Smart farms

: 08 November 2016; Hits: 38321

Manual oil extractor to save avocado farmers from losses

KALRO's Damaris Kagendo holds a bottle with avocado oil as she explains to a farmer how the Oil Press Manual Extractor works on October 29, 2016 during the Kitale ASK Show. The easy to use machine helps farmers press oil from ripe avocados for sale. PHOTO BY LABAN ROBERT.

Avocado farmers, who have poor access to markets, can extract cooking oil from ripe fruits for sale to save on rotting using a cheap manual pressing machine from Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation, KALRO.

The machine extracts pure cooking oil from ripe avocados, which can be packaged and sold upon approval from regulatory authorities like Kenya Bureau of Standards.

The Oil Press Manual Extractor does not require electric or fuel energy other than that of the farmer ‘crashing’ the ripe part of the avocado through the funnel-like chamber.

Damaris Kagendo, a KALRO officer in Kitale, said besides helping the farmers in boosting earnings, the extractor could shield them against rotting losses when there is no ready market for the produce.

A farmer has to manually remove the skin and the seed of the fruit to remain with the green or yellowish pulp.

“Half a litre of the oil fetches about Sh90. Although the determination of the shelf-life has to be done after laboratory tests, the oil does not require any preservative to prevent it from going bad. And its life is longer than a ripe avocado that rots in a day or two,” Kagendo said.

The machine separates the oil from pulp and the residue remains in the pressing chamber while oil exits through a downward facing outlet for filtering. The filtering chamber is separate. But a special sterilised white clothing can also be used to remove impurities from the oil for packaging.

At least 10kg of ripe avocado pulp can give four to seven litres of the oil, depends on the quality of the fruits used.

Besides being used for cooking and as butter, the oil is also a good skin ointment product.

KALRO sells the machine at Sh40,000.

For more details, please call +254733812953

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Tuesday, 07 June 2022 good idea i want start producing Avocado oil

: 03 November 2016; Hits: 15836

Organic fertiliser saves Mwea farmer's rice from drought

Mwea Rice.JPG

Farmers work in rice fields. One farmer from the county has reported that his rice was never affected by the recent drought, a fact he links to the organic fertiliser, DI Grow Green from Dynapharm Kenya. PHOTO BY NATIONAL IRRIGATION BOARD.

A Kirinyaga County farmer, who top-dressed his field with an organic fertiliser, is expecting to harvest rice from the one and half acre piece despite the recent dry spell that ravaged the crop in the region.

The almost two months drought that hit most parts of the country, caused drying of rice in the Mwea basin, where flood irrigation sustains the crop from planting to maturity.

Joseph Kimani applied DI Grow green a few weeks after germination of the rice to boost growth, but he was surprised to see the crop still green after the rains failed and the swampy area dried up.

“My neighbours top-dressed with the usual calcium ammonium nitrate and other fertilisers; I used DI Grow Green organic fertiliser. Although the soil cracked due to lack of water, my rice sustained the stress until now that it has drizzled for the first time,” Kimani said.

Dynapharm Kenya Agronomist Michael Mwangi said the organic fertiliser has high concentration of humic acid and seas weed, which aid crops to withstand drought by reversing the opening and closing of the stomata.

Water loss and gaseous exchange in plants take place via stomata, mostly during the day. Stamata open during the day, among other factors, low levels of carbon dioxide in the cells. The opening allows for more intake of the gas for photosynthesis.

“Humic acid may be causing the reversed opening of the stomata. Instead of all stomata opening when it is hot, they remain closed until late evening and in the morning when the weather is cool to control loss of water through transpiration,” Mwangi said.

However, Mwangi said, as study is underway to determine how the components of the fertiliser working together to help crops withstand drought other than the intended growth stimulation.

According to U-Mate International Inc, a US organic fertiliser manufacture, humic acid slows evaporation by stabilizing soil temperature during rapid weather changes. The acid particles also bind water particles, therefore, preventing their loss to the atmosphere.

The rice is about two and half months old and it is flowering.

Kimani added 50ml of DI Grow Green into 20 litres of water. For one acre, he applied 250ml of the organic fertiliser, which is manufactured in Malaysia.

Contact Mwangi on +254714925956

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: 03 November 2016; Hits: 19882

Solar incubator saves farmers when power outages occur

Enkoho Kuku Farmers officer Silas Juma inspects a 48eggs capcity solar incubator at the Machakos Agricultural Society of Kenya Show on July 6, 2016. The incubator saves farmer from losses that my result from the common power outages. PHOTO BY LABAN ROBERT.

Chicken farmers facing unreliable electricity supply from the national grid can is install solar incubators to avoid loses to power outages.

Apart from supporting the hatching process, which must not be interrupted until the lapse of the 21 days incubation period, a solar powered machine cuts operational cost to farmers.

A farmer buys a solar panel, power storage batteries and the incubator. The solar panels harness the sun energy and convert it into power for storage in lead batteries before supplying it to the incubator.

Enkoho Kuku Farmers officer Gervase Waloki said if a farmer has high capacity solar panels and batteries, then they can revert to using the sun-tapped energy and only rely on the Kenya Power sourced electricity when the weather is unreliable.

Power outages in the country are common, and the effect is higher in rural areas where it takes hours running into days to b reconnected.

Solar energy is reliable, given that Kenya lies within the topics, where the sun is available for about 10 hours a day all year round.

Silas Juma, who also works in the poultry equipment company, said the challenge is the purchase of the required equipment.

“Although it may be expensive to buy all these equipment at once, returns are high since there will be no losses. At the same time, the solar power can reduce the monthly power bill to zero when there is sufficient sunlight,” Juma said.

The company supplies solar incubators of capacity from 48 eggs to 5280 eggs. The incubators can run on direct current from Kenya Power or stored solar energy.

A solar panel of 200 watts can convert enough power for a battery of 220volts to run a 48 eggs capacity incubator for 24 hours.

If a farmer uses the solar power for the 48 eggs capacity incubator, they can save between 40 watts and 80 watts per hour, translating to a bill save of between Sh500 and Sh1,000.

“The secret is having more than one big capacity batteries for back up. Losing eggs two days prior to hatching because of power shortage is disastrous. A supplier of chicks earns reputation when they deliver on orders on time,” Juma said.

The company sells the incubators from Sh19,000 to Sh350,000, depending on the egg capacity.

Juma can be reached on +254729659490 while Wakoli can be reached on +254727474045.

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