To deal with frequent fears of aflatoxin poisoning in mainly Eastern province, Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday set aside Sh760 million to avoid harvest losses.
For post-harvest management and to reduce losses to farmers, the minister allocated Sh400 million to buy fixed maize driers to be installed in the growing areas not currently served.
He gave another Sh360 million to buy 30 mobile driers to ensure as many farmers as possible dry their maize to reduce post-harvest losses.
For rice farmers, the minister gave Sh525 million to buy and instal 15 milling plants in growing areas.
Regular testing and awareness education to boost farmers and improve post-harvest management will complement the interventions, Mr Kenyatta said.
Agriculture ministry
“I expect the Agriculture ministry, working with the National Irrigation Board, the National Cereals and Produce Board and farmer’s cooperative societies, to develop appropriate governance framework for the management of these driers and rice mills in order to maximise their benefits to our farmers,” he said.
For the fisheries sub-sector, he allocated Sh120 million to build 200 fish ponds in 20 constituencies that were not covered in the first phase. Last year, the government started a project to build 28,000 ponds.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment