MPs want free inputs for farmers

Parliament’s Agriculture Committee wants the government to supply free fertiliser and seeds to all the small-scale farmers in the country.  

The call for free farm inputs is buttressed by a proposal for a ban on maize imports.

The committee wants all the money earmarked for maize imports to be pumped into the purchase and distribution of farm inputs, and to shift the country into irrigation. This came as MPs pushed for the approval of Sh22 billion for the Ministry of Agriculture.

In their report to the House on the budget for the next financial year, the MPs have also proposed that price for fertilizer used for planting be capped at Sh1,600 per a 50-kg bag, and that used for top-dressing, be capped at Sh1000 per bag.

The price for the Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) –used for planting; and that of Calcium Ammonium Nitrate –used to nourish growing crops in what is called top-dressing, have been ranging between 2,500 and 3,200 per 50kg bag.

If the House approves the price reduction, the Treasury will need to look for money to pay for the subsidy. This is good news for the farmers and the country as it is one of the key investments that the country will have to take to lower food prices and foster food security.

The MPs said the National Cereals and Produce Board should have enough money to “guarantee” that it will buy the maize that the farmers grow.

The committee has also said that the Sh17 billion that had been recommended for the purchase of 5.7 million bags of maize be used to initiate drip irrigation in the country. The money had been sought from the Treasury but the Treasury rejected and listed it as one of the items that remained a “pending expenditure”. There were queries as to who sought the colossal amount given that the ministry of Agriculture and that of Special Programmes had no idea as to the source of the figures. It raised fears of corruption.

The committee has also tightened the screws on the government’s four-decade plan to build a fertilizer factory with an express order that the plans should be “fast-tracked to curb the high cost of fertilizer”.

The MPs have also asked President Kibaki to re-organise his government and move the irrigation docket from the Ministry of Water to the Ministry of Agriculture, which is “in charge of food production” and with the “capacity to deal with irrigation matters” in the country.

As soon as that is done, the committee has demanded that the National Irrigation Board be forced to “take on board all the small and large irrigation schemes in the country.”

The recommendation for a re-organisation in government come just days after the committee proposed a ban on flood irrigation saying that it was archaic, expensive and a threat to soil fertility.

The committee is also targeting the Strategic Grain Reserve, currently under the ministry of Special Programmes, to come under the Agriculture docket so that there’s a cohesive policy on food security.

The lawmakers also want Sh350 million to revive the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya. They say that pyrethrum is in demand across the globe and as such the allocation will open doors for the once profitable commodity to contribute to the growth of the economy.

The MPs have also directed the Agricultural Development Corporation not to proceed with the sale of the Galana ranch. They said that ADC should instead use the farm to plant maize using “drip irrigation”.

The report will be debated and once adopted, it will included in the budget for the next financial year 2012-2013.