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According to sources, President William Ruto has directed the Ministry of Agriculture to cut down on DAP fertiliser imports in order to persuade farmers to turn to other alternatives.
To curb stem soil acidity that has been attributed to the continuous use of farm inputs such as DAP fertilisers ( Di-ammonium Phosphate) the Kenyan government has cut the supply of the same. According to sources, President William Ruto has directed the Ministry of Agriculture to cut down on DAP fertiliser imports in order to persuade farmers to turn to other alternatives. Kenya imports about six million bags of DAP fertilisers. The government proposes to buy other fertiliser that will help in improving soil fertility, said a senior source in the ministry.
Though the government has been advocating the use of other types of farm inputs such as NPK (nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), the farmers have been reluctant to do so. The government has removed DAP from the first batch of the subsidized fertiliser that has been distributed to different National Cereals and Produces Depots in the north rift counties. The decision to cut DAP under the subsidy scheme has upset the farmers.
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The Ministry of Agriculture announced in December that it will undertake soil mapping and testing across the country to decide on the type of supplement that will be supplied in each region under the subsidized fertiliser distribution scheme. There have been doubts about the success of the existing fertiliser subsidy scheme in the country.
