Nairobi — President William Ruto now says the government will use public land to produce food and seeds to curb the rising cost of living in the country.
The President emphasized that his government has already earmarked the National Youth Service (NYS) and Kenya Prisons Service among state-owned properties for agricultural activities.
"We will cultivate all the land belonging to Kenya Prison Service instead of us looking for funds to feed the prisoners; we will farm on their land, feed them and sell the extra produce. We will use all the idle land in the NYS and KDF," President Ruto said.
He was speaking at Anglican Church of Kenya Diocese of Eldoret during its commemoration of the 40th Anniversary where he mentioned that this will reduce the importation of food and cut back expenditure of Sh500 billion.
"Next year will be the last year that we will import maize into the country to factor the gap in the production. We will produce enough maize for our consumption. My plan is to make sure we don't import food into the country," he stated.
The Head of State noted that the agricultural sector remains the backbone of Kenya's economic and industrial development, particularly income generation and provision of raw materials.
The President rallied farmers to increase the amount of fertilizer used in their farms to boost their output.
President Ruto said increased fertilizer use in his farm boosted his harvest and urged farmers to do the same.
"We can double our production with fertilizer and we have reduced it to Sh2,500 and the profit is yours. It's up to you and the difference will be made through increased fertilizer use," the President said.
He said data shows that if one doubles their fertilizer per acre, they will get more yield from between 20 and 25 bags per acre.
The Head of State said many farmers who use one bag per acre get anywhere between 12 and 15 bags.
President Ruto noted that the government has reduced the cost of drying the grain which will assist farmers in reducing post-harvest losses by ensuring their maize is properly dried and stored.
"We don't want to farmers to dry maize on the roads. In the NCPB the drying services which you use to pay Sh300 will now be reduced to Sh70 for 90kg sack. It will be cheaper than drying on the road," he stated.
