Farmers in Kiambu County have been asked to make use of the established plant clinics to reduce losses.
Elizabeth Nduta, a field agriculture specialist in Thika said Friday that plant clinics help farmers increase food security and incomes by reducing crop losses to pests and diseases.
“Diseases and nutrients deficiencies are potential threats to food security and household incomes which need to be addressed before farmers start making losses,” she said.
She, however, lamented over the few number of plant clinics in the county.
She said currently, there are only two clinics in the county; in Gatundu South and Thika West sub-counties.
This, she said, makes it difficult for many farmers to access the crucial service.
“The clinics I am talking about are manned by trained plant doctors who will be able to diagnose pests and diseases on the spot at no cost when the farmer produces the sample of the affected plants,” she added.
She urged farmers to maximise them to seek help saying they only need to deliver the samples of sick or affected plants to the clinics and the report and recommendations will be given on the spot by trained plant doctors.
She also decried the low number of growers seeking help from the clinics.
“The response of farmers to attend plant clinics is still low here in Thika and I think in the whole of Kiambu. This has made some farmers lose their crops to the diseases and pests and challenged them to be reporting any signs of diseases or pests to plant clinics,” she said.