Potatoes to be packed in 50kg bags

No potatoes will be packed in sacks exceeding 50 kilograms.

This is among amendments Agriculture Ministry is proposing in the Potatoes Regulations Act.

Speaking in Mombasa, Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri says a standard negotiated price will also be included in the amendments which seek to eliminate middlemen who have exploited farmers for years.

The proposed amendments will be tabled in Parliament when the house resumes next week.

In 2018, Irish potato farmers across the country are estimated to have produced 1.2 metric tonnes, a yield barely enough to cater for the country’s needs.

The Ministry of Agriculture has attributed the loss to lack of proper pest control mechanism to salvage the harvest, inefficient storage facilities, defunct seeds as well as lack of standardized weights and measures for the farmers.

While the senate approved the amendments in 2014, Parliament is yet to have its input on the proposals.

According to Kiunjuri, middlemen have been coarsening farmers into extending the potatoes to hold more of the produce then selling it at hiked price thus the weight limit will eliminate the practice.

The standardize 50kg bags will further be sold in at negotiated benchmark price right from the farmers to the market if the amendments sail through.

The CS has further directed three companies to distribute 30,000 seeds to one million farmers as the government seeks to increase the country’s yield to 6 metric tonnes annually.

Kiunjuri is urging parliament to fast track regulations that will see proper storage and marketing avenues for the surplus produce from the farmers across different sectors.