Small scale farmers in Homa Bay County are set to benefit from 183 tons of subsidized seeds and farm mechanization services to boost food production.
The 90,000 farmers who previously relied on manual labor have a reason to smile as the County government through the Department of Agriculture commissioned four tractors to assist in land tillage.
As she flagged off the consignment of seeds at her office, Governor Gladys Wanga said the programme was meant to subsidize cost of production and ploughing to ensure food security in the County.
Previously, the farmers could not afford to purchase and manage modern agricultural machinery and heavily relied on hiring tractor services and other farm machines from neighboring counties which proved to be costly.
With subsidization, farmers will now pay Shs. 3500 to the County revenue account to hire a tractor to till an acre of land against the market rate of Shs.4500.
“The County government developed this initiative to provide timely mechanization for the farmers at subsidized cost,” she said.
These services which will aid in land preparation, she added, will increase productivity and production to reach the County’s potential.
By assisting in land preparation, the tractors will also ensure timeliness of operations, quality services and lower cost of production through subsidies.
The TT75 make tractors which will bridge the gap in mechanization were procured from CMC Motors Limited at a cost of Shs. 16.4 million.
On the other hand, the subsidized 83,677 two-kilogram bags of maize and 8,125 two-kilogram bags of sorghum were secured from Kenya Seeds Company Limited, which Wanga said are of quality and suitable for Homa Bay.
The seeds are projected to increase yields of both cereals in the County during the long rain season by 167,104 and 40,000 bags respectively.
With a population of more than one million people, Homa bay requires approximately 1,230,427 90kg bags of maize to attain food security for its residents.
Source: Kenya News Agency