Residents of Nyamira have urged the county government to put more emphasis on supporting tea farming which is predominant in the region for the purpose of improving the county’s economy.
Led by Gesima ward MCA Ken Atuti on Monday, they said the sector had been ignored despite contributing to at least 70 per cent on the county’s economy.
They challenged the county government to subsidise fertilisers in a bid to make them accessible and easily available to the ordinary farmers.
“This is an agricultural county and there is need to have more support from the county government. Many farmers in the tea sector are finding it difficult to remain in the industry due to high charges from the KTDA especially the charges on fertilisers. The county should consider subsidising,” Atuti said.
They said the move will see many farmers regain their confidence in the sector since most of them had reportedly uprooted the crop in substitute with subsistence farming.
“As farmers, motivation is dearly needed and the most important thing is to support us. This will make most of us stop uprooting the tea crop for the sake of making the economy of the country steady. Subsidizing of fertilizers is very necessary,” added Mr John Okemwa on behalf of the farmers.
Mr Atuti called upon the agricultural department to work fast and divert some of Sh210 million set aside to support the sector in the 2015/16 financial year to the tea sector since the assembly through the community had reached the recommendation.