Nairobi — Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has flagged off a 45,000-tonne subsidized fertilizer consignment for tea farmers at the Port of Mombasa.
The subsidized fertilizer to be accessed at Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) tea buying centers will retail at Sh2,500 per 50kg bag, the CS said on Thursday.
Linturi said the government will avail 7 million bags of fertilizer in 2024.
"This will cut across priority value chains as defined in the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA)," the CS noted, speaking that Port of Mombasa, on Thursday.
He reiterated the government's commitment to lower the cost of inputs noting that the price of fertilizer had fallen progressively from Sh6,500, Sh3,500 to the present Sh2,500.
"The Government has prioritized provision of fertilizer to ensure that farmers can competitively produce crops, sustain agricultural production and productivity; and contribute to management of the cost of living," Linturi explained.
Linturi announced the introduction of 25kg bags to ease the application of fertilizer in farms.
He restated the government's commitment to support smallholders farmers through access to key inputs thus cushioning them from high prices in the free market.
