North Rift region has been referred to as the country's grain basket since time memorial. That might, however, change soon as grain farmers are gradually shifting barley.
This is because of an assured market and better prices for the product compared to maize and wheat.Barley is used in the manufacture of alcohol.Roy and Felix Kili, farmers in Soy constituency, Uasin Gishu County are some of those gradually shifting to planting barley. The two have been planting maize and wheat on large scale basis but because of promising returns, they shifted to barley.They now plant barley on 400 acres up from 200 acres."For wheat, on a good yield, you get between 20-25 bags and a bag of wheat fetches between Sh3, 000 to Sh3200, while for barley, a good yield fetches 25-32 bags per acre with the price ranging from Sh3, 300-Sh3, 600," says Roy Kili.His brother Felix adds, "It's not just the better prices that lure us to practice barley farming but the market assurance from the Kenya Malting Limited a subsidiary of East African Breweries which contracts farmers who plant the crop and supply them with the commodity."Apart from the guaranteed ready market, barley farmers get some incentives whenever their crop meets the required standards."When you fulfill the set requirements you get bonuses for good work. That doesn’t happen with wheat farming," explains Roy.The production cost for barley and wheat is more-less the same since they incur almost similar expenses in pesticides and other requirements.Statistics indicate that Kenya’s barley growing area is around 85,000 hectares but only 20,000 hectares is under barley production, leaving 65,000 hectares under-utilized.Perhaps it's time you also ventured into barley farming and get good returns like Roy and Felix.To be the first to get updates on breaking and trending news in Kenya, send your Whatsapp number to 0740949990.