We expect to harvest 70 million bags of corn this year.

Agriculture Minister Dr Andrew Karanja said Kenya expects to increase maize production by 20 million bags this year.

Karanja said for the first time that production was expected to reach 70 million bags, mainly due to good weather and government support for farmers.

Pakistan’s agriculture ministry said good rains and government-provided subsidized fertilizers had helped farmers increase the area planted with corn.

He spoke in Transoya during a visit to four Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) and Kenya Seed Company (KSC) farms in the area.

“I am happy that this year’s harvest is more promising with an expected harvest of 70 million 90kg bags of coffee beans compared to 40-60 million bags last season,” Karanja said.

He said the ADC and KSC had worked well with other stakeholders to support agriculture in the country.

“As a government, we will provide necessary support to KSC and ADC to ensure they discharge their responsibilities in the agricultural sector,” he said.

He said the good yield showed that the country was now food secure.

Dr Karanja also praised the farmers, saying they have made a huge contribution in producing food for the country.

The Treasury said government will increase the supply of subsidised fertiliser to farmers at Sh2,500 per unit to further help farmers maintain high productivity.

Dr. Karanja said Kenyan seed companies expect to harvest 70 million kilograms of maize seeds in preparation for the next planting season.

ADC is a large contract seed grower and according to managing director Wilson Tonui, it expects production to be 10 million kilograms this season.

The government is keen to ensure adequate supply of seeds to farmers across the country.

Earlier this year, the seed company experienced shortages of some seed varieties, affecting farmers in parts of the northern Rift Valley.

During the visit, CS met with Kenya Seed Corporation Chairman Purity Ngirici, the company’s CEO Sammy Chepsiror and National Assembly Agriculture Committee member Ferdinand Wanyonyi.

“We will intensify our collaboration with farmers so that we can also increase productivity of staple crops,” the CS said.