Soil testing
Karen Ayabei, an agronomist with OCP a Moroccan based Fertiliser Company has said the company will train 1000 farmers from Elgeyo Marakwet county on the value of soil health in a bid to maximise food production.
The agronomist said results of soil testing in the county had shown that most of the soils are acidic with very low Ph levels which was affecting food production. Speaking during the launch of soil testing results in Bugar Keiyo North sub county, the agronomist said soils in the area were deteriorating saying there was need to reverse the trend to ensure that the country is food secure.
She continued that the results had shown that there was low level of phosphorous in soils in the highlands compared to the soils in Kerio Valley. “There is need to increase the levels of phosphorous levels in the highlands where farmers grow potatoes which require the nutrients to grow,” she said.
The CECM agriculture Edwin Seroney said the company had conducted soil testing for 75 farmers from each ward saying the results will guide farmers on which type of fertilizer to use pointing out that continued haphazard use of fertiliser had led to the high levels of acidity in the soils.
“The results will be of much importance to us as our farmers will know what type of fertilizer to use to increase their yields,” he said. A farmer Hillary Kiprono hailed the move saying he has been spending a lot of money in buying fertilizer to apply to his shamba but with no success.
“I was spending lots of money to buy fertiliser but I have now realised I was buying the wrong fertilizer. With these results, I will buy the right type of fertiliser required for the soil in my farm,” he said. He added that from the training given, he had learned that early planting was important for the crops to benefit from nitrogen.
Pascaline Chepkok said she had learned the importance of soil analysis and testing saying it was important in not only increasing yield but also in managing crop diseases.