Farmers flock to NCPB depot for cheap fertilizer

Hundreds of farmers are thronging the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depot in Eldoret to get cheaper fertilizers ahead of the planting season set to begin in the region.

The parastatal began selling the commodity Monday and the Nation witnessed a long queue at the depot in the town.

The commodity is sold by the board at Sh1800 per bag for two planting varieties and Sh1500 per bag for top dressing fertilizer.

PLANTING SEASON

The board said farmers must be verified first before buying the cheaper commodity. They will also be sold fertilizer that will be commensurate with the size of land being farmed.

Dozens of trucks, tractors and pickups had lined-up outside the depot as farmers rushed to purchase the input ahead of the planting season. The vehicles were used to ferry the fertilizers back home.

Some farmers at the depot protested saying the process was slow.

“The process is cumbersome yet we are spending at least Sh500 daily to travel here. The rains have started and we want to start planting . . . We are urging them to ensure the speed up the exercise,” said

Mr Simon Chirchir, a farmer from Ainabkoi Sub County.

CARTELS

The farmers also said the board could have made access to the commodity easy if they were distributed through various farmers’ cooperatives.

That suggestion has, however, been contested in the past with many farmers saying it opened the way for cartels to thrive.

The NCPB Managing Director Newton Terer asked farmers to be patient as the board continues to sell the commodity.

DELAY

He said their workers were offloading and selling the fertilizers at the same time leading to the delay.

“There are standard procedures that must be followed like checking the authenticity of the vouchers which might slow the process but we will strive to hasten the process. They are offloading the commodity being transported to various depots to have enough stock in the stores and at same time selling it,” he said.

The board last week announced that only the listed farmers will be get the subsidized fertilizer.

Mr Terer said the list is part of measures to ensure that genuine farmers benefitted from the government subsidy.

“The registration process is continuous and those who may not have been listed are asked to do so with Ministry of Agriculture officers,” he said.