Soil degradation in Bungoma is a threat to the country’s food security, agricultural experts have said.
Recent sampling in the county indicated 70 per cent of soil lacks crucial nutrients to support the growth of crops.
Caren Ayaibei from the Office Cherifien des Phosphates organisation said they conducted the exercise for 2,020 farmers across the county.
“The soil sampling exercise that we did in partnership with the county government of Bungoma aims at informing the farmers the type of crops they should plant and at what time,” Ayaibei said.
This was to ascertain the soil pH, that would inform farmers on the type of crops to plant.
“The worrying issue that we also noted out of the soil testing exercise showed that the soil organic carbon levels are getting diminished which is a warning sign that the status of the soils are deteriorating,” she explained.
She spoke at the Red Cross grounds on Thursday, during the launch of the county's soil testing results.
The exercise revealed that most of the soil pH was 4.9 and that Boron was below the required levels.
Boron is a micronutrient required for plant nutrition.
It aids in cell wall development and resistance, cell division, fruit and seed development, sugar transport and hormone development.
Ayaibei urged farmers to test soils, saying health is an important component for crop production.
“Poor soil health is a threat to food security because with deteriorating soil health farmers tend to get lower yields,” she said.
OCP will collaborate with extension officers to reach 10,000 farmers, who will be trained on the importance of soil testing.
“After the launch of the soil sampling results we are not going away. We are still around if farmers need to know the status of their soil. In all the 45 wards we shall reach, collect and take samples to the laboratory to establish the soil status.”
Hebert Kibunguchy, the CECM for Agriculture, said they took the initiative to test soils to ascertain the type of crops to be grown and the fertilisers to be used.
“The 2,020 soil testing samples was just a start. We are going to ensure that all farmers test their soils,” Kibunguchy said.