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: 03 November 2017; Hits: 6849

Collective bargaining helps farmers’ cooperative earn 2bn from potato farming

Tired of unscrupulous middlemen who buy their potato at a low price and selling at a higher cost made potato farmers in Shamata area in Nyandarua County start a cooperative through which they earn supply tenders, share transport costs and other labour costs thus helping them in economy of scale.

Nyandarwa Farmers’ Cooperative which was started early 2016 has smallholder famers who only grow potato for commercial purposes. The cooperative which is almost two years old now has a progressive membership of 140.

“We started with few farmers in informal groupings till we decided to formalize our course in a bid to earn the trust of the members, since then the number has been increasing as our success continue to manifest seasons after seasons,” said Mr. Steven Mwangi Mwaniki, the cooperative’s technical committee chairperson.

The majority of the cooperative members own between 3-5 acres pieces of land. This means individual effort cannot meet the high demand of potatoes by processing firms since local markets in Nyandarwa do not pay off well compared to the farmers’ expectations.

Nyandarwa Farmers’ Cooperative has earned supply tenders with various food processing companies like Sereni Fries, Krumble Fresh, Beepa Industries Ltd where they supply potatoes to meet the companies’ high demand.

“It requires individual farmer to own above 30 acres of potato farm in order to earn supply tender with the food companies something many small scale farmers may not afford, so a cooperative has helped us reach where we could not individually,” said Mwaniki.

He says that as a group farmers are able to harvest and bring together 100 tonnes of potatoes which is about 100, 000 metric tonnes that they can harvest in a season. This is equivalent to 100, 000,000 kilograms.

As a cooperative, they sell their potatoes between Sh15-25 per kilo depending on the potato variety to the food processing companies. This means in a given season they are able to earn over Sh2, 000, 000, 000 using an average of Sh20 per kilo. The remaining potatoes which do not meet the companies’ standards are sold in the local markets between Sh12-14 per kilo depending on the variety too.

A kilo of potato is transported to the company at two shilling and the farmers are paid a week after delivery.

According to the National Potato Council of Kenya (NPCK), Kenya’s potato value chain involves approximately 2.7 million people among them 800,000 smallholder farmers and it contributes to more than Sh50 billion (USD 500 million) to the economy.

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: 01 November 2017; Hits: 9048

Free Avocado seedlings for Kirinyaga farmers

Kirinyaga farmers have been urged to embrace avocado production in the spirit of diversification and the need to plan for alternative agricultural and other sectorial interventions to boost the region economically. Smallholder farmers in the region depend on coffee, tea, rice, horticulture, dairy farming, maize and beans farming but farmers have been unable to reap maximum returns from these crops.

Related article: More farmers certified to sell avocado in EU

The area is one of the wettest counties in Kenya with annual temperatures ranging between 12 degree Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius on average and annual precipitation of about 1250 mm. It enjoys two rainy seasons, the long rains (March-May) and the short rains (October-December). The region thus is well endowed with a good climate and adequate water sources to ensure maximum avocado production.

Kenya plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) in collaboration with the County government of Kirinyaga recently held a farmer’s field day to teach and educate farmers on the good agricultural practices of avocado production. The training focused on crop production, compliance to market requirements and access, nursery certification, pest management and the varieties required for international market access.

Over 300 farmers attended the event where over 1000 seedlings were distributed to enable them begin the process of avocado production. The event was led by area Deputy Governor Peter Ndambiri and KEPHIS Managing Director Esther Kimani who urged farmers to work with the firm in the production of the crop.

Kirinyaga Deputy Governor H. E. Peter Ndambiri of Kirinyaga County presents an avocado seedling to a representative of a farmer group during the official launch of avocado farming in Kirinyaga County/PHOTO/KEPHIS

“Hass avocado is on the demand at the moment in the international market, planting this variety will enhance your income” said Kimani. Most of the Kenyan avocado farmers are found in Muranga, Nyeri, Kiambu, Kisii and Meru. Kenya has witnessed a sharp increase in the number of countries interested in Kenya avocados, these counties are, Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain, Iran, Libya, and Egypt among others.

Avocadoes are a nutrient- dense fruit loaded with fiber, healthy omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins A, C, E and potassium. They contain 4g of protein making them the fruit with the highest protein content. Farmers can tell an avocado is ripe when they feel heavy for their size and are dark in color. They mature on the tree but ripen only once they are taken off the tree.

