A ravaging Maize disease has
crumbled the hopes of harvesting for many farmers in Bomet County this season.
The strange disease has infected swaths of acreage of corn fields, threatening
food security in the area and the country at large. Chebole Sub-location is one
of the worst hit places. Many farmers are counting losses after banking all
their money, energy and time on maize farms expecting high yields as usual.
That was not going to be the case this year! Farmers have suffered heavy losses.
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Maize plant infected with maize
lethalnecrosis disease
(MLND)
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Paul Langat 45, a maize farmer
planted in January as he had routinely done for the last 27 years. He recalls
buying ‘‘certified seeds’’ from a licensed dealer. “I bought Hybrid Maize
number 614 which is planted in this place from a dealer certified by the Kenya
Seed Company. I tilled my land at a cost of Ksh 6000 for both 1st and 2nd tillage. Since I could not get subsidized
fertilizer I had to buy a 50kg bag at Ksh 4,000 and used Ksh 4,000 to weed the
farm. I have spent more than twenty thousand shillings only for the tragedy to
strike,” Paul lamented.
Six months down the line Paul went back to his farm.
This time round not to harvest or reap green maize but to slash them down and
feed them on livestock. He has never witnessed such a thing since 1985 when he
started farming.
He remembers very well
the genesis of the disease. The Maize turned yellow starting from the top
drying downwards. Those which had carried cobs had the leaves around the cob
drying up and the maize cob start to rot inside! Later, the stock becomes weak
and rots, eventually making the plant to succumb to the wasting disease.
Paul usually harvests 16
bags from his one acre farm. This year
he will see none of it, he is a hopeless man! Being a family man he has never
known hunger in his household and he has real fears over what lies ahead of
him. He stakes his hopes on the government that it will intervene and address
their plight. However, from the recent turn of events, his hopes have been
dashed after the minister for Agriculture; Dr. Sally Kosgei visited Bomet
County. ‘‘She never gave any tangible solution to curb the problem’’ said Paul.
Recently-subsidized fertilizer were issued in the area but were allegedly sold
by those giving out.
Paul has been farming
maize for both subsistence and commercial purposes. He is a very worried man
because his children are in primary school; they need food, fees and other
items. One of his children is expected to join secondary school next year. He
blames the Ministry of Agriculture for doing little to alleviate their woes.
Allegedly, the ministry has not been facilitating efficient distribution of
information in the area.
They rarely conduct
field days. According to Paul, the last field day was held near his village
more than a year ago. ''The officers are not pro-active, they only identify a
hard working farmer and parade themselves in the farm to claim credit where it
is not due for them'' He said. Farmers in the area suspect on the branded
certified seeds. ‘‘In fact those who planted seeds right from their stores are
better off than those who went for the certified ones’’ Paul observed.
Paul is pleading
for government intervention, i.e.
to provide information on the suitable crops to plant and supply alternative
crops like sorghum and beans together with fertilizer so that they can replant.
Amazingly, the little
sorghum he had planted to supplement flour in his family did very well. He only
wishes that he would have opted for sorghum instead of maize had he known the
predicament lying ahead. This is already a pointer for the direction farmers
may take in the future to avoid the maize disease.
One only wonders about
the role of government agencies. Kenya Bureau of Standards and the Kenya Seed
Company have done very little as much as they are charged with quality control
measures. ‘‘How could fake seeds find their way into the hands of the farmers
without their hawk eyes realizing it?’’ Paul wondered.
The other viable
activity in the area is dairy farming. However, milk prices are unpredictable;
prices are high during the dry season but now very low due
to oversupply occasioned by plenty pasture. This has also
discouraged many farmers and they feel abandoned by the government.
Political activities are
at a boiling point in Bomet County, but Paul is not moved. He vows to give a
wide berth this time round to the electoral process since the political class
has turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to their plight. He claims that, theirs
is only to increase their perks and leave them agonizing with farming problems
yet they know agriculture is the sole source of livelihood for the people of
Bomet.
On behalf of many
farmers affected by the disease, Paul is pleading for immediate intervention by
the government to avert a food crisis and resulting poverty.
