Grain farmers in Kenya are set to benefit from Hermetic bags that do not require the use of insecticides to prevent pests’ invasion.The hermetic bags can store maize, beans and wheat for two years, making them disease and pest free for a longer time.
The bags were launched on Wednesday after years of trials to test their efficiency before being rolling out to farmers countrywide.
Ministry of Agriculture through the Crop Management and Post-Harvest Unit, in collaboration with US Aid-KAVES, Bell Industries, GrainPro Inc, Elite Innovations, Vestergaard and Agro-Z, have united to roll out the adoption of bags in the country.
It is estimated that over three million bags of maize will be saved from going to waste once farmers adopt the new technology.
“Reduction of post-harvest loss is an important strategy to ensure food and nutritional security and improve farmers income in a sustainable manner,” said Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture Willy Bett said during the launch.
“The government should abolish 16% duty charged on the bags to enable small scale farmers for them to acquire them with ease,” said the representative of manufacturers Bhubhinder Singh.