Officers from the ministry of agriculture have moved to Kisii County to sensitize farmers on how to distinguish between poisonous and edible cassava roots.
The move follows the death of two children in Kegati Division in Kisii Central District on Sunday after consuming poisonous cassava.
Area District Agriculture Officer John Katimbwa said features of the two breeds were easy to distinguish and these were what the officers would be educating the residents on to avert any more deaths.
The edible tubers are said to be small in size, greener with small leaves and stems, while the poisonous breed has very large leaves and stems and is more reddish than green in color.
Katimbwa however, denied that the tubers said to have caused the deaths had been issued to farmers by the ministry of agriculture as had been claimed saying the cassava seeds from the government were safe for consumption.
He said the Kenya Agriculture Research Institute had confirmed from a sample they had picked from the family that the cassava root was not had not originated from the ministry of agriculture.
Two children aged 6 and 9 died at Kisii Level Five Hospital after the family had a meal of cassava.
Source: KBC
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