Kenya Red Cross secretary general Abbas Gullet with some of the Kitui farmers. [Photo/kbctv.co.ke]
Farmers in Kitui County are poised to earn between Sh3 to Sh5 billion proceeds from the sale of the green grams early next year.
Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Abbas Gullet expressed optimism of a bumper harvest in February, noting that the crop had done extremely well due to the relatively heavy rainfall experienced in the region over the last two months.
“If the rains extend into the New Year, we anticipate a yield of about 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes of green grams, which will translate to an estimated Sh.3 to Sh.5 billion earnings,” he noted.
He spoke when he joined area Governor Charity Ngilu in touring green gram farms in Kavisuni and Miambani areas within Kitui Rural and Kitui Central Sub-Counties respectively.
In September, KRCS donated 400 tonnes of green grams (ndengu) certified seeds to over 200,000 vulnerable farmers across the vast county. Each farmer received two kilos of the seeds.
Gullet said his organisation had set aside Sh.50 million to purchase the produce after harvest in February 2018 while Governor Ngilu revealed plans by her administration to secure a ready market in India in order to protect the farmers from unscrupulous middlemen.