The Chairman of Kiru Tea Factory Chege Kîrûndî has hailed several reforms geared towards improving the tea sector in the country.
Speaking exclusively to Mount Kenya Times E-paper, Wakili Kîrûndî noted that the reforms are a step in the right direction and called upon farmers to improve their tea farming.
“Recent developments have resulted in high-yielding tea varieties so I’m urging farmers to embrace such. Most of the smallholder tea in Kenya was planted in the 1960s and with time it has lost its productivity but thanks to science, the newly developed clones are yielding better returns,” Wakili Kîrûndî noted.
He at the same time highlighted the need for the farmers to grow green tea, purple tea as well as orthodox tea. “All these are fetching very good prices in the market and we thank the Kenya Tea Development Authority KTDA for showing goodwill to boost and facilitate this,” he added.
The Kiru Tea Factory Chairman also advised farmers to embrace diversification at a time when farmers across the country are feeling the effects of climate change.
“On the same farm, make a point of planting other profitable crops such as avocadoes, macadamia, and the like. Also, rear the dairy cows and use the manure to boost soil fertility,” Wakili concluded
