Smart farms

: 02 November 2022; Hits: 1101

Simple guide to setting up a backyard vertical garden

opiyo bondo

A Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) report shows that the urban population is now at 50 per cent and is expected reach 65 per cent of the world population by 2025. With this growth, comes the challenge of food security with the World Food Programme indicating that 65 per cent of the world is at risk of starvation.

But as food scarcity bites and farming land shrinks, urban dwellers are adopting innovative farming techniques to grow food for subsistence use.
Garden-in-a-sack, also known as vertical gardening, is one of the commonly-used techniques by urban farmers because it produces high yields from a small space. And while mature vertical gardens look appealing to the eye, setting up one is a structured process.

The following section outlines the process involved in creating a garden-in-a-sack, which you can easily follow to populate your balcony or backyard with vegetables.

1. Start by erecting your empty sack using wooden splinters for support.
2. Pour soil, mixed with manure at the base, so that it sits up to 10 inches from the ground.
3. Get an empty tin and cut off the bottom. You will use this as a funnel to position tiny stones, which will be used as the irrigation gateway. Position the tin at the center of the base soil and fill it up with small stones.
4. With the stone-filled tin in place, pour more manure-mixed soil on its side so that it surrounds the tin.
5. Pull out the tin and position it at the top of the pile.

6. Add more stones, fill the sides with soil and repeat the process until the sack is full.
7. When the sack is completely filled, carefully poke holes on its sides at regular intervals and insert the seedlings of your preferred crop: kales, spinach, spring onions, and coriander are some of the crops that do well in these gardens.

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: 01 November 2022; Hits: 1433

How to control deadly foot and mouth disease

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Hundreds of thousands of livestock are at risk of contracting a dangerous and highly contagious, foot and mouth disease, which sporadically emerges across parts of the country.

In spite of the viral diseases having less than 5 per cent mortality rate in adult cattle, it highly affects milk and meat production which are the main products from livestock.

Although the disease, which has been reported in Transmara Sub-county, mostly affects cattle it also attacks goats and sheep. The county has more than 1.8 million cattle, goats and sheep.

Affected animals show reduced milk production, massive weight loss, mouth and feet blisters, froth from the mouth, and quivering lips, among others symptoms.

Quarantine

John Mugambi, an animal health researcher at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation says massive losses can be averted in three main ways.

“The immediate action farmers must take once upon suspicion is reporting to the authorities for a quarantine to be affected. But farmers can also restrict movement of their herds to common drinking and grazing areas because the infection is highly contagious,” he said.

Vaccination

The researcher says vaccination is the most effective control method because it cannot be cured. Vaccination costs less than Sh150 and can be accessed by animal health service providers.

“More than one viruses cause this disease and each has its own vaccine. But a multivalent vaccine is the most effective because it does not call for scrutiny of the type of virus to be targeted,” Mr. Mugambi said.

Salt on dry grass

Another preventive measure is the application of Magadi soda at the entry point into and out of cow sheds and homesteads-for free-range farmers. The salt, which is found in most agrovets, sterilises the feet of the animals and the visitors. It should be spread on dry grass.

Danger

Fears of further spread are rife in this county, which is dominantly home to pastoralist community, the Maasai. According the county government statistics, there are 727,480 cattle, 995,241 sheep and 729,722 goats.

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: 01 November 2022; Hits: 1272

Factsheet: Growing in demand sorghum

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Sorghum is one of the least commercialized crops in the country despite the great production potential and the market demand in the alcohol processing industry.

This crop, which performs well in relatively poor soils, is also tolerant to drought. But those who are supplying processing companies like Kenya Breweries Limited have been contracted-still they cannot meet the demand.

Dual crop

But it is easy to grow for both commercial and domestic consumption.

Sorghum is a warm climate-loving crop, with the best results being recorded at temperatures of 25°C and 32°C.

The grain does well in dry regions receiving about 400mm of rainfall per year.

It does well in well-drained loam sandy soils, with a PH of between 6 and 7.5. This means it requires slightly acidic to neutral soils in PH. Two tillage rounds are sufficient for planting; well-drained soil would mean there is no water logging.

At a seed rate of about 15 kilograms per acre, a 25 cm row-to-row distance is most appropriate, with holes being between 2 cm and 3 cm deep.

Advisable

Locally, most farmers broadcast the sorghum together with finger millet. It is not advisable. It would lead to less yields given that the two are short-term crops competing for similar nutrients and millet would suffer more because it is shorter than sorghum.

Ten to 15 metric tonnes of farm yard manure are sufficient in supplying the soil with macronutrients. Sowing with nitrogen phosphorus and potassium-containing fertiliser would give rise to an energetic crop.

Top dressing after one month of about 14 kilograms per acre would accelerate flowering. Sorghum is ripe for harvesting after 65-75 days, with an acre estimated to yield about 400 kilograms under good management practices.

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