President William Ruto has confirmed new prices of 50 Kg of fertilizers in the second phase of the fertilizer subsidy program.
Addressing the nation on Wednesday, the Head of State noted that the price of fertilizer will drop from Ksh 3,500 to Ksh 2,500.
He continued by predicating a higher uptake of the fertilizer which will translate to higher production of food for the country.
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“At this price, we expect a significantly higher uptake of fertiliser. Since fertiliser is the game-changer of agricultural productivity, this should translate to higher production in the next planting season,” said the President.
President Ruto called on farmers to double the use of fertilizer per acre as the government works on delivering 100,000 tonnes of the commodity.
“In the long rain season, most farmers used one bag of fertiliser per acre. Data shows that if you double the fertiliser per acre, you’ll get more yield of between 12 and 25 bags of maize
Our target is to produce 61 million bags annually between this season and 2027. Long rains usually account for 80 per cent of a season’s production. From the long rain season alone, an estimated yield of 44 million bags is expected, compared to last year’s 32 million bags. As a result of effectively administered strategic interventions, we are definitely on course to meet national demand in full this year,” said President Ruto
At the same time, the Head of State noted that the government will increase the Agriculture Finance Corporation (AFC) budget to Ksh 10 million from 2 million so as to enable farmers access loans with ease.
