Smart farms

: 26 October 2021; Hits: 6477

Conservation agriculture halves ploughing costs while preserving soils

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By George Munene

Through the use of ripper ploughs in conservation agriculture farmers are able to halve their production cost while advantaging themselves in ways not accessible to farmers practicing traditional conventional agriculture.

“In conventional agriculture, land preparation before planting entails first ploughing, this in Western Kenya costs a farmer Sh3000 for every acre. This is then preceded by a second ploughing which costs a similar amount. After planting farmers often practice their first and second weeding; 10 hands can weed an acre of land with each paid Sh300 for the day's work. In all, this sets a farmer back Sh12,500,” explains Geoffrey Wanjala, a field agronomist who is also Busia’s Farmer Service Centers Senior Agribusiness Coordinator.

With ripping, in conservation agriculture farmers are whittling down this to just Sh5,500 an acre. This constitutes Sh2,500 in charges for hiring a tractor-mounted ripper; buying herbicides as well as the option of hiring spray service providers each costing Sh500. In maize farming, an additional Sh1,500 is used in weeding herbicides coupled with a similar Sh500 charge in spraying cost.

Ripping services are accessible to farmers across the country through satellite Farmer Service Centres available in 12 counties across the country. This is a network of over 300 agricultural extension workers that help farmers aggregate their ploughing land to make it commercially feasible for ploughing service providers to work on smaller land sizes. “We have availed this service to farmers across most counties in Western, Nyanza, Rift Valley and Eastern regions,” Wanjala says.

Moreover, conservation agriculture has many other advantages that include: preserving soil structure and the intactness of soil microorganisms as the soil is minimally tilled; increasing soil fertility; reduction of water erosion—rippers are fitted with tines that penetrate the soil to a depth of up to 30 centimeters, this increases water percolation and reduces water runoff. Also, by perforating deep into the soil profile, ripping gives crop roots access to leached minerals.

Disk ploughs and hand-held hoes can only reach a depth of 10-15 centimeters, this creates a hardpan that encourages erosion when it rains by preventing water from trickling into the soil. This hardpan also causes lateral rooting which means crops are easily susceptible to drought.

Moisture conservation in arid regions—decomposing crop residue forms mulch which cools the environment around the plant’s roots. It also provides warmth over the cold season improving crop performance.

Ripping creates furrows or rip lines where fertilisers and seeds are then sowed in manually or through use of tractor mounted planters. This further reduces production costs by eliminating the need for digging holes or furrows. “Once a farmer has conducted two or three ripping sessions which would have completely broken soil hardpans, they can entirely practice zero tillage which exerts even less in planting costs by totally doing away with ploughing,” Emmanuel says.

Rippers are however limited in their use as they cannot be used to break ground for crops such as potatoes which first require to be ploughed vertically with chisel ploughs to break hard pans before ripping.

As more farmers embrace the use of ripping in land preparation, Wanjala argues the technology’s costs are only bound to reduce; “ripper mounted tractors consume less fuel than the ones fitted with disc ploughs. This makes their operationalisation far cheaper for ploughing service providers. There is currently a dearth of ripper ploughs but as more farmers opt for the use of this technology there is bound to be a corresponding increase in its service provider which will lead to a reduction in the pricing of ripping services,” he argues.

Farmer Service Centre

Geoffrey Wanjala: 0710454130

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: 25 October 2021; Hits: 6931

How to get your hands on affordable second hand EU tractors

Tractor imports

By George Munene

A computer operations supervisor by profession, Peter Musakali has cut a niche for himself within the agriculture space in helping farmers source for and acquire European second-hand tractors and agricultural equipment which are less than half the cost of newly bought tractors.

“A new tractor bought from a dealer in Kenya costs about Sh3.5M; this puts mechanised farming out of the reach of most of our farmers. An imported second-hand tractor costs between Sh 1.1 and 1.3M, making it preeminently more affordable to farmers,” he illuminated.

According to the Malabo Montpellier Panel in a report titled Mechanised - Transforming Africa's Agriculture Value Chains, despite accounting for 60 per cent of the world total unused arable land and the most favourable climate for farming, Africa is the region with the least mechanised agricultural system in the world... African farmers having ten times fewer mechanised tools per farm area than farmers in other developing regions. Affordability was cited as the main reason for this shortfall.

Having been in what he describes as his side hustle since 2007, he helps 6-10 farmers acquire their exact pick of Ex-UK tractors every month.

