Smart farms

: 04 January 2022; Hits: 6692

Thika family farm setting pace in mixed small-scale farming

small holder mixed farming model.JPG

A family owned farm in Thika is considered the benchmark in mixed farming as over 10 to 15 famer groups visit them every week to learn how they are able to operate several farming activities in a small piece of land.

The family of five; Kenneth Macharia, his wife and three children cultivate in less than half an acre land near Sports Club in Thika, Kiambu Country.

Kenneth Macharia who started fish farming, poultry and a dairy unit in his farm in 1999 after retiring as a technician from the Ministry of Transport, has turned the farm into a practical training centre where other farmers and experts come to learn how a small land can host many farming activities.

“I receive visitors every week and I share my experiences with them as a mixed farmer. Some churches from the area also bring youth to learn some of these practical skills in farming,” said Macharia.

“In June, I even received a group of farmers and their leaders from South Nyanza who had come on a series of agricultural events and bench marking in Nairobi and my farm was one of their destinations.”

Macharia has since registered with the Registrar of Society naming it Sky Blue Farmlands. This enables him to earn supply tenders of his agricultural produce.

Besides poultry, fishery and dairy farming, Macharia is currently running a yoghurt production plant within the same piece of land using his own milk to produce Highland Yoghurt. For the last six months, he has distributed it to the local shops and some areas in Nairobi such as Kawangware and Baba Dogo among others.

Although the heated political climate in the country has to some extent affected the yoghurt business, Macahria is not giving up. “I have won a supply tender with Kassmatt Supermarket which is good for business after the current political situation affected our supply in some areas in Nairobi.”

A litre of Highland Yoghurt goes for Sh160. The milk, processing process and the yoghurt itself has been certified by Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) meaning the farm is operating a clean business.

He advices young farmers to shy away from the fear of trial that many beginners in agribusiness suffer from ending up with a country with limited agriprenuers as compared to the population feeding on agricultural produce.

“I welcome the youth who want to learn and be trained for free. I am also thinking of starting admitting college students who would like to come for attachments and internships in my farm from next year on as many have been requeting,” said Macharia.

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Tuesday, 01 February 2022 [quote=Kennedy Onyango]Kindly assist with his contact please.[/quote] Hi Kenne...

Thursday, 27 January 2022 Kindly assist with his contact please.

: 04 January 2022; Hits: 5517

Soil tests crucial for obtaining top yields

soilcares meru agrodealer scanner 1

Farmers must regularly test their soils to check for presence or absence of essential nutrients for appropriate action of realising high productivity.

The testing, which is done by soil experts, would also guide a farmers on what to plant at a certain time.

This is possible because the procedure identifies the available nutrients, which forming the basis of advice on the best crops that would best utilize the resources.

Katharine MacMahon of SoilCares Limited says soil erosion, application of the wrong fertilisers among other practices cause nutritional degradation.

Only a critical analysis of the chemical components can prescribe the required remedy to restore productivity.

“Soil testing is a vital, yet often a forgotten part of farming. It is a simple and easy way of knowing what kind of health benefits or deficiencies your soil has for action. Knowing this can dramatically improve farmer’s yields,” She said.

Various crops utilize various nutrients. This results in depletion of some macro and micro nutrients.

Testing will inform the farmer in making a decision of which type of crop to grow instead of ‘blind planting’.

For instance repeated growing of crops utilising chlorine in its nutrient form would cause yellowing of leaves- chlorosis- in subsequent seasons.

Similarly, plants require elements such as potassium and sodium ions which are key in transportation of food.

Phosphorus, manganese or iron deficient soils will have a crop that does not depend much on these minerals to do well.

A farmer would only know which fertilizers and the quantity required to boost the element through chemical laboratory analysis.

SoilCare Africa is one of the international companies offering the service locally.

Testing interval

MacMahon says it is recommended that the process is done after every two to three years, or whenever a farmer wants to grow something new. It is also worth taking the samples for testing whenever crops look ‘weak or sickly’.

“Using SoilCares technology, a soil test takes 2 hours. This is compared to other soil testing technologies which take up to 2 weeks,” she said.

A farmer can use random, zigzag or other approved methods to pick soil samples before taking them to the laboratories.

The company has laboratories in Meru, Uasin Gishu, Bungoma and Nairobi counties. There are three laboratories in Bungoma, which were purchased by the county government.

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: 03 January 2022; Hits: 5779

Low cost charcoal cooler keeps produce fresh for a week

Farmers in dry regions can keep vegetable and fruit produce fresh for more than a week using an energy free wooden charcoal cooling chamber.

A charcoal chamber, which works best in regions where the air moisture content is 30 per cent or less, reduces the spoilage rate and allows for more time for sale of perishable goods by maintaining low temperatures.

Wind in areas such as North Eastern, Eastern, parts of Rift Valley and other low rainfall areas in Kenya is warm, but dry. Warmth causes foods to go bad, with ripe tomatoes taking less than four days.

According to the Queen’s University of Mechanical Engineering research, a charcoal cooler can boost the shelf life of tomatoes from two days to 20 days.

During construction of the hutch like chamber, a cavity created by a chicken wire-mesh is left all round.

The 5cm or so perimeter cavity is then filled with compact charcoal pieces.

A bucket or a tank placed on top of the structure suppliers the water that keeps the charcoal wet. A drip pipe running on top of the charcoal layer receives the water and distributes it evenly into the pieces.

Charcoal is a bad conductor of heat. Conventional entry of heat is limited in this case.

At the same time, the wind that is blowing into the chamber while hot dry is cooled and saturated with water particles. Its temperature is lowered as its energy is used to vapourise the water droplets in the charcoal. The process eventually lowers the temperature of the air in the chamber, where the farm produce is.

The foods are spread on the shelves in the cooler.

The vegetables do not also lose shape due to loss of moisture as a result of strong dry wind that is blowing.

Charcoal coolers work best in regions where the moisture content in air is below the 30 per cent mark because if the wind is warm and saturated, it will have no room to accommodate more water vapor and heat.

Excess water dripping from the charcoal can be collected by an open pipe just below the layer, then directed into another container for reuse.

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