According to Soko+, a digital commodity trading and information system, linking small scale farmers to end retailers/bulk purchasers of produce the current price of avocado vary from town to town with Kisumu city retailing lowest at Sh. 1400 and Malindi highest at Sh. 6,000.

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: 30 October 2017; Hits: 7481

Promising Sweet Potato varieties in North Rift Valley

Farmers in North Rift Valley have been advised to grow other food crops such as sweet potatoes to enhance food security in the region. Smallholder farmers in the area incurred huge losses this year due to fall army worm infestation and maize lethal necrosis diseases which greatly hampered maize production, a staple food crop in the region.

With the introduction of tested sweet potato varieties suitable for the region, farmers can produce between 6 and 20 tons of sweet potatoes depending on the variety planted and earn between about 2200 per 98 kg of bag, twice in a year as compared to maize which earn about 3,000 per 90 kg bag once in a year. The crop can also supplement maize as an important source of food in the area.

In lower altitude areas like Arror and Ortum, farmers of Elgeyo Marakwet & West Pokot Counties can grow KSP20 and Sandak varieties which do well when planted as a single crop according to the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization scientists.

In medium altitude areas like Kitale where sweet potato is intercropped with maize, Sandak variety is recommended. KSP20 also does well as a mono-crop in this region. Kembl0 and KSP20 produce the best vines, especially when farmers look after the crop well.

How to plant

For sole cropping, prepare the land immediately after the first rains. For intercropping with maize, prepare the land after harvesting beans. Use a jembe to loosen the soil to at least six inches deep and remove all the weeds. Avoid stony soils because they limit tuber expansion.

In drier areas, plant when the top 6 inches of soil is wet. In high rainfall areas like Kitale you can plant when the top 3 inches is wet. Cut the vines into 1-2 feet 2 pieces and bury 2/3 in the wet soil. The leaves should point upwards. You can plant the vines on the flat ground at 2-3 ft by 1-2 ft spacing or on ridges or mounds of soil at 2-4 ft by 1-2 ft. The mounds or ridges should be between 6 to 18' high. Spacing is not very critical as far as yield is concerned.

Weeding

Keep the land free from weeds until the crop covers the ground. The first weeding should be done 3 weeks after planting. Remove occasional weeds by hand after the crop covers the ground.

Fertilizers

Very few farmers apply fertilizers on sweet potato. If the soil is very poor, apply 40 to 200 'debes' per acre of farmyard manure or 1/2 bag of DAR If your major interest is vine production, apply 1/2 bag of DAP per acre.

Pests

The most important pest of the crop is the sweet potato weevil. Plant sweet potato only on land where the crop has not been grown in the past 2 years. Earth up the soil around 3 the crop every 4 to 6 weeks in order to control weevil build up.

Harvesting

You can harvest KSP20 and Sandak varieties after 31/2 months in the Iow, hot areas like Arror and Sigor and after 4 months in the cooler higher areas like Kitale. You can harvest the tubers at once or you can leave some in the ground for up to 4 months until you need them. Locate the large tubers by cracks in the ground. Loosen the soil around the tuber with a sharp tool like a fork and lift the tuber from the ground. Use a jembe if you want to harvest the whole plot at once.

Yield

KSP20 and Sandak can produce 6 to 20 t per acre (18,000 - 60,000 tubers). Kembl 0 can produce 6 to 15 t of tubers and 12 to 20 t of vines per acre. Farmers in Arror, Sigor and Kitale areas found that for every shilling spent on labour to plant, weed, earth up and harvest, they could get 7 to 13 shillings profit (1997 prices).

Feeding vines to livestock

Sweet potato vines are a good dairy animal feed supplement because they have a high protein content (10 to 15%) and are easily digestable. Chop the vines in small pieces and mix them with Napier grass or maize stover. The mixture should have between 20 to 50% sweet potato vines.

Market

Farmers in North Rift Valley can sell their sweet potatoes in Eldoret town for Ksh 2200 per 98 kg bag, 3500 in Nairobi, 2,300 in Nakuru and 4,410 in Malindi at current market prices according to soko+, digital commodity trading and information system, linking small scale farmers to end retailers/bulk purchasers of produce.

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