Smart farms

: 30 November 2021; Hits: 4987

Earthworm obtained liquid offers more nutrients than inorganic fertilizer

red worm

Farmers applying vermiculture liquid in crop production supply comprehensive minerals than those relying on synthetic fertilisers.

Real IPM Smallholder Enterprise Center Manager Isaac Guda said vermiliquid supplies crops with both micro and macro nutrients, which are necessary for holistic growth.

Whilst common fertilisers are specific in nutrient supply- NPK, DAP, CAN- vermiliquid has more than 15 micro and macro-elements, making it a ‘single dose’ application.

For one to meet all the mineral elements, more fertiliser from the compound groups has to be applied.

“The main benefit of vermiliquid over conventional fertilisers is that it contains almost all the nutrients required at one go to address specific crop needs,” Guda said.

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are the main or macro elements required in crops’ growth.

A detailed Crop Nutrition Lab analysis of the red wriggler worms’ vermiliquid showed the following minerals in part per million in concentrations.

Potassium parts were 2020, phosphorus 26.3, calcium 111, magnesium, 52.8, sulphur 33.2, manganese 1.37 iron 7.54.

Zinc was 0.40, boron 0.56, copper 0.30, sodium 60.7, ammonium 11.8, chlorides 692, molybdenum 0.039, among others.

The PH of the liquid was 8.55.

However, to have such a rich mineral resource, a mix of substrates from various families of crops has to be included. For instance legume, which are known to contain nitrogen and pumpkins and quash for zinc and phosphorus are included.

Vermiliquid is collected and applied as a folia fertiliser that is readily absorbed into the plant system via the leaves.

“You need five kilos of worms acting on half a kilo of the food substrate. For instance, half a kilo of coffee husks added every two weeks produce one litre of the vermiliquid per month,” he said.

Application rate is 10ml per litre of water, although there is no harm in exceeding the rate.

Just like other folia fertilisers, the excess application does not have scorching effect on the crops as the synthetic types.

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: 29 November 2021; Hits: 5665

Former marketer finds success in passion fruit farming

passion fruit kisii

In 2018, Patrick Kirui, a Kabarak University graduate left his marketing job at a Nakuru based firm after working for six months to focus on passion fruits farming, a venture that is now earning him up to Sh60,000 a month.

In this, Kirui is assured of monthly income compared to his previous job in which he was paid a commission based on what he sold.

“I realized selling cars was a seasoned job and that’s why I decided to quit and fully venture into passion fruits having been in this business since my high school days,” said Kirui who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management and information technology (BMIT) in 2018.

In four years, Kirui completed his degree and was offered a marketing job by one of the motor vehicle dealers in Nakuru town. In this, he only sold one car during his entire six months at the company; a move he says prompted him to quit the job for fruit farming.

“I started selling passion fruits in 2010, when I was still a student at a local secondary school after I was introduced to it by a friend with an initial capital of Sh100,” said Kirui.

Home based systems of reducing aflatoxin in maize

aflatoxin

Scientists have recommended simple indigenous ways that ugali lovers can significantly reduce levels of aflatoxin in their maize meals using liquid extracted from banana peels or beans and maize stalks ash solutions.

This is cheaper and affordable as compared to aflasafe, a biological solution made from sterile sorghum and coated with four atoxigenic applied to maize plants at flowering stage to prevent aflatoxin causing fungi from accessing maize cobs. Aflasafe is sold at between Sh1,240 and Sh2,070 for every 10kg pack in certified agro-vets.

However, with ashes liquid which consumers can easily access, only 30 minutes are enough to make a solution and sieve it to apply it in githeri, uji (porridge), and ugali to protect them from aflatoxin’s harmful effects.

“The extracted liquid which is alkaline in nature has the ability to break down the deadly molecule in aflatoxin and reduce levels of the poison in maize meals,” said Jasper Kathenya Imungi, Professor of Food Technology, Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Technology at the University of Nairobi.

Aflatoxin is a toxin produced by a fungus that grows on certain crops, such as maize and groundnuts. Consumption of high levels of aflatoxin can be fatal, and chronic exposure has been linked to liver cancer, suppressed immune response, and child stunting. Maize is a staple food in Kenya and is a major source of aflatoxin exposure in the country.

Imungi’s research on the effective of the extracted ash liquid in reducing aflatoxin levels is widely borrowed from a formula that was used and worked in Mexico and the test has been carried in several parts of the country and confirmed working.

He also says that other methods such as nixtamalization and mixing maize flour with flour from tubers such as cassava can also reduce aflatoxin effects.

“Nixtamalization typically refers to a process for the preparation of maize, or other grain, in which the grain is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater, and hulled like in muthokoi,” said Imungi.

RELATED CONTENT: Fighting aflatoxins an orphan at a time

With maize being the staple food crop in Kenya, aflatoxin poses a major public health scare to most consumers of the diet. The infestation by the fungus has led to a significant amount of harvested grains going to waste leading to importation of maize in Kenya.

Last week, Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) suspended seven peanut butter products which include Nuteez peanut butter, True nuts, Fressy, Supa meal, Sue’s Naturals, Zesta and Nutty over aflatoxin contamination.

In 2004 for instance 125 Kenyans died after consuming aflatoxin-infested food. In 2016, agricultural experts and the Kenya Bureau of Standards warned of presence of the deadly toxin in food such as maize flour and milk sold in supermarkets across the country.

Also, in 2014 the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (Karlo) launched the country’s first ever aflatoxin laboratory to tame aflatoxin poisoning.

The poisoning has become especially complicated because majority of small scale farmers who produce the contaminated maize consume the contaminated maize.

The lab was launched together with a Sh14.62 million facility to produce aflasafe, which can also suppress aflatoxin producing fungi in the soil.

It was projected that the plant will produce 15 tons of the aflasafe in a week, with the initial target being to produce sufficient amounts to treat about 100, 000 hectares.

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