Musakali cautions farmers who are looking to acquire tractors from outside the country not to be taken in by good-looking pictures online. “You have to build working relationships and conduct thorough due diligence,” he cautioned.

He sits at a unique vantage point to do this; “through established contacts across Europe I have access to sellers and people I've worked with for years who examine the agri-machinery before purchase to verify that everything is in good working order and ascertain that the pictures I have match what is on the ground, explained Peter.

At least once every he also visits Europe to collect the references of farmers that may be looking to dispose of their tractors.

He counsels farmers looking to buy imported tractors need to be cognizant of four categories the tractors come in:

Standard farm used tractors which he deals with are bought worn but in the exact state, they were in off the assembly line. They have never been ‘opened up’ or repaired.

Preconditioned tractors. These are tractors that were faulty and have had to be ‘opened up’. They are repaired, repainted, and visibly new.

Tractor parts are also imported into the country from disparate places before being assembled.

Lastly, there's the farm used tractors.

Being agricultural equipment, tractors are only charged a 14% VAT and exempt from both customs and excise duty.

Older tractors also come with generators which were replaced with alternators in the 1990s. While generators can still power the machine, alternators are more efficient and easier to fix. An alternator costs about Sh4,500.

Peter exclusively deals in John Dear, Ford and Massey Ferguson tractors. These are the trusted brand names farmers seek out.

Their manufacture dates range from between 1960 to early 80s. This is also a factor of market demand; “Kenyan farmers are still wedded to ancient tractors--older machines are durable and farmers trust the brand models they grew up seeing till their farms,” he said.

Most of these tractors he pointed out have been overtaken with time and would not meet current European manufacturing standards. ” Kenyan farmers are however apprehensive about buying semi-automatic tractors or even ones with gear sticks on the steering wheel or to the side. Getting them to move off the ‘tried and tested' is not an easy feat, Peter lamented.”

With time however he hopes to see a steady march of farmers seeking out more modern tractors; “There was a time you could not get anyone to buy an automatic car, now you would struggle to find one stocked in a showroom,” he said.

Peter Musakali: 0722701981/ 0752701981

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: 25 October 2021; Hits: 6880

Kichawi Kill offers farmers first biological control of deadly striga weed

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By George Munene

Kenya has launched the first commercialised biological herbicide, Kichawi Kill, that decimates the deadly parasitic Striga weed and improves maize yields by 50 per cent.

The herbicide was developed by Toothpick Company Limited, a social enterprise based in Kakamega in conjunction with KALRO Katumani. Proof of concept tests ran for 12 years involving 500 farmers in Maseno, Kenya resulted in 50 per cent increased maize output in the long rains season and 40 per cent in the short rain season.

Per the International maize and wheat improvement center Strigahermonthica, colloquially known as Kanyongo or Witchweed, affects over 340,000 hectares of Kenya’s farmland and causes losses of over one billion shillings annually in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to Dorcas Kemboi, Toothpick’s Agribusiness Supervisor, Kichawi Kill (FOXY 14), will be produced under the company’s supervision and availed to farmers by registered producers at the village level in the Striga weed-infested region of Western Kenya. The company is based in and has producing hubs in the counties of Bungoma, Kakamega, Siaya and Vihiga. These producers may include registered Community-based organizations, Women Groups, Youth Groups, Faith-based Organizations, or Individual agripreneurs.

“For an eighth acre of maize, a farmer will need to apply 5 kilograms of the bioherbicide which costs Sh600. Besides it being organic, this makes it cheaper than other synthetic methods of striga control,” Dorcas explains.

Toothpick Limited will train the organic pesticide’s producers, farmers and extension agents on the proper methods of application for Kichawi Kill for best results.

Kichawi kill maize treatment results in increased maize biomass by allowing maize cobs to be fully filled as opposed to tiny cobs harvested in Striga affected maize and in extreme cases 100 per cent yield losses.

Kichawi Kill suppresses Striga’s seed bank in the soil by eliminating its seeds as soon as they germinate. Those that escape produce fewer flowers and seed capsules reducing the weed's capacity for subsequent spread.

Striga weed remains a major problem that is difficult to control for most farmers because of its survival strategy; each Striga plant produces up to 100,000 thousand seeds that can remain dormant in the soil for 20 years waiting for suitable hosts. These include maize, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, upland rice among other susceptible crops.

Toothpick Company Limited: +254 793 600701

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