The Mountain Journal Reporter in Kutus
Kirinyaga County Government is planning
to revive Mwea Cotton Ginnery with the aim of supporting cotton farmers whose number
has risen after the introduction of BT cotton in the county.
Over 100 farmers have this season
planted BT cotton on an estimated 110 acres after receiving seeds from the
Fibre Crops Directorate.
The cotton farmers under Kirinyaga
Cotton Cooperative Society are organized in 5 clusters namely
Riagiceru-Murinduko, South Ngariama, Nyangati, Tebere and Mutithi.
she has tasked the departments of agriculture and that of trade and industries
to work together to ensure that there is increased cotton production and that the
Mwea Ginnery whose operations stopped some years back is revived
will go a long way in enhancing the agricultural potential in the county
whereby farmers will benefit from the sale of their produce, and many jobs
opportunities will be created in the cotton value chain, significantly
contributing to the socio-economic growth and improving livelihoods in the
county.
ginnery will give rise to textile industries in the area thereby creating
investment and employment opportunities for area residents.
advantageous since it will save farmers from the increased cost of production
brought about by the use of insecticides, noting that the conventional varieties
that farmers grow were prone to bollworm attacks which required spraying with insecticides
several times before maturity.
disease resistant, BT cotton takes a short time to mature and yields almost
three times more than the traditional variety.
upgrading of the existing equipment as well as putting in new ones. I have
therefore tasked my officers to look into this and immediately come up with an
operationalization model that can be implemented.”
per acre is projected at 1.4 tons against the regular cotton yields of less
than 0.8 tons per acre. She added that
the
potential for BT cotton in the county is high given that there is over 800
acres of land suitable for cotton production.
agriculture indicate the farm-gate prices for conventional cotton has been about
Sh 52 per kilogram with the price of BT Cotton
variety having a potential of fetching up to Sh 100 per kilo.
Farmers will sell their cotton through
the local cotton cooperative societies to Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA)
appointed ginneries.
This price is expected to go up as
demand for local cotton goes up with the revival of the local textile industry.
growers in Kenya include the recently revived Rivatex textile factory in
Eldoret, Kisumu Cotton Mills (KICOMI) and Mt. Kenya Textiles in Nanyuki.
acres and the farm gate price of BT cotton increases from the current Ksh. 52
to around Ksh. 100 per kilo, we can have farmers in the county earning up to
Ksh. 70 million in a season”. Said Governor Waiguru.
The
government legalized commercial cultivation of BT cotton last year after years
of the trial at Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO)
center in Mwea. It is expected to be a major boost to the manufacturing pillar
of the country’s Big Four Agenda. Our news lines
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