Smart farms

: 17 October 2017; Hits: 15568

More than 6,000 farmers benefit from free green grams seeds in Kitui

More than 6,000 farmers in Kitui County have benefitted from free green grams donated by the County government of Kitui in collaboration with Kenya Red Cross.

The sh.100 million programme dubbed ‘Ndengu Revolution’ is meant to end food insecurity in the County that has been grappling with pangs of hunger for a long period of time. It is also aimed at improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and reduce poverty by spurring rural development.

Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu says more than 88.5 metric tonnes green gram seeds are being distributed to farmers in various sub counties in the first phase of the project.

“We have a direct market where every kilogramme of ndengu will be purchased at Sh100. There will be no room for brokers who fleece farmers” said Ngilu. She noted that more idle land needs to be put into use as the short October – December rains continue.

Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu and Kenya Red Cross Secretary General Abbas Gullet distribute green gram seeds to smallholder farmers in Kitui County

Land preparation and planting of green grams

Prepare land early enough so that planting can start when the rains begin. Green grams can be planted alone or intercropped with other crops like maize. When planted alone, sow it 11/2 ft between rows and 1/2 ft between plants. One acre of land will require 2 to 4 gorogoros (4 to 8 kg) of seed for planting.

Weeding

The first weeding should be done 3 weeks after the seeds have emerged followed by the second weeding 6 weeks later.

Fertilizers

If the soils are poor, you can apply up to 12 gorogoros or 1/2 bag of DAP per acre.

Pests

Insect pests that attack green grams are bean aphids, bean fly and bruchid weevils

Pests’ control

Farmers are advised to plant certified seeds and practice crop rotation. Spray affected crops with Benomyl or copper oxychloride.

READ ALSO: Green grams sprout in arid Makueni

Diseases

The main disease that affects green gram is powdery mildew. You can detect it when you see whitish growth under the leaves. To control it use certified seed, practise crop rotation and spray crop with Benomyl or copper oxychloride

Harvesting

Harvest green gram when most of the pods have turned black. You can pick and dry individual pods or uproot the whole plant and dry it for about 2 days, then thresh and clean it.

Storage

You must dry green grams well before storing because bruchid weevils attack the stored grain. It is best to store the grain in covered tins, drums, pots or sealed containers. If you store it in bags, add the ash of neem leaves or buy super actellic and add 2 matchboxes full (50 g) to one 90 kg bag of green grams for protection against the bruchid. Mix the actellic or ash well with green grams before storage.

Yields

Average yields range from 1 to 2 bags (90 -180 kg) per acre. If you follow the above steps you can get up to 4 bags (360 kg) per acre.

Seeds can also be obtained from Kenya Seed Company or the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization.

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: 12 October 2017; Hits: 15548

‘Iko-Lishe’ programme for hydroponic fodder production at low cost

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Hydroponic fodder

Livestock farmers have always found it difficult to afford high cost of feeds and sometimes some of the feeds sold to them are of low quality. To help this situation Nothern Lites Ltd in partnership with Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and Agrotunnel International Ltd has developed a programme dubbed Iko-Lishe to help farmers grow their own fodder feeds at low cost.

The company has also researched, designed and manufactured an automated Fodder Feed Unit (FFU) to increase efficiency thus enabling farmers to grow nutritious feeds with less water and at all time for all livestock under a small area.

Under this programme, interested farmers are offered a tried and tested product developed and manufactured in Kenya. This enables maintenance and training information on what seed are the best to use, make available experts on livestock o give training sessions and advice on livestock feed and finally introduce Agri finance solutions from local co-operative banks or institutions.

Nothern Lites Ltd through its various outlets in the country insists on organic feed control which has major advantages of solutions:

Soilless fodder feed unitand hydroponically design to use water only
No use of chemicals on the fodder
Feeds are grown all the time, 24 hours, seven day throughout the year
Minimal water usage compared to growing pasture
Feeds can be grown in a small confined area as compared to pasture grazing
Great nutritional value added to boost milk and weight production.

The structure in which the fodder is grown has a racking system made using light gauge steel technology. This system is integrated to accommodate irrigation and electrical solutions so that it has a timer and a cooler.

In order to successfully realise this course farmers are offered trainings on the FFU which include community awareness, value chain advantages, setting up an agri finance for continuity of the project, seed preparation, washing and soaking, watering regimes depending on weather and climatic conditions fodder feed and greenhouse maintainance.

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: 10 October 2017; Hits: 16802

Researchers: Banana pseudo stems are rich source of quality fibres

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Cross section of a banana pseudo stem. Commercial value of banana fibre made from banana stems has increased and it is used all over the world for multiple purposes from making tea bags and sanitary napkins to Japanese yen notes and car tyres.

Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI) experts are encouraging banana farmers to put into good use banana stems that most of the farmers have discarded or use as feeds for their livestock by using the stems to make fibres that can be used in a wide range of fields.

Using banana decorticator machine which can be bought at any agro-vet outlets or any other machinery outlets, banana farmers can at their comfort zones extract banana fibres, also known as musa fibres, and sell to the many companies that use fibres as one their raw materials for their end products.

“Banana decorticator machine which is prototype developed uses ten blunt blades with adjustable clearance between the blades and the beater bar is easy to use and can be operated by any farmer as it does not need any in-depth skill to operate,” said Mr. Jackson Mutai, engineer-KIRDI.

Mutai adds that the adjustable clearance between the blades and the beater bar allows fibre extraction from all forms of thickness of banana pseudo stems without damaging the fibres.

“This will leave farmers with fleshy parts which are by-products that can still be used to make biogas, organic manure, and animal feeds,” said Mutai.

The use of banana stems as a source of fibre declined after other convenient fibres such as cotton and silk became popular. However, in recent years the commercial value of banana fibre has increased and it is used all over the world for multiple purposes from making tea bags and sanitary napkins to Japanese yen notes and car tyres.

According to Mutai, what was earlier regarded as agricultural waste and a nuisance for farmers can be converted into rich raw material for good quality silk grade fibre yarn.

With Kenya being the lead tea producer and exporter in the world, banana farmers are assured of a ready market which are the factories that use banana fibres to make tea bags.

“Owing to its strongest and biodegradable natural qualities, musa fibres is so durable that if we make our Kenyan currency notes from them, the notes can be used for more than a hundred years and bags made out of it are not bound to any law penalties like plastics bags,” said Mutai.

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