Farmers harvesting maize in Bomet, South Rift. [Photo/ plive.co.ke]
An unpredictable short rains patter and the lethal maize disease is foreshadowed to affect maize harvests in South Rift in what could compel the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to extend the duty free maize importation window.
According to a study conducted by Tegemeo Institute of Policy and Research (TIPR), maize harvests will drop to less than two million 90-kilogram bags against the projected 2.9 million bags in the region.Short rains harvests had been expected at the end of July in what informed KRA to peg the duty free maize imports deadline to July from March.Treasury is currently offering subsidies of Sh6 billion to maize importers. This has cut the cost of maize flour to Sh90 from Sh153 in April.“The rains failed in November last year and this coincided with the planting season of the short term crop in the South Rift, this affected a lot of farmers who had to replant in February,” Dr Miltone Ayieko, a research fellow at TIPR said Monday.Some of the farmers, Ayieko said abandoned maize and planted other crops after the former failed.“Acreage on maize went down after some of the growers opted for other crops. The effect of the maize lethal necrosis will also be a factor in cutting down production,” Dr Ayieko said.South Rift harvests were expected to last until September when maize from Western, Nyanza and North Rift hits the market. South Rift harvest failure now means Kenya may import more maize before the main yields.The Ministry of Agriculture expects harvests of 32.8 million 90-kilogram bags, down from 37.1 million bags harvested in 2016.