Fake fertiliser puzzle: Push and pull as Nyanza farmers demand refunds from Gov't
The government's message to farmers assuring
them that fertilisers issued under the fertilizer subsidy program are good does
not seem to have reassured farmers.
Despite
calls for testing of suspect fertiliser, more farmers continue to demand
refunds for monies spent, citing a lack of confidence in the product
issued.
In
Kisumu County, small-scale farmers expressed their reservations about the
authenticity of the government-subsidized fertiliser saying they had ways of
determining whether it was the real thing.
Citizen
TV toured Lela village in Kisumu and found Peter Okore loading a heap of
compost manure ready for planting.
In
his house, however, a 50-kilogram bag of the NPK fertiliser rested in one
corner. Okore says he is unsure of the contents of the bag and cannot risk his
anticipated harvest by applying this fertilizer bought from the NCPB store in
Luanda.
“Mwanzo
walitangaza Kakamega ndio waligundua ati mbolea haikua safi, ya pili
wakatangaza huko Molo...sasa vile tuliskia hizi mbili tukasema hapana, wacha
tufungue hizi zetu...sasa kufungua ndio tukaona ilikuwa tofauti na ile ya
mwanzo...tofauti ya kwanza ni ati hii ya saa hii iko na vumbi mingi alafu iko
na vitu kama chumvi chumvi ambayo ni kama tu mawe,” Okore said.
Another
bag bought from a private store contains what the farmers say is the legitimate
fertiliser.
In one bowl they dissolved the fertilizer
from the privately owned store and in another, the NPK 9:16:6 from NCPB, and
after about half an hour they get different results.
The farmers demanded a refund and expressed
reluctance to follow messages sent out by NCPB on the availability of
top-dressing fertilizer.
“Mimi
ata nimepata message hapa ati wako na ile ya top dressing na sasa sina imani,
siwezi haribu pesa kuchukua hiyo top dressing afadhali nichukue mbolea huko kwa
duka ata kama bei yake iko juu tutachukua juu huwa wanatupea kama loan alafu
tunalipa mdogo mdogo,” Sherry Atieno, another farmer in Lela, said.
Teresa
Wagwana added: “Sababu wako na number zetu zenye tulilipa risiti afadhali ata
waturudishie pesa yetu tuende tuchukue ile ya duka ata kama ni ya pesa ya juu
afadhali tuchukue hiyo tusukume nayo.”
This
comes as police in Nakuru arrested three people working for Africa Diatomite
Industries on suspicion of producing substandard fertiliser.
The
three were nabbed with among other things, 4 bags of suspected substandard
fertiliser, 10 sieving wire meshes as well as a copy of the KEBS license issued
to Africa Diatomite Industries.
The
three have been detained at the Muthaiga Police Station pending
arraignment.
With
the government insisting that these samples have to be tested in a laboratory
to prove their legitimacy, farmers are using the age-old method where the
alleged fake fertiliser leaves no trace on the rim of the bowl while the real
one seemingly dissolves one particle at a time.
What remains
to be seen is which of the two sides is right.
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