Smart farms

: 11 August 2020; Hits: 7898

Search for Covid-19 immunity drives limes to 10x the price

Limes

By George Munene

In all her years as a trader at Kamulu market along Kangundo Road, Shiro has never seen the price of limes and lemons this high.

Usually 6-8 limes would go for Sh10, sometimes she would have to sell them at throwaway prices; a lime for as little as 1 bob. Now she sells a single lime for Sh10 up to Sh30 depending on size. And this is if she is lucky enough to be able to acquire any from farmers.

Most of Kenya’s limes and lemons are sourced from Eastern Kenya, particularly Ukambani counties, and farmers who supply her with the citrus fruits now have to harvest the ripe yellow limes that remain once the main harvesting is done. Finding green limes she says, is no mean feat.

The fruits have become a rare sight in Nairobi, even some days going extinct in big markets such as Kangemi.

Ordinarily, farm gate prices for 20 kg tins oscillated between Sh50 and Sh150 per tin, but now that 20kg tin goes for Sh1,000. A 90 kg bag of limes will set you back anywhere between Sh10,000 and Sh15,000 a sack. Shiro now sells a kilo for no less than Sh100.

She chalks this lime craze up to Covid-19 in two ways; people have had a renewed want for healthy eating and living as well as the claim that alkalinizing your body through a concoction of lime and ginger will create an inhospitable environment for the coronavirus, boosting your immunity to the virus.

In a Friday media briefing Kenya’s Director General for Health Dr. Patrick Amoth said, “No one will stop you from taking your mixture of ginger, lemon and honey; they are good sources of vitamins and micronutrients, but the take home message is that they are is still no cure for Covid-19.”

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: 11 August 2020; Hits: 8907

Drip irrigation reduces water consumption for Kiambu farmer by 50 per cent

By Fredrique Achieng’

A cabbage farmer in Kiambu has reduced the water consumption for his five metres by 30 metres farm from 1,000 litres a week to 500 litres through the use of drip irrigation.

According to research done by FarmBiz Africa, irrigation is a method that is yet to be fully exploited since only four per cent of the total of 2.9 ha of arable land in Kenya uses irrigation.

“What made me instantly switch from can watering to drip irrigation is its efficiency both in terms of labour and water consumption. This is because I used to water vegetables twice a week using 1,000 litres but now I only use 500 litres over the same period of time,” says Alex Kamau cabbage farmer in Kiambu.

In this system of irrigation, water drips slowly directly on the soil surface or on the plant’s base using a simple network of pipes and valves, making it a more viable method of watering crops compared to overhead/ direct watering of the vegetables, which tend to create a damp microclimate that promotes the growth of fungi.

Alex switched to the use of drip irrigation kits from Twiga Chemicals in 2018 which cost him Sh20,100 for the purchase and installation.

“With this system, I am able to water my 1,000 cabbage heads that I supply to locals and in the market around here without a lot of labour involved, since it only depends on gravity because while setting up, the water source/tank is set on higher ground compared to other irrigation systems that depend on either electricity or solar power,” said Alex.

The drip irrigation system by Twiga Chemicals comes in different forms, as a Bucket Kit, Drum Kit and Tank Kit that retail at Sh4,880, Sh20,100 and Sh25,000 respectively. Each kit comes with 100m of pipe, valves and end caps.

Aside from reducing the amount of water he uses in his farming venture, Alex adds that with this method of irrigation, the weight of his cabbage heads has increased from 2kg to 5 kg, which has increased the wholesale price for each cabbage head to Sh50 per head up from Sh30 per head.

But the watering has to be optimal to make these gains. “While using this system of irrigation, one can mistakenly underwater or overwater their crops. The recommended timeframe is a period of between 2 to 3 hours twice a week since if one does this long it will result in lower cabbage size,” said Alex.

Twiga Chemicals can be reached at 0722 207 847 or 0733 639 334

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: 06 August 2020; Hits: 22329

FarmBizAfrica announces vertical farming winners

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By FarmBizAfrica

FarmBizAfrica has today announced Kabete farmer Onesmus Muthuri as the winner of its first Farming Innovation competition, which set out to find farmers pioneering in vertical sack farming.

Onesmus, who began vertical farming to grow organic fruit and vegetables for his daughter, who was suffering from gastric issues, quickly found new ways to grow more, planting often in old plastic bottles and containers mounted in wooden frames.
Related News:Kabete farmer moves into all-year, organic strawberries through vertical farming

He found he was using minimal water and generating enough from his tiny flower area to begin selling crops too. He has also now launched a business Tawa Gardens to help other urban residents get into vertical gardening by finding the best spaces in their homes and the ideal frames and growing containers, as well as advising them on planting, care and harvesting.

Onesmus, who says he spends just 20 minutes a day tending his own prolific vertical farm, wins a 2,000 litre water tank as the first prize in the FarmBozAfrica Farming Innovators competition.

We were honoured with many entries to the competition and have also awarded Runners Up positions and certificates to the following entrants, who you can read about on the links provided.

Kevin Kariithi:Innovator: farmer fills cement bags to create a mountain of food

Francis Milwani and his wife Mary Waithera:Artist farmers create urban farm hub from sacks and old plastic

Paul Mwai:Kikuyu resident proves vertical farming can feed urban families and create income

Maureen Chelagat:Mum cuts food costs 80 % within two months by farming in Jerri cans

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