Nyamira farmers have called on the government to supply them with disease resistance maize seeds to reduce losses and increase food production in the County.
Nyamira County has been hit with a strange maize disease which destroys the stable food crop at early stages leading to low yields in the area. The crop which supports the livelihoods of most residents in the Gusii region has not done well in the last two years and this has put the lives of many people between a rock and a hard surface.
There is still no resistant maize variety as agricultural developed against the disease which was first experienced in 2011 in Bomet, with experts advise farmers to practise shifting cultivation to make the virus dormant and die.
The maize disease, identified as Maize Lethal Necrosis disease (MLND) has symptoms resembling that of maize streak, but it destroys the cobs at the stages of flowering and later the whole plant dries it up.
Thomas Onyancha who owns 3acres of land says that the crop has been his source of capital and has supported him raise his family and educate his siblings. He says that he totally depended on maize farming but the strange disease has totally frustrated him since the yields have dropped drastically over the last two years.
“Maize farming has been everything to me, it paid all my bills and even paying my children’s fees was never a problem but since the virus came, we are unable to meet our targets because of low yield," he said.
Onyancha and many other farmers in the region say they have been reduced to beggars due to the deadly maize disease. They are calling on the government and the agriculture sector to come to their aid by finding a lasting solution to this problem.
“The government should not sit and watch while we suffer; it should instead come with a variety that will resist the disease because we depend on this crop for our daily lives," said Onyancha.
The government had advised them to shift from maize farming to other crops like beans, peas and sorghum for a period of time in order to stop multiplication of the virus.