Gatundu North Sub-County agricultural officer Elizabeth Mukora has called on farmers to harvest their maize crops before the onset of El Nino rains which are expected in less than two weeks time.
Speaking to journalists in her office on Monday, Mukora noted that many farmers in the area had not taken the El Nino rains warning seriously and were at risk of incurring huge losses in terms of their unharvested crops.
"We reiterate our earlier call to farmers in this area to start harvesting their maize crops now that the weather is favourable even for drying the grains,” said Mukora.
She added that farmers need to harvest their mature maize crops and dry them properly to cushion them from rotting and being infected by dangerous substances like aflatoxins.
Mukora said farmers who do not heed the weatherman's warning may face hunger after they eventually lose their harvest to the rain.
"Prevention is better than cure. Do not wait until you lose everything so that you can believe that the rain was indeed coming,” said Mukora.