Farmers in Kirinyaga County have been advised to collect subsidised fertiliser currently available at National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) stores, even as the government continues to support agricultural productivity across the region.
Speaking at the Sagana depot, Titus Maiyo, the Head of Corporate Communications at NCPB, thanked Kirinyaga farmers for making good use of last year’s subsidy programme, where they collected 164,000 bags of fertiliser.
He revealed that this year, the County has so far received 46,000 bags, out of which 31,000 bags have already been issued to farmers.
“There are still 15,000 bags in our stores ready for collection. More subsidised fertiliser is on the way, including supplies for both planting and top dressing,” Maiyo assured, as he challenged farmers to go for the farm input to boost agricultural production.
He acknowledged that some farmers had experienced delays in accessing fertiliser due to recent demonstrations, during which NCPB offices were vandalised and some critical office equipment and documents were destroyed.
However, he assured the farmers services have resumed fully.
Maiyo also urged farmers not to focus too much on the branding of the fertiliser bags, noting that while packaging might vary, the quality remains high.”
The fertiliser we have at NCPB stores is of the best quality, and we guarantee it will give farmers excellent results,” he claimed.
Maiyo explained that NCPB is working closely with the County Government to ensure more satellite centers are fully operational.
“In Kirinyaga, we have 11 centers, but only 5 are currently serving farmers. We are working to ensure the remaining centers are opened soon,” he noted.
One of the beneficiaries, Meshack Maina, a rice farmer from Mwea, said he had successfully received his subsidised fertiliser allocation: 15 bags for planting and 10 for top dressing.
“This fertiliser will help me save a lot of money. The money I save, I’ll use for other agricultural activities. I encourage fellow farmers to take full advantage of this opportunity,” Maina said.
Sammy Njenga said that the fertiliser is available, but they are experiencing some challenges, like some fertilisers missing in the system, but it was there in the stores.
He urged the NCPB attendants to ensure once the fertiliser is stocked in the stores, they update it on their system to ensure no farmer goes back without it.
He also requested that the fertiliser be distributed to centers near to farmers for the latter to access it with ease.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Florence Wanjiku and Joseph Muriuki, who also called on government officials at the NCPB to ensure all details of the fertilisers they have have been updated to the systems to ensure farmers don’t go home empty-handed while the fertilisers are in the stores.
As planting season approaches, the government’s fertiliser subsidy programme continues to play a key role in supporting food security and reducing production costs for farmers across the country.
By David Wandeto
