The government has set aside Sh6 billion for the fertiliser subsidy programme and another Sh2.4 billion for production of high quality semen to improve the country’s food security and boost farmers returns.
Speaking at the third State House Summit, which focussed on the agricultural sector, Agriculture Cabinet secretary Willy Bett also said the government will give priority to mechanisation, technology and value addition to reduce cost of production and improve livelihoods.
And to improve livestock breeds, the government has invested heavily in research, which has led to improvement of local animal breeds and development of efficient vaccines to mitigate against livestock diseases. “As a government, we want to bring down the cost of inputs such as fertiliser.
We have invested Sh6 billion to subsidise fertilisers so that farmers can increase their productivity and returns for their investment and also stabilise the prices. We are looking forward to expand the fertiliser subsidy so that farmers who plant other consumable crops can also benefit,” the CS said adding that the government will now expand the fertiliser subsidy to other food consumables such as rice, potatoes and cassava.
On agricultural mechanisation and automation, he said the government’s intention is to ensure that the use of machines, especially by smallholder farmers, has moved from 30 per cent to 50 per cent.
He said the government has started with the mechanisation of rice in Mwea irrigation and escalate the programmme to other areas. “Mechanisation will ensure farmers get the right quality of produce to processors. We are prioritising the use of mechanisation and technology to encourage the youth to get in to farming by looking at it as something cool.
In the livestock sector, the CS said that the government has invested Sh2.4 billion in the production of high quality semen for Artificial Insemination (AI) from 500,000 doses to 900,000 doses and also brought the cost of semen down from Sh1,200 to Sh600.
“Some counties have even subsidised it further to Sh200 and others give it for free. We have also built liquid nitrogen plants to assist in the storage of semen.” The government has also built 180 milk cooling plants across the country, with plans underway to increase them to 900 before the end of the year so that farmers can store their milk as they look for better markets and prices for their produce.
To counter diseases, the CS said the government has improved the production of vaccine from 36 million to 60 million doses, which now gives the ministry the capacity to vaccinate all animals in the country.
The ministry is also using the new oil vaccine which is given once a year to replace the water vaccine, which is given to animals four times a year. However, Bett agreed that the tea, coffee and sugar sectors have had several challenges but the government is working to ensure the sectors are streamlined.
“We formed task-forces for the tea and coffee sectors. We are now implementing the resolutions and recommendations from these task-forces to ensure the sectors are again vibrant. As for sugar, it is the question of the cost of production and technology.
But the government is working to ensure the communities which depend on the commodity do not suffer,” he said. Water and Irrigation Cabinet secretary Eugene Wamalwa said the government is on course to achieve the one million acres under irrigation. Currently 483,000 acres of land have been put under irrigation.
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