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: 01 August 2017; Hits: 27311

WhatsApp group help farmers access farming Information

Lack of better and up-to-date information that has made most farmers make uninformed decisions on farming practices leading to unnecessary losses has prompted group of some agricultural experts from western and parts of Rift Valley to start up a farmers’ Whatsapp group with the aim of sharing agribusiness information to bridge the information gap.

The group which is known as Kilimo Bora Public Private Partnerships comprises of agricultural officers from public and private sectors, information officers and farmers.

Mr. Milton Patrice, an agricultural extension officer from Bokeira Ward in Nyamira County is one of the founders and administrators of the group. “When we realised that our farmers were lacking better and immediate information on farm practices, we decided to start a WhatsApp group to help them,” said Patrice.

To avoid confusing farmers who are the majority in the group, the group is strictly about sharing agribusiness stories and any member posting anything other than that is warned or even expelled from the group if need be.

“In this time of heated political and social debates across the country we protect our members from being diverted from the main purpose of the group which is to share agribusiness issues to something else by sternly taking proper actions on members who post irrelevant posts,” said Patrice.

Some of the information circulated in the group include proper agronomics from planting to harvesting, new seeds and fertilizer, emerging technology in farming, farm machinery, agricultural events, and new methods in farming among others.

The group now prides in 233 members of which 200 are active since it was started in February this year. Every month over 40 farmers receive information on up to date upcoming agricultural events and new seed varieties . Trainings are organized and facilitated by extension officers within and outside the group.

“Since I joined Kilimo Bora Public Private Partnerships WhatsApp group I have benefited from advice from experts, connection with farm input suppliers and frequent assessments of my onion farm by extension officers,” Said Mercy Kemunto who is expecting to harvest her one acre of onions early August.

Patrice says that they have managed to group farmers in different areas for the benefit of those who cannot afford to be on WhatsApp due to one reason or another.

Farmers are just one of those many Kenyans who take advantage of the speedy Internet and the wake of smartphone usage in Kenya to help them get and share information not only to grow themselves but also the community.

Akamai’s 2016 State of the Internet report ranked Kenya’s internet as the fastest in Internet speed in Africa and Middle East.

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: 31 July 2017; Hits: 12343

Water hyacinth provides good substrate for mushroom farming

Water hyacinth. It is a free floating perennial herb of fresh water ecosystems. Dry hyacinth can support mushroom farming. Photo: Feeedipedia

While the Lake Victoria hyacinth is driving fishermen out of business, Siaya County farmer, Naftali Oseka has converted the stubborn weed into the a substrate for mushroom production.

The farmer, who lives along the shore of this biggest fresh water lake in Africa, learnt that dry hyacinth can support mushroom farming, replacing the need for expensive bagasse and sometimes seldom sawdust and sugarcane leaves.

“I started mushroom farming two years ago when I got tired of fishing. With the ever growing weed on the lake, fish harvest has been diminishing. Government efforts to remove the weed have been futile. Other fishermen are using chemicals in fishing, which has caused deaths and eventual drop in population,” said Oseka. “Water hyacinth was another reason why I left my previous job,” he added.

Instead of struggling to make ends meet with the fishing, he resorted to “befriend the enemy weed” as an alternative source of income.

READ ALSO: How to grow mushrooms for export

Mushrooms do not grow directly on the soil. They require a medium, substrate, which seats between them and the soil. Most farmers use saw dusts, bagasse, rice, wheat, millet and bean straws as substrates.

However, dry hyacinth is a good mushroom substrate when mixed with other trash from organic farm waste.

Oseka says: “I learnt the mushroom venture from a friend in a group of mushroom farmers in Vihiga, our neighbouring county. It was simple, I only needed Sh1500 to buy grass and some polls to construct a mud house of seven by nine feet,” he added.

Mushrooms thrive well in an environment of 15-30 degrees Celsius, meaning in case of dry weather there should be continuous sprinkling of water to keep the soil moist.

Oseka grows spawn variety of mushroom which he bought at Sh600 per kilogram from the friend. This variety can fetch up to 40 bags with each bag weighing between two and three kilos during good weather.

Mushroom farming is a viable business as the edible fungi mature within two months from harvesting. The demand against consumption in Kenya is 5:12, meaning there the market is more than twice the production.

Button mushrooms even take less than a month to mature. A quarter of an acre can hold 500 bags of button mushrooms, which produce about one ton. One kilogram sells at Sh300.

The small-scale farmer’s main targets are restaurants in Kokach Beach, Kamuga and Lwak. Individuals also buy the produce directly from the farm.

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: 28 July 2017; Hits: 7702

Saleslady ventures into Onion farming to diversify her income

harvested onions.jpg

Fresh harvested onions. Onions can escape the pangs of drought given that they are ready for harvest in four months. Photo gallery.

To increase her income to beat the rising cost of living, Royal Mabati employee Mercy Kemunto has delved into four-month-maturing onions, abandoning maize crop- which takes almost double time to harvest.

The Nakuru farmer opted for onions given that they are less prone to pests like aphids. Onions produce a pungent smell that repels some pests. Actually, some farmers grow it around other vulnerable vegetables as a pest defender.

“Maize is the preferred ‘meal’ of the fall armyworms. The pest has destroyed most of the maize in Kenya, with the Rift Valley and Western parts being the most affected. Onions are less at risk,” she said.

Kemunto, who works as the sales person of the company, said drought has also affected maize production in the past. It takes between six to eight months to plant and harvest maize. But onions can escape the pangs of drought given that they are ready for harvest in four months.

Having acquired an irrigation kit, she says, the production cycle in a year can be two or three, with short season crops unlike maize. With an initial capital of Sh35, 000, she sourced sets from a renowned onion seedling supplier in Nakuru.
In February, this year, Kemunto started preparing her farm by ploughing and adding manure. Since she had a readily available water tank and pipes, her work was cut out.

One of the three acres initially set aside for maize was chopped off for onions.

“My plan is to shift slowly from overreliance on rain-fed agriculture to irrigation. Rains are unreliable now” says Kemunto.
Maize planting is no longer profitable in the wake of importation from other countries like Mexico and South Africa at cheaper costs. Head smuts have also ravaged the crop.

In April, Kemunto planted her onion sets on her one acre farm 10cm by 15cm apart. According to the advice she got from Kilimo Bora, a farmers’ Whatsapp group, she learnt that onions thrive well in firm soil.
Mercy used drip irrigation to water the onions and this was beneficial as this method it saves water and discourages foliar diseases.

She used NPK fertilizer on her onions to provide all the necessary nutrients required for the development of bulbs. NPK fertilizers are rich in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium which are useful in the development of bulbs for onions. Kemunto used two 50 kg bags NPK fertilizer per acre with each bag costing her Ksh. 3200. She applied mulching by using grass clippings to control weeds and preserve water on the soil.

Her purple onions will be ready for sale in early August. Mercy will work with established agribusiness farmers to identify and market her produce to various hotels in Nakuru, Nairobi and the surrounding towns. She expects to harvest about three to four tonnes from her one acre farm which she will sell at 900 shillings per 13 kg net (the price is according to Soko +, a digital commodity trading and information system, linking small scale farmers to end retailers/bulk purchasers of produce)

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