By Joel Chacha/Kenya,Nairobi,
Kenya is stepping up efforts to ensure that fertiliser used by farmers matches the specific needs of their soils, as the government raises concern over the widespread acidity of the country’s arable land.
Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Sen. Mutahi Kagwe said farmers need to test their soil before choosing fertiliser, warning that subsidised inputs can fail to deliver the expected results when they are applied without knowing the condition of the land.
CS Kagwe made the remarks at KALRO Kabete during the launch of the National Soil Partnership, the National Soil Laboratory Network and the national rollout of the Global Soil Doctors Programme.
He also handed over the refurbished KALRO Soil Chemistry Laboratories, valued at 220 million Kenya shillings.
“A bag of the wrong fertiliser, delivered on time, at half the price, to the wrong soil, is still the wrong fertiliser,” CS Kagwe said. “Subsidy without a soil test is sympathy. It is not strategy.”
CS Kagwe said his own experience as a farmer had shown him the importance of understanding soil conditions before applying fertiliser. He said a soil test revealed that he had been adding nutrients that were already present in his land while failing to supply those that were lacking.
“I was not farming. I was gambling. I was farming blind,” he said.
The Cabinet Secretary compared soil testing to medical diagnosis, drawing on his previous experience as Health Cabinet Secretary. He said a competent doctor does not prescribe treatment before examining a patient, yet farmers have often applied the same fertiliser to soils with different conditions.
According to CS Kagwe, roughly 63 per cent of Kenya’s arable land is acidic, while close to seven million acres are strongly acidic. He warned that in such areas, applying fertiliser without first addressing soil acidity can result in farmers spending money without achieving the yields they expect.
More than 8 million farmers are registered on the Kenya Integrated Agricultural Management Information System (KIAMIS), while more than 180,000 bags of subsidised fertiliser were moved daily through National Cereals and Produce Board stores and registered outlets at the height of a planting season, CS Kagwe said.
He said the next step is to make the distribution and use of these inputs more precise by ensuring that farmers receive fertiliser that responds to the needs of their soils.
CS Kagwe directed KALRO to continue analysing about 77,000 soil samples collected across 45 counties and to publish county-level soil fertility maps for public use.
The Ministry and KALRO will also work towards linking soil test results to KIAMIS so that, over time, a farmer’s subsidy support can reflect the specific needs of their soil.
The refurbished KALRO Soil Chemistry Laboratories at Kabete are expected to reduce the time required to deliver soil testing results to farmers.
“A soil result that arrives after the rains have come is a historical document, not a farming decision,” CS Kagwe said.
The National Soil Partnership will bring together the national government, county governments, KALRO, universities and the private sector to coordinate soil-related work and share information.
The National Soil Laboratory Network will establish common standards for soil testing, while the Global Soil Doctors Programme will equip farmers with knowledge to understand their soils and share that knowledge with other farmers.
CS Kagwe urged county governments to co-finance soil testing services and bring them closer to farmers. He also called for greater use of lime in areas with acidic soils and urged farmers to restore organic matter in their land.
He further warned that the government’s crackdown on counterfeit, expired and substandard agricultural inputs would continue, saying accurate soil advice would have little value if the contents of a farm product did not match its label.
Addressing farmers, CS Kagwe urged them to test their soil before planting, purchase the inputs required by their land and treat the soil as an asset to be protected for future generations.
“For a hundred years we have asked our soils what they can give us. Today we begin, at last, to ask them what they need,” CS Kagwe said.
CS Kagwe also appealed to the Public Service Commission to allow KALRO to recruit more researchers, saying the institution needs additional expertise to make full use of 170 pieces of research equipment expected to arrive.
“We cannot invest in equipment and then lack the people to put it to work. KALRO needs sufficient researchers to turn that investment into practical solutions for our farmers,” CS Kagwe said.
