Smart farms

: 08 August 2016; Hits: 15991

Excess urea best for leaves, not fruits

Kenyan farmers have been warned against excessive use of rabbit urine as leaf fertiliser on fruit-producing crops as it may lower yields.

According to Agronomist Wycliffe Obwoge, this application which is intended to boost yields may only be good for controlling pesticides.

He explains that the urine is more of a folia fertiliser. More leaves are formed, therefore, limiting the number of flowers for fruits.

“It is okay to apply rabbit urine on leaf harvested crops. Excess application on fruits controls pests, but initiates formation of more shoots and leaves, therefore, compromising the quality and quantity,” he said.

More leaves on crops like tomatoes call for increased labour in pruning.

Consumers are warming up to organically produced goods and farmers are adjusting to meet this emerging class with natural remedies of boosting production while shunning chemicals.

Rabbit urine is one of the organic fertilisers that doubles up as a pesticide.

Common fruit vegetates include tomatoes, pepper, capsicum, cucumber, egg plant, bitter and pepino melon, among others.

Juliet Ngugi of Peace Officers for Christ International (POCI), a Kiambu County based religious group engaging in agribusiness, said taking measures is key in spite of urine looking harmless.

“At least 200ml should be added to 20 litres of water for leaf and ground application. Like any other chemical application, personal safety must be observed,” she said.

The organisation rears thousands of rabbits at their Thogoto farm, where tapping and packaging of urine is done.

POCI sells a half a litre of the packaged urine at Sh800.

Excess application on kales, cabbage, lettuce, black night shade (managu), spider flower among others will do well.

The fertiliser is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, which are major components of proteins for structural body formation.

Julie Ngugi displays Peace Officers for Christ International packaged rabbit urine for sale at Nakuru agricultural show on July 8,2016. Agronomist Wycliffe Obwoge says the urine is best for leaf harvested crops, but may reduce fruit yields due to too much canopy. PHOTO BY LABAN ROBERT.

Write comment (0 Comments)

: 08 August 2016; Hits: 17952

Group earns from ulcer treating banana peels powder

PHOTO:Afro Ochieng holds a banana baked bread from an oven on July 15,2016 at Kisii agricultural show ground. Banana peels powder is earning his group sixt imes more than plantain or ripe bunches. PHOTO BY LABAN ROBERT.

A self help group is converting banana peelings, which are usually dumped as waste, into medicinal powder with a drying and grinding machine they received from an international organisation.

Misire Youth Group Chairman, Afro Ochieng said the solar drier, which they received more than one year ago from World Vision, has helped them multiply banana earning by six fold.

“Banana peels are converted into a fine powder with the help of a grinder after drying. Nothing is added besides a colour stabiliser. The group gets new orders daily. To Kisii town alone, we supply between 75 kilos and 100 kilos per week,” he said.

The group’s entry into the powder agribusiness was informed by multiple researches showing that it prevents drug induced ulcers.

Banana ulcer treatment

According to Greenmedinfo, an online medical journal, the powder controls stomach lining corrosion resulting from asprin, indomethacin, phenylbutazone, cysteamine, histamine, among other drugs. The potassium element in the powder strengthens corrosion resistance of the stomach mucous layer besides promoting healing by inducing cellular growth in affected areas.

Peels from a 30 kg banana can give five to six kilos of the dry powder. One kilo of the powder fetches Sh300 at wholesale, the chairman said. Six kilos earn Sh1,800.

The same banana, if sold for plantain or ripe fruits, earns between Sh250 and Sh300 in Kisii and about Sh500 in urban centres like Nairobi.

The group specialises in banana value addition. It converts banana fingers into flour for baking bread, cakes, dough nuts, among other products.

Drying peels

The only additive to the powder is sodium suplhate, which helps in maintaining the green power or white flour colours.

“It takes one to two days to dry the peels. The process reduces the moisture content to less than 10 per cent. Low moisture content limits growth of poisonous moulds as well as increases the shelf-life of the two products,” he said.

Converting the 30 kilos of raw banana into flour gives four kilos, which fetch Sh900 when sold raw.

Banana peels have about 20 per cent vitamin B-6, which helps the body in converting food into energy, therefore lowering diabetes risks.

Tuskys Supermarket is one of the outlets selling the powder.

Ochieng can be reached on +254721203669.

Write comment (0 Comments)

: 03 August 2016; Hits: 12872

Town garbage feeds farmer's pigs

Organic garbage, which is collected from towns for dumping, has been free pigs feed for one Machakos County farmer since 2014.

Kennedy Musyoka used to feed his one pig on farm and kitchen waste, but after the mother gave birth to 10 piglets, he had to look for alternatives.

Having just delved into pig farming courtesy of a friend, who gave him the sow free of charge, he had no money to buy commercial feeds.

“The idea of helping in picking up organic garbage from the town struck. I tried one afternoon and it worked. Peels of fruits and other foods littering the town were sufficient for my 11 pigs,” Musyoka said.

PigMachakos MusyokaLaban.JPG

He visits the ton in the afternoons and collects any organic refuse he gets. Although he cannot tell the quantity he collects in kilos per day, a 90kg sack full of refuse sustains the pigs per day.

Money in pigs

Musyoka has never bought commercial feeds. He only needs a little top up from the farm green, which again he says will be taken back as manure.

It costs him between Sh70 and Sh100 per day in transporting the feeds to his Manza Village daily.

The variety in fruits and vegetables give a mix of nutrients, which he says does not require additional feeds or supplements.

As the stock increased after birth of the 10 young ones, he also moves to secondary schools like Machakos Girls to collect more kitchen remains.

Pigs have a gestation period of 115 days. March 2015 was the first time that the sow gave birth to the 10 piglets. He sold seven of them in July 2015 at Sh7,000 each.

Twelve more others were born in August the same year. Selling them in December at Sh8,000 earned him Sh96,000.

Transformed

Musyoka, who was employed to take care of pigs until 2014, has bought construction materials worth Sh150,000 for a block permanent residential house.

“Although I started with one pig, which I was given for free, the agribusiness is becoming my fulltime employment. I have built a bigger sty than the one I had to accommodate more than 10 mature pigs.

He has three mature pigs and four piglets.

The pig champion

The 22-year-old farmer slaughtered a 100kg pig in December 2015 at his home after a week’s announcement.

“I paid a county meat inspection officer Sh1,000 to check if the pork was fit for consumption. I was shocked that even at Sh400, people bought 95 kilos,” he said.

His two-year-old boar was the champion during the Machakos County Agricultural Show, 2016 after clocking 160kg.

It is recommended that pigs consume four per cent of its body weight. This means that a pig of 100kg should consume four kilos per day.

Musyoka offers each of them between three and four kilos per day, adding that the animal can feed continuously, hence the need for regulation.

PHOTO: Kennedy Musyoka's pig feeds from a trench in the Machakos ASK Show ground sty on April 17,2016.The two-year-old 160kg was crowned the champion in the agricultural affair. PHOTO BY LABAN ROBERT.

Write comment (0 Comments)