Cotton farmers in Kenya have urged the government to subsidise genetically modified cotton seeds due to high cost. Farmer Francis Opallo in Teso South, Busia County, said Bt cotton is high yielding and he has been able to reduce the cost of pesticides.
“A farmer can get between 80 to 100 balls in one Bt tree, unlike the conventional variety that could produce 20 to 25 balls, or even as low as 10,” said the farmer.
Opallo said, however, few farmers can afford the seedlings at Sh2,300 a kilo and urged the government provide the seedlings to farmers on credit, which will attract more farmers.
“At this time, seeds are subsidised but the government cannot afford to continue and will look to the private sector to help revive the cotton sector. A kilo of seeds is enough to plant one acre and despite the high cost of seeds, the returns are worth it if the crop is managed well,” said Opallo.
Quality
Agriculture PS Hamadi Boga said despite their price of Sh2,300 per kilo, these are high-quality seeds unlike the ones farmers are planting.
“This is quality seed that will give a farmer higher yields, they are also guaranteed to save on the cost of pesticides as they need less. This is because the most destructive pest, the cotton boll worm, is managed by the plant so you don’t expect it to be cheap. The cost of other inputs will be lower and the returns are higher,” Boga said.
The PS confirmed farmers are not incurring the cost of seedlings as the government is buying and giving seeds to them. The government is now providing 100 per cent subsidy but going forward, the private sector will provide support to the farmers through contracts, he said.
“The only bottleneck is making the seeds available and the government is only able to provide a limited amount of seeds,” the PS said.
On December 20, 2019, the Cabinet approved commercialisation of GM cotton. In March 2020, the Agriculture ministry started distributing the first batch of the GM cotton seeds to farmers in Western and Nyanza region to plant in the long rains season.
