Cold weather to hurt tea output

A mature purple tea at the Kangaita Tea Farm which grows the commodity on its 15 acre shamba . .PHOTO;MUNENE KAMAU/STANDARD DATE; JULY 13/2017

Cold weather and inadequate application of top dressing fertiliser is expected to affect the average tea yield and subsequent income for producers this year.

Farmers and stakeholders in the tea growing belt of Nandi yesterday expressed fears of poor earnings because of a drop in plucking rates last month and this month as a result of cold conditions in the region.

"After a long drought between January and May, there has been a cold season from June running to July and there is fear that production might be low compared to the same period last year," said Paul Mugun from Outgrowers Empowerment and Producers Company, which supplies green leaf to multinational companies.

Nandi County is one of the leading tea producers in the country. Tea is the highest foreign exchange earner in the agriculture sector and a leading source of employment.

Mr Mugun said in mature tea plantations, the monthly plucking rates had dropped from the normal average of between 600kg to 700kg per acre monthly to a low of between 300kg and 400kg.

"This is also attributed to the effects of climate change and it will affect us in terms of earnings," said Mugun.

Better prices

He said additional overheads including labour, cost of inputs, and general operational costs would also affect profits.

Gideon Too, a former chief executive officer of Kenya Tea Growers Association, described the current phenomenon as 'normal', adding that it had made the tea sub-sector unpredictable.

He said that besides the cold weather, output would further be affected by the failure of the multinational tea firms to supply farmers with adequate fertiliser.

"If fertiliser is not applied adequately, yields will decline. The optimal application is two bags per acre at the onset of the rains around March and April. The same amount should be applied for the second time around September and October," said Mr Too.

Lagat Manjoi, a director at Siret Tea Company, said on the upside, the latest market prices of tea were better compared to last year, but noted that farmers stood to earn less in the face of a gradual decline in plucking rates.

"A reduction in tea plucking rates as a result of cold weather will adversely affect both the farmer and the plucker, whose earnings will drop," he said.

Mr Lagat, however, expressed confidence that productivity could improve once the weather conditions change next month.