AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE ENGAGES CECM AGRICULTURE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION STATUS OF THE DEPARTMENT’S ANNUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
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Tuesday,27th February,2024
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The County Assembly Sectoral Committee on Agriculture, Livestock & Fisheries Chaired by East Ugenya MCA, Hon Fredrick Omoro, hosted the County Department of Agriculture, Food Security, Livestock and Blue Economy led by CECM, Sylvester K’Okoth, where they received briefs on the status of procurement of subsidized farm inputs, status of subsidized tractor hire services and the implementation status of the Department’s Annual Development Plan.
In his presentation, the CECM provided a report indicating the status of the procurement of seeds and subsidized fertilizer and echoed the commitment of the county government in the provision of 5600 bags of subsidized fertilizer and 16.35 metric tons of sunflower seeds. He further affirmed that over 200,000 registered farmers have started receiving SMS alerts through the E – voucher system, redeemable within a month. As indicated in the messages, farmers can access these inputs at the four National Cereals & Produce Board (NCPB) depots in Bondo, Yala, Ugunja and Sega.
In a rejoinder, members of the Committee echoed the need to have the fertilizer outlets in each Sub County in a bid to help farmers reduce the collection costs and time wastage.
The members further demonstrated the need to sensitize farmers on the importance of sunflower and cotton farming since Siaya County is a model sunflower and cotton zone and the CIDP has plans to install an oil pressing machine and a cotton ginnery in the County.
On tractor hire services, the department reported that 17 tractors will soon be ready for dispatch to the Sub Counties. This being a key ingredient of the county’s own source revenue, the Department proposed a review of the cost of hiring tractors from the current Ksh. 1,850 to Ksh. 2,500 per acre to cater for repairs, maintenance and running costs.
However, the committee challenged the County Executive Committee to hasten the processing of the Mechanization Bill and factor in the proposed amendment on the cost adjustment.
