Smart farms

: 14 February 2022; Hits: 5124

Biological pest controls organically cut 50% in vegetable losses

Vegetable farmers, who lose up to 50 per cent of their harvest to spider mites, can wipe out the pest using its biological enemy and relative, Real IPM Phytoseiulus.

Phytoseiulus persimilis, is a mite that feeds on all stages of the spider mites, therefore, an appropriate and sustainable approach to dealing with the pest without interfering with the environment, Isaac Guda, a Real IPM Kenya ecological and agronomical expert said.

“One phytoseiulus feeds on at least five adults and 10 eggs per day. In two to three days after application, a farmer would start seeing the results,” Guda said.

After application, the predatory mites quickly reproduce to colonise the leaf, therefore, offering continuous crop protection by predation.

After reaching the economic threshold, the losses are devastating and hardly reversible.

According to a study published on the Research Gate, an online scholarly resource centre, mites have been documented to cause more than half losses of tomato yields.

By the sixth, ninth, and 12th week of spider mite infestation, yields production reduces by 0.233kg, 0.689kg and 1.624kg respectively per tomato stem.

Apart from minting out the nutrients from the leaves of crops such as pepper, capsicum, tomatoes, black night shade, among others, the spider mites cause yellowing of the leaves, therefore, reducing photosynthesis rate.

“Heavy infestation will discolour the leaves besides causing curling. Leaf curling reduces the surface area for photosynthesis. Yellowing of leaves also signals a drop in the chlorophyll, which is responsible for food manufacturing in crops,” the expert said.

Although the spider mites are tiny to see, formation of webs among the leaves and crops should signal a farmer that the pests are quickly multiplying.

They mites hang on the webs, which are blown by air currents, therefore, swinging them to the next leaf or plant, Guda said, adding that at this point loses of up to 90 per cent can be registered.

Unlike chemicals, which kill the pests on the spot on shortly after application, biological solutions are slow but more effective in the long run. For that reason, Guda said, a farmer should not wait for heavy infestation to apply the remedy.

With this and other integrated pest management approaches, chemical residues are limited.

Real IPM is an international organisation covering more than 25 countries globally. Kenyan offices and demonstration farm is in the outskirts of Thika, Kimbu County.

It can be contacted on +254725806086.

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: 14 February 2022; Hits: 4733

Tree lucerne: Hardy, nutritious fodder that grows for 30yrs

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Farmers growing tagasaste, tree lucerne, can feed livestock for close to 30 years with this hardy, leafy and protein rich fodder shrub.

Besides being a nitrogen fixing tree, tagasaste has sweet scented flowers for bees.

It is a highly palatable fodder for goats, cows, sheep and other livestock including poultry. Its digestibility is between 77 per cent and 8 per cent.

Like Lucerne shrub, tagasaste is a better milk yield booster than most Napier grass varieties given that it has a crude protein content of between 20 per cent and 30 per cent.

Apart from the recently released giant variety from Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation-which has 26 per cent proteins- other common types have proteins ranging from 7 per cent to 8.5 per cent.

The vitamin A in the tagasaste fodder helps in enhancing the yellow colour in the yolks of poultry.

This is a hardy fodder tree that can survive in semi arid areas, according to the Fodder Shrubs for Farmers in East Africa manual. The authors of the manual says the tree gives fodder for up to 30 years is well taken care of.

“Because of its deep roots of up to 30feet or more, tagasaste can tolerate long dry periods and can survive in areas with as little as 200mm annual rainfall, though it requires at least 600mm for good leaf production,” Charles Wambugu et.al say in the manual.

Arid areas receive rail of 250mm and below annually. The fodder therefore, will still survive in such areas.

It is also tolerant frost of lows of up to -9 degrees Celsius.

Within the first two years, it should be pruned back to the ground to encourage sprouting of more shoots.

Regeneration can yield up to five tonnes per hectare in six months.

The fodder, however, has low sodium and marginal levels of phosphorus. Therefore, the animals require supplementation of minerals.

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: 11 February 2022; Hits: 3772

Intercropping Napier and desmodium raises milk output

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Research has shown that smallholder farmers can increase milk yields for their animals by feeding them on a mixture of Napier grass and Desmodium.

Napier grass is a species of perennial tropical grass native to the African grasslands. A majority of small scale farmers use the crop to feed their animals in the dairy production areas of Kenya. It is a high yielding fodder crop with good palatability and is highly nutritious especially when young with dark green leaves and less than one meter tall.

Desmodium is a large perennial tropical forage legume. It does better at altitudes between 500 and 2500 m in the tropics. It grows well on slopes. It can be grown in areas where annual rainfall is above 900 mm and up to 3000 mm. During the growing season, it is more susceptible to drought and has better tolerance of flooding and waterlogging.

Before planting, plough and harrow the field well. Dig planting holes at a space of 3 by 2 feet (90*60 cm). In each hole apply a handful of farmyard manure and half a soda bottle top of DAP.

While planting, place a 3 node piece of Napier cane ensuring two nodes are covered into the ground or place root splits into the planting hole and cover with soil. Make furrows along the Napier grass lines or in between rows to drill desmodium seeds or plant fresh desmodium stem cuttings. Make sure that you keep the field weed free.

Harvest the Napier grass and Desmodium when they are at 2-3 feet (60-90 cm) high. Leave a stem length of 4 inches (10 cm) from the ground at harvesting. When feeding it to the animals, chop them to reduce wastage. Re-growth can be harvested when 2-3 feet (60-90 cm) high which means a period of 6-8 weeks between the cuts.

Combined Napier grass and Desmodium means more fodder of better quality and more milk for farmers. Napier grass uses nitrogen supplied by Desmodium and therefore saves farmers on costs on top dressing.

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