are cost-effective such as beans and kale which will in turn disadvantage the nation for there will be no enough food supply.
Grace Ndanu, who sells farm inputs at a local agrovet based in Murang’a town says that her business has not been doing well in terms of sales as a result of what she believes could be the hike in prices of the products.
“For example, a 50kg bag of 23/23 fertilizer which was retailing at Sh. 3500 in the past years, is now selling at Sh 4500 to Sh 5000” she said.
He said that the price hike of about Sh 1500 is making farmers shy away from buying fertilizer thus has negatively affected his business for most of the customers have opted to go for government subsidized fertilizers.
Ndanu further said that some of the farmers have also decided to use organic manure from locally available materials since they cannot afford to purchase either fertilizer from agrovets or subsidized fertilizer offered by the government.
By Anita Omwenga and Beatrice Muchoki
