Smart farms

: 21 November 2019; Hits: 12361

Feeding fish homemade feeds more profitable

Trout fish

Farmers rearing fish with homemade feeds may make more profits by than their commercial feeds counterparts despite the higher crude protein content in the latter.

Kenya Prisons officer Jared Mokaya, who manages the Nakuru correctional facility farm, said commercial feeds offer a vigorous and heavier yield, but the at the end, the net financial gain is lower than supplements production.

His sentiments have been supported by a research that shows that there is an average of 0.23 benefit cost from three Nile tilapia set-ups where the growth and economic performances were tested.

In the study, reversed sex Nile tilapias were raised in four rice-fish ecosystems for 120 days. The traditional feed had 21 per cent crude proteins (CP), while the formulated one had 26 per cent CP. Commercial had 30 per cent CP while nothing was added to the last set up, which acted as the control.

“The highest benefit-cost ratio of 2.15 was in the control, followed by formulated feed (1.90). But in the case of numerical net return, it was the opposite. The commercial feeds had the lowest profit margin ratio of 1.67m,” the research published on the Journal of Applied Aquaculture reads.

The report adds that the cost of commercial feeds is more than that of supplementary feed.

For farmers to make more profits, the research says that fish grown in rice fields will give more profits if farmers use homemade feeds.

In making feeds locally, the farmers also incur fewer costs since they are can use materials available such as crashed maize.

Protein supplements from the fish dust in the local markets can also be cheap.