Smart farms

: 21 March 2017; Hits: 13393

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.

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: 20 March 2017; Hits: 26968

Telegram group offers farmers free info

One of the posters encouraging farmers to join FarmerBot. Photo courtesy

More than 22,000 farmers in Kenya have joined a growing social media network group for virtual specialised crop husbandry and marketing information.

The Telegram FarmerBot group, which is supported by http://farm.ink/, is offering the farmers free expert and peer information on four main crops.

They include tomatoes, capsicum, onions and watermelons. The drivers of the group are also moving into cabbages, chillies, and a bit of poultry to respond to the widening audience.

“A farmer is required to install the Telegram app. FarmerBot sends a link to the farmer allowing them to join the group. The only cost the farmer incurs is that of accessing the internet. The information is highly accurate because it has been refined by experts,” Business Development Director Noah Nasiali said.

With the help of experts from various agricultural companies - for example Yara and Syngenta - the famers get answers from moderated panel discussions, besides personalised help in respect to the problem in question.

“Farmers are advised to belong to specific groups in respect to the crop they are growing. This eases the discussions among the farmers as well as from the selected experts of a given crop,” Nasiali said.

Besides, the director said, the grouping also allows for the members to fit in the 5,000 Telegram members limit.

As another personalised service, the farmer receives crop management information based on the data they give. The personalised information from the chat-board is in respect to their crops of interest.

Getting weekly personal tips on one’s crops of interest is at the control of the farmer through free subscription.

For instance if their tomatoes are six weeks old, they receive reminders on pruning, fertigation, weeding, pesticide application, staking, among others until harvesting.

“This best works for the young employed class, who are running parallel agribusiness ventures. Given their busy schedule, they need to be reminded what needs to carry out at given times, to boost productivity out of the side hustle,” he said.

They create their farm’s profile, which are also learning examples for others.

The app allows for sharing of photos, which can help the farmer describe well what may be ailing their crops for an apt solution from the pool of agronomists and experienced peers.

They also get to know how to intercrop to boost productivity.

If one is growing watermelons, they can intercrop them with sunflowers, which will be feeds for animals after harvest.

WhatsApp is one of the commonest direct social media app that is serving more than a billion people globally. It allows for formation of groups to serve various purposes in respect to the members. But the groups cannot have more than 256 members.

Telegram can accommodate up to 5,000 members and allows for sharing of files of more than 1.5GB while WhatsApp does not pass 160MBs.

For entry, one can click this link, https://t.me/FarmGroupBot, to send the app link to their Internet-enables cell phones.

Nasiali can be reached on +254722907203 or +254799087084.

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: 14 March 2017; Hits: 17203

Water hyacinth turned to animal feed

Cow Isaack Shilaro kkmga By Laban Robert.JPG

Kakamega County farmer Isaac Shilaro with his cow at the Moi ASK Shoground, Kakamega, in 2016. Homa Bay youths are making cheap, but rich feeds from water hyacinth. Photo by Laban Robert.

In offering farmers a cheap animal meal while dealing with the menace of the hyacinth, Homa Bay youths are manufacturing a ‘universal’ feed from the weed that is threatening Africa’s biggest fresh water mass, Lake Victoria.

The Biofit Feed, which has 55 per cent proteins, boosts the yields of all meat, milk, eggs and other animal products by at least 15 per cent.

Oyungi Omondi of Biofit Feeds said the meal, has the hyacinth as one of the main binding agent, besides contributing at least 10 percent of the protein content.

“It has been balanced to cater for a variety of animals’ nutritional needs for productivity and protection against mineral deficiency diseases,” he said.

Apart from helping a number of youths, who are involved in the harvesting and processing of the hyacinth from the lake, the initiative is offering a possible solution to the weed, which is threatening life.

For more than 10 years, plans to eliminate the hyacinth, which is chocking the Western Kenya lake have failed.

The youths are harvesting 300kilos of the weeds daily. But Omondi hopes to scale up the harvesting to two tonnes per day.

This, among other efforts could reverse the effects of the weed, which is turning the lake into dry land.

For high yields in meat, eggs, pork and milk, plenty proteins are key. That is why Omondi’s group adds dagaa and other undisclosed plant ingredients to the meal to provide universal minerals for vigorous growth.

Maize germ is the main raw material for making animal feeds in Kenya. But with the raging hunger, maize supply has sunken and the cost of the feeds has grown by more than Sh200 for every 70kg bag.

Other farmers have abandoned formulating their own feeds because of the high costs of the materials.

The cost of production of one litres is rising to about Sh26, yet farmers have not received an increment from the Sh28.

A kilo of the Biofit Feed costs Sh24.5 compared to the about Sh39 per kilo of the common commercial feeds.

Animals like cows cannot feed on the hyacinth for long because of an irritating substance in the leaves. But processing makes it more palatable.

Omondi can be reached on +254718799604

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