Farmers in Kiambu County have been encouraged to purchase fertilizer from the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) to avoid exploitation by middlemen.
Gatundu North NCPB deputy chairman Simon Njogu said there was enough Nitrogen Phosphorous, Potassium fertiliser at Kamwangi depot adding that a 50Kg of the fertiliser is selling at shs. 1,500 after being subsidised by the national government.
"This fertiliser has arrived early enough so as to benefit many farmers in the county during this planting season. We are selling it at such a cheap cost to cover all large and small scale farmers," he said
Njogu said Calcium, Ammonium, Nitrogen fertiliser that is used for top dressing will be arriving in the depot in a month’s time. He advised farmers that buying fertilizer from retail outlets could be very expensive as most of them sell up to double the price at NCPB.
The chairman added NCPB is currently buying maize from farmers at a price of Sh2,400 per bag.
"The maize should be of good quality, free from insects, low moisture content and clean," he told farmers.
Njogu said NCPB is currently not buying beans from farmers saying that what they only do is to provide services such as drying, cleaning and storage to the farmers.
Kamwangi NCPB depot has a capacity of 2,500 bags of maize.