Sample bags of blended fertilizers manufactured by the Toyota Tsusho Fertilizer factory in Ngeria, Eldoret town. [Photo: Facebook/ Baraka Fertilizer - Toyota Tsusho Fertilizer Africa Ltd]
The national government has been urged to allocate more funds to the blended fertilizer plant in Eldoret town so as to enable it to provide subsidized fertilizer to farmers.
Farmers in Uasin Gishu county say there is the need for the blended fertilizer manufactured for specific soils to be availed to them at a subsidized price.
Speaking in Eldoret on Wednesday, the Kenya Farmers Association (KFA) Uasin Gishu branch director Kipkorir Mejo said the current price for blended fertilizer is too high.
"The government needs to provide a subsidy to the factory so that it manufactures enough fertilizer which will be sold to farmers at a subsidized price," Menjo said.
"The fertilizer manufactured by that factory is soil specific and it will boost production since already mapping had been done in the county before production begun," he added.
The Toyota Tsusho Fertilizer factory located in Nigeria, several kilometers from Eldoret town manufactures blended fertilizer under the brand of Baraka Fertilizer.
A 50-kilogram bag of the fertilizer retails at sh3,200 compared to about sh1,700 that farmers pay for the other subsidized fertilizer imported by the government and sold to farmers through the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depots.Ends