Imported fertilizer being offloaded at the Port of Mombasa. [Photo/ graduatefarmer.co.ke]
Farmers will have to wait for slightly longer before receiving cheap fertilizer as government solves logistical challenges delaying its distribution from Mombasa.Crop growers who had already paid for the product have for the last close to three weeks camped at National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depots in North Rift waiting for fertilizer distribution in readiness for farm application.By Monday (May 15) only 26,000 metric tonnes of Calcium Ammonia Nitrate (CAN) used for top dressing had been distributed to parts of Rift Valley.“There was a logistical issue in Mombasa and this is what has delayed the movement of CAN from Mombasa,” said an NCPB official who did not want to be named.Farmers mainly rely on government subsidized fertilizer since it’s cheaper compared to that sold in retail shops. A 50 kilogram bag of the subsidized product sells at Sh1,800 while ordinary business people sell it at Sh2,500.Officials from the Agriculture ministry will meet on Friday to agree on ways of solving the logistical challenge and have the product ferried to depots for collection. The first consignment already loaded in train wagons is expected at the NCPB depot in Eldoret before Saturday.North Rift is set to receive 634,960 bags of fertilizer although some of it could be reserved for the 2018 planting season as the region consumes 400,000 metric tonnes per planting season on average.Farmers mostly affected by the delay are those who use machinery in top dressing since the exercise has to be done before maize attains a particular height.Top dressing is mostly done in May when rains are adequate. Rains play an important role in ensuring the fertilizer is sufficiently absorbed by the crop.Government is in the process of cutting fertilizer imports. Currently, Toyota Tsusho is constructing a fertilizer plant in Eldoret whose completion will cut the product’s price by about 40 percent.