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: 07 November 2019; Hits: 10195

Silage maker buying yellow maize from all farmers

yellow maize

Royal Farms Ltd, a Ugandan based feed mill company that has set its store in Nakuru Town is currently seeking to buy yellow maize for silage making from farmers to meet 30 tonnes demand from 15 tonnes by livestock keeper

Currently, the company is working with farmers from Kiambu and Murang’a counties who have been producing the corns and is now conducting awareness through social media platforms to woo more farmers to meet their targets.

“So far, we are only reaming with about 20 tonnes in our stores of yellow maize in our store in Nakuru. This is why we are calling on farmers with the grains and are willing to sell as we are set to start buying in 2-3 weeks time,” said Macharia Gitonga, Royal Farms Ltd Kenya sales representative.

Gitonga says that the preferred varieties are pioneer and panari which matures in four months (120-150 days) and can yield up to 30 bags per acre.

Upon harvesting, the farmers should ensure that the grains are sorted well to avoid any mixture of other grains such as white maize.

We encourage farmers to deliver pure grade 2 yellow maize. The grains are rich in crude protein of 12-28 content and 3350kcal/kg (1520 kcal/lb) metabolizable energy making it the best choice for livestock farmers.

In this, Gitonga says that the grains are supposed to be dried properly in the sun or using solar dryers before contacting them to come and pick using the company lorries or the farmer may just decide to deliver the produce at their Nakuru store.

“We do not allow farmers to dry the grains using electricity because this can affect their nutritional value. They are also supposed to cater for transport costs,” said Gitonga.

The company pays Sh5,000 per sack of 90 kilos with payments made almost immediately. The grains are then milled, packaged and sold to livestock farmers as flour or bran. Sometimes they can sell the grains without milling to the farmers who want to go and process their own animal feeds.

Gitonga can be reached on +254 722316187

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Wednesday, 18 August 2021 [quote=Cliff Mosomi]Hi, I am in Narok. Do you do contract farming for medium to...

Tuesday, 17 August 2021 Hi, I am in Narok. Do you do contract farming for medium to large scale? Let m...

Saturday, 01 May 2021 Hi! Do you still buy yellow maize I'm in Siaya

: 05 November 2019; Hits: 5869

Market location helps Kiambu farmer manage the highly perishable cucumber

cucumbers

One cucumber farmer from Kiambu County is betting on his nearness to the high-end vegetable outlets within Nairobi which he sauces before embarking on the production of the fruit to make prompt sales to avoid losses that his peers incur at harvest due to the high perishability of the crop.

Statistics indicates that cucumber post-harvest losses account for up to 40 per cent of total yield hence the fruit should reach the market and end consumer as fast as possible while still fresh.

“Entering into this venture, I first had to understand cucumbers as one of the highly perishable crops, and market research was my first priority. I am lucky that Nairobi which offers a good market for the produce is just some 45km away and reaching my contracted markets has saved me a lot,” said Gabriel Njoroge.

Njoroge, who is also a tomato farmer, searched for cucumber suppliers to the high-end vegetable outlets within Nairobi before embarking on production of the fruit at his Thika farm.

The supplier has agreed to buy the produce at a cost ranging from Sh45 to Sh60 per kilo-depending on the quality of the harvest for one year.

Unlike tomatoes, which are household cooking ingredients for almost all classes of people, the farmer said one is likely to sink into losses for blindly investing in cucumber if they do not know the target consumers.

Having sold tomatoes for one and half years in Nairobi, Njoroge contacted and struck a deal with a friend who buys cucumbers in large quantities before selling them to Nairobi supermarkets, Wakulima Market and Gikomba.

“The buyer asked me to grow five sets of 100 seedlings each. The sets must have an age difference of two to three weeks. This difference will be maintained through the growth process until harvesting. For that reason, I will be supplying given kilogrammes of cucumbers every week,” he said.

The first set is two weeks old and by the time Farmbiz Africa caught up with Njoroge, he was transplanting the second batch.

Besides ensuring constant revenue flow for the farmer, the variation in transplanting date regulates the supply to the market, therefore, avoiding flooding, which reduces costs.

In sustaining the supply through the year, he has bought two tanks of 500 litres each to support irrigation. He relies on his father’s 1976 pump to push water from a nearby river into the farm. He is using drip after abandoning can irrigation.

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: 04 November 2019; Hits: 7223

Ready market excites over 2,200 Meru farmers to grow bananas

weighing bananas

Over 2,200 small scale farmers who were previously into coffee and miraa production have found a new venture in banana farming thanks to free open markets in the area frequented by buyers and Twiga Foods, a B2B fresh produce firm which contracts farmers in the county.

This started some years back when coffee prices stated fluctuating while miraa was also losing ground in the local and international markets with bans in the United Kingdom (UK) and Somalia and locally in Kwale and Nyandarua.

“Dwindling coffee prices since 1980s made me to uproot several trees and replaced them with bananas. Currently, my 10 acres land are now under banana farming because the crop is doing well in the market,” Aaron M’Aburi, former Chairman of Imenti South Banana Growers Association.

Today there are free open air markets in South Imenti Sub County where banana farming has taken root running from Monday to Friday at Ntharene, Muruiri, Igoji, Mwichuine, kamachege and Kariene.

RELATED CONTENT:The rise and rise of banana farming in Kenya

In these markets, traders from all over the country park up their bicycles, lorries and pick-ups as they scramble over the produce.

This has excited the farmers who have increased productions to 127, 575 tonnes of bananas annually something which has attracted formal byers.

Twiga Foods is such buyers which now working with over 2,200 farmers in Meru on contract basis. The farmers are able to produce 36 tonnes every season.

“Meru has become one of our best location for banana sourcing with over 8,505 acres under the crop. We source the produce from growers and deliver it directly to the vendors,” read a statement from Twiga Foods website.

In this, the firm is able to eliminate brokers, monitor quality of the produce and reduce farmers’ post-harvest losses.

The company, so far has banana collection centres in Githongo, Mitunguu, Mujwa, Egoji, Maua and Mikinduri in Meru.

“As such we guarantee a market, promptly pays for produce, transparent pricing, so farmers can get estimate how much they will get for their produce besides offering agronomist support to growers.”

RELATED CONTENT: Farmers urged to embrace tissue culture bananas

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