Smart farms

: 06 April 2017; Hits: 15438

African agribusiness stakeholders to meet in continental conference

Africa Agri Week.jpg

Agripreneurs during an exhibition at a past African agribusiness event. This year's Africa Agri Week event to be held in Lagos, Nigeria from 8th-11th May. Photo: afaas-africa.org

The Africa Agri Week has organised a continental trade exhibition event in Nigeria for farmers to learn more on agro-processing besides interacting with potential buyers, financiers among other players in the crop and animal production industry.

The Lagos May 8 –11, 2017 grand annual conference will bring together more than 1,000 global innovators, agritech developers, investors and government leaders in the agriculture sector to interact and share knowledge and skills for boosting agribusiness in the continent.

One of the main focus of the conference is increasing the knowledge of the famers on agrochemicals, genetically modified foods, processing and value addition, packaging and profitability, technology and machinery, cold chain delivery for optimized shelf-life and postharvest storage.

"This will be the first time we are organising Africa Agri Week. We are excited to be launching this in Nigeria. We hope this event will benefit agripreneurs by attracting many international investors to Africa," said Chin Chye, the Africa Agri Week team spokesperson.

Farmers, among other attendees, will showcase their products and services in addition to interacting with suppliers of machinery, agro-chemicals, and other farm-based items.

The free-entry agri-trade and investment is another core focus of the exhibition, with special interest in how technology is an ingredient of high quality and quantity yields.

Speakers on agribusiness investment opportunities will educate farmers on the new trends in the sector in addition to raising capital for various projects."The long term mission of this annual event is to see a robust and profitable African agribusiness sector with improved production for better lives for farmers in the content.

At least 300 agri-focused companies, 100 delegates and at least 25 renowned speakers are expected in the week-long event.
For more info: https://www.africaagriweek.com/

Tags: editor's pick,

Write comment (0 Comments)

: 03 April 2017; Hits: 12120

Irrigation keeps pawpaws producing

pawpaw Magwagwa Nyamira by Laban Robert.JPG

Two Magwagwa, Nyamira County, farmers pointing at pawpaw fruits. Jared Nyakeera is selling pawpaws at better prices after irrigating the fruits when it was dry. Photo by Laban Robert.

As the rains set in, Nyamira County farmer Jared Nyakeera is enjoying the growing demand for pawpaws after irrigating the less than 30 trees for the last five months of the dry spell.

Crops and animals died countrywide since November last years.

But for Nyakeera, 20litres of water was sufficient to water the 26 pawpaws growing about two metres away from the live hedge.

The Magwagwa farmer sells the fruit to aggregators, who target urban markets like Nairobi.

Currently, the cost of one kilo of pawpaws in Nairobi costs between Sh40 and Sh50 at wholesale.

For the past three weeks, the farmer has been harvesting an average of 120kg of fruits from the 24 female pawpaw trees; two are males.

“I sell one kilo at 30 shillings. It is uneconomical for me to transport small quantities of the pawpwas to Nairobi or any other town weekly. They are perishable and fragile when ripe, therefore, they need to go to the market soonest possible. That is why I sell my produce to the buyers who move around,” he said.

Although not many farmers have the fruits as compare to those with bananas and pineapples, Nyakeera said when the supply is high he only gets between Sh15 and Sh20 per kilo, he said.

READ ALSO: Pawpaw gives 40 fruits per tree

Although the water levels in his 65-feet well dropped, the farmer hated seeing the flowers falling off the trees as the drought persisted from September 2016.

Each of them has more than 25 pawpaw fruits at different development stages.

It was a cheap investment offering him about Sh3,600 every two weeks from the sale of an average of 120kg.

“It was easy to irrigate the pawpaws unlike the 2,000 teas bushes. At least I am getting something small to sustain my family as I wait for the tea to recover from the drought effects,” he said.

The pawpaws are grown alongside the main seasonal crop such as maize or sweet potatoes.

Write comment (0 Comments)

: 21 March 2017; Hits: 13494

It is one irrigation in two months with polythene mulching

Asali F1 melon.JPG

A seed company officer holds a watermelon during the 2016 Machakos ASK Show. Dry region farmers can use polythene lining to cut irrigation in dry areas. Photo by Laban Robert.

Dry region farmers using plastic linings in covering soil may not incur irrigation costs for up to two months as the material reduces water loss.

Trials in the Taita-Taveta’s driest region have shown that a polythene lining can preserve water in the soil for six to eight weeks when complimented by organic matter in the process described as plasticulture.

Six to eight weeks is an almost half life of some crops like watermelons, which require about four months for fruiting and maturing.

Watermelons that were grown at Mbololo, Ikanga Village were irrigated twice from transplanting to harvesting.

Management of Arid Zones Initiative and Development Option (MAZIDO) pilot project revealed that addition of organic matter helps in holding water in the soil while improving the soil structure upon decay.

The organisation’s Executive Director John Mlamba said the method can help farmers minimise irrigation costs, while booting food security and revenue.

Depending on the severity of drought, irrigation can be done daily, twice a week on once.

In the plasticulture, a two-feet deep basin with one and half metres width is dug out before organic matter is filled in. Top soil is mixed with animal or any other manure then put on top of the matter before the polythene lining cover.

“The organic matter holds the water moisture for more than six weeks. This is supported by the laying of polythene lining covering the area around the stem of the crops, preventing the direct sunlight,” Mlamba said.

The matter encourages the multiplication of essential living organisms for aeration of the soil.

Watermelons averaging three kilos were harvested and sold to earn Sh18,000, according to the director.

The plastic material increases the temperatures in the soil. Given that the holes through it are limited, the moisture is maintained between the sheet and the soil layer. It turns into water droplets when the weather is cool.

At the same time, the heat generated between the soil and the polythene sterilizes the soil by inhibiting growth of pathogens like fusarium wilt.

The initiative is one of the MAZIDO’s projects of adopting climate-smart technologies to reduce the impacts of drought and meeting food needs.

Write comment (0 Comments)