Farm inputs prices to go up as turkey bans export
Farmers are staring at a possible shortage of too dressing fertilizer as turkey bans export of the same.

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This comes at a time when other key ingredients in farming have also been banned for export from the leading global producers. Countries are reducing export a key trend that is set to lead to increased food prices in the country.
A country like Kenya sources most of its inputs from Turkey.
Turkey has stopped the export of CAN, Calcium Ammonium Nitrate that is commonly used by farmers as top dressing fertilizer.
Most maize farmers this season are bound to need the fertilizer for their farms in the coming few days.
This moves comes at a time when Turkey says it’s securing the production for their local farmers.
The ministry of agriculture has also noted that some sellers and distributors have been hording urea with the hope that the prices will go up as the demand grows. Urea is also used in the top dressing of crops.
Key global fertilizer producers have stopped exports or are rationing the sales and production of fertilizers in the wake of the Russia-Ukraik conflict, that has greatly affected world trade.
For example the People’s Republic of China a leading producer of potash a key ingredient in the manufacture of fertilizer has stopped the export of the commodity with the aim of securing enough supply for the local market.
The Kenyan government last month introduced a fertilizer subsidy to help support the farmer during this farming season. This helped reduce the fertilizer prices from sh 6200 to sh 2800 and that of top dressing by half from sh 6000 to sh 3000.
Though a noble initiative the stocks have dropped at the National Cereals and Produce Board, NCPB as a result of the high demand.
Naturaly this has led to farmers buying expensive fertilizer in the market so as to plant on time.
The shortage has limited farmers to five bags of farming fertilizer as well as top dressing fertilizer at the NCPB.
NCPB is currently in the process of moving fertilizer from other regions to North Rift where there’s a huge demand.
Some of the companies supplying NCPB with fertilizer include but not limited to Maisha Minerals dealers of Mavuno, Minji mines,Fanisi and OCP Kenya. The government got a boost in the fertilizer struggle after Toyota Tsusho joined the state sponsored fertilizer subsidy program.