United States donates 40 tons seed to Kirinyaga farmers?

America is also one of the countries with the best technology and research in the world and now America has gone a step ahead to help farmers in Africa to increase the production of crops efficiently

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On 13 October 2020, US Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McKetter announced that the United States is donating 40 tons of Bt cotton seed to farmers in Kirinyaga County in Kenya that will benefit farmers immensely because diversity is pest-resistant and high yielding Is volatile and has been specifically modified to resist African bollworm infestations.

Last year allowed commercial cultivation of Bt cotton after several years of testing at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (Kalrow) Center in Mavia. The US envoy stated that growing cotton presents a huge investment opportunity for farmers in Kirinaga to meet the acute supply shortage in the country's textile industry.

According to data, there are about 50,000 cotton farmers in the country who produce about 30,000 bales per year. However, the annual demand is 368,000 bales, while the yield of Bt cotton is around 6.7 tonnes per hectare while that of conventional cotton is around 1.6 tonnes per hectare.

McCarter said the donation would help farmers make cotton available for the textile industry. Subsequently, Waiguru led the ambassador in Kirinyaga Central on a visit to the Wisdom Kathaka Self Help Group. The group produces eggs on a large scale and produces chicken feed in Kiaga.

Weiguru said that there are several areas in the county in which it can realize its development agenda with the US. He said that a lot of opportunities exist in the agriculture sector but the marketing of agricultural produce is a big challenge. The county chief outgrew coffee and rice in the form of some cash crops that have the potential to revolve around the Kirinyaga economy. 

However, he said that farmers are still facing a lack of markets and red-tapism around the marketing of their produce.

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