Bean Production in Bungoma Falls Below Expectation

Farmers in Bungoma County may incur losses this season as beans in most farms failed to produce to their expectations.

Despite the fact that there was enough rain during the planting season, the rain disappeared just when the beans were flowering hence affecting their production. When beans flower, they often need a considerable amount of rain to keep them moist. When the rain disappeared, sunshine and wind took over blowing away most of the flowers from the beans.

“The rain gave us hope and we looked forward for a good harvest but it disappeared when we needed it the most,” said Mr Wanjala Okumu, a small scale farmer in Musikoma, Bungoma County.

Elsewhere, in Uasin Gishu County, most farmers are still worried about the harvest this years as their young maize which turned yellow at germination still maintains the same colour four almost three months now. According to most farmers, the subsidized fertilizer given to them by the government may have been the cause as most of them were discouraged from using DAP type of fertilizer. This was after it was found out that DAP was increasing the acidity of the soils, something that would have affected production of crops in the future.

Read: Investing in Agriculture in Bungoma County

In Mount Elgon, onion farmer are calling on the National Government as well as the County Government to help better the roads in the area so as to facilitate the transport of their crops to the market. Most roads in the region are in a dilapidated condition and the main form of transport is the use of donkeys. People in this region mainly grow onions, irish potatoes as well as maize but the impassable roads, especially during rainy seasons, have hampered agricultural developments in this region.

“This is a fertile region but it has always been forgotten. People thing that we are still primitive but it is all about being forgotten,” said Mr Peter Cheptonon, a primary school teacher.