By Okong’o Oduya
Busia County, Kenya: Farmers who adopted the BT cotton variety for the first time in their demonstration farms in Busia County are positive about the variety.
They say for two months after planting the variety the output is appealing compared to old cotton varieties they have planted before.
Francis Okuku Juma cotton, a farmer in Busia County, attested that the variety is doing well for the period of two months the plant has been in his field.
He says despite planting without fertilizer, the plant is still healthier compared to the previous varieties he has been planting.
“It is two months since I planted this variety, it is very healthy. I have never applied any fertilizer nor spray but it is healthy as you can see,” he said.
He noted that after the first weeding he will apply some fertilizer and also spray to be sure of a bumper harvest.
Francis Opailo , a cotton farmer from Apegei in Teso North says he used to plant the old variety that was not doing well after undergoing education from the agricultural officers, he says he expected a good harvest from the BT cotton variety.
Opailo says he planted the seed in March this year and it shows signs of doing well in terms of produce after adhering to the guidelines he was given by the agricultural field officers from Busia county government.
Maureen Adhiambo is an agricultural extension officer in Nambale Sub County says after visits and training to farmers a number of them have embraced cotton farming calling upon other farmers to embark on cotton farming.
She called upon youths and women to take part in BT cotton farming business adding that they should not fear poor yield.
“We are currently working on demonstration farms on BT Cotton in several places in the county and I can tell this variety will revive the cotton sector in the county. It is easy to manage compared to the old varieties. I wish to call upon more farmers especially women and youths to embrace BT cotton farming.”
Gregory Odenya, an agricultural officer with Mahyco Kenya, the company that was mandated to supply BT cotton seeds in Kenya says Busia was given 290 kilograms of BT cotton seed variety to distribute to farmers in their field demos before they fully adopt the crop.
Besides BT variety, Odenya says the county was given 2,680 other hybrid varieties to farmers mostly in Funyula Sub County because of the Mulwanda ginnery that is located in the region.
He noted that both BT cotton and Hybrid varieties are productive and resistant to challenges facing cotton farming in Kenya.
“Our seeds are hybrid, both BT and non-BT variety. Busia County we were given 290 BT variety seed and 2,680 non-BT hybrid and almost 20 percent was taken to farmers in Funyula. This was because the region has ginnery that will require raw material. The area is well known in producing the cotton among other reasons that contributed in directing our effort in the region,” he noted.
For good produce, Odenya advised farmers to plant on time between the month of June and August using fertilizer or manure saying that failing to adhere to instructions will lead to poor yield.
The farmers are now calling upon the government to speed up the process of revamping ginnery in Busia County to provide a market to their products once they start harvesting by December this year.
“From the look of things we are going to have a lot of cotton produce from our farms. If the current situation in the ginning sector will continue we might end up with produce that has no market. Let the government revamp ginneries in Mulwanda, Nambale, and Malakisi where we will be taking our products,” Opailo said.
Funyula Member of Parliament Dr. Oundo Mudenyo assured cotton farmers in the county that Mulwanda ginnery will be soon in operation.
Mudenyo noted that the machines that were missing to enable reviving the ginnery are already at the port of Mombasa waiting to be cleared after inspection by the Kenya Bureau of statistics before they are installed at Mulwanda cotton.
He asked the people of Busia to embark on cotton farming saying Busia has got great potential to produce enough cotton to feed the ginnery.
“The ginnery will be running by November this year. The machines are already in the country just waiting for inspection and approval by the Kenya Bureau of statistics before they are installed in the factory.
I just want to ask the people of Busia to utilize this period to plant more cotton to feed the ginnery with enough raw materials once it will be ready to start ginning.” He said
He revealed that the ginnery already has money to start buying cotton from farmers dismissing fears from a section of farmers that they may lack a market for their produce.
Economically, Mudenyo said with the introduction of Hybrid variety to the market, farmers will be able to harvest up to 1800 kilograms of cotton per one hectare, selling each kilogram at sh52 will be enough money to the farmers to help uplift their lives economically besides offering job opportunities to more than 300 people who will be directly employed in the ginnery.
“One kilogram of cotton will cost Sh52, and with the new seed variety, approximately 1800 kilograms per hectare will be harvested. More than 300 people will be employed in the ginnery, directly employed, this will have a great impact economically not just to cotton farmers but to the county in general,” he said.
