Kang'ata distributes fertiliser, maize seeds worth Sh88m to Murang'a farmers

Murang'a County Government will distribute free maize seed worth Sh33 million to 57,975 farmers, Governor Irungu Kang'ata has announced.

They will also get Sh55 million worth of planting and top dressing fertiliser.

Governor Kang'ata has since met with sub-County farmer representatives from all the Murang'a's 35 wards at the County headquarters for a consultative session on the distribution of the hybrid seeds under the Inua Mkulima Programme.

"The seeds will be distributed to 57,975 registered farmers across Murang'a County, with the varieties tailored to suit the specific regions to maximize productivity," he said on Monday in Gatanga constituency.

He added: “Each farmer will receive one(1) packet weighing 2 kilos of hybrid seeds. This initiative aims to enhance food production, commercialise maize farming, and boost farmers' income in the county.”

He said inability to afford certified seeds is the  main bottleneck to the county's food security, saying area farmers can produce 28 million kilos of maize per season.

"It is in pursuit of that goal that we have procurred the seeds on behalf of our farmers to be distributed free of charge ahead of November-December rain season which meteorologists have since warned that it will be below par," he said.

However, many farmers lamented that the challenge of vervet monkeys risks sabotaging the Kang'ata seeds programme.

"First let us not believe that these maize seeds are free of charge. It is our money that he has used to buy them and fuel the vehicles that are distributing them in the wards. We are also paying those recruited to oversee the distribution as well as allowances of those coordinating distribution," said Mr James Mungai,63, from Ithanga Kakuzi sub-County.

He added that the vervet monkeys have become a major risk in the area, hampering agricultural activities in a major way.

On May 10, 2024, President William Ruto while on a tour of Maragua constituency as informed by farmers about the monkeys' threat, he issued a directive that has remained ignored that Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) deals with the menace.

The president directed KWS in the county to commence hunting down the estimated 100,000 vervet monkeys accused by farmers of threatening area food security and crop trade.

"I have been informed that monkeys are a real problem here destroying crops and frustrating farmers. The KWS director here must drive them out of farms and restrict them," president Ruto said.

President Ruto said agricultural performance is key to his transformation plan and all threats that can be dealt with through direct government action must be addressed effectively, so far KWS remaining unmoved as the primates run amok in the farmers' lands.