A farmer at inspects his maize crop in Mombasa. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
The 2017 maize crop harvest will delay by at least a month over late rains and planting in Rift Valley, the country’s food basket.
Maize farmers in Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia counties usually begin planting in March at the onset of long rains. However, planting delayed this year until mid-April.
Ministry of Agriculture Director of Crops Johnson Irungu said harvesting, as opposed to mid-October, would start in December.
Kenya has been forced to import maize from Mexico to close the domestic shortage gap that pushed up maize flour prices to a record Sh153 in April.
“There were delays in the onset of long rains delaying the planting exercise by a month, this implies that harvesting will start a bit late,” he said.
Dr Irungu said the country expects a good crop in 2017 despite delayed rains.
The country expects short rains crop from South Rift and Eastern Kenya beginning July to ease the staple’s shortage.
The Cereal Growers Association (CGA) said this year’s maize crop was doing well and expects two million bags in the market by end of harvest in July.
“We are expecting a good crop unlike last year. This harvest is going to create a huge impact on the market as we expect prices to come down from the current highs,” CGA chief executive Anthony Kioko said.
The recent drought led to a drop in maize production with only 34.5 million bags harvested. This was a 7.5 million drop from the previous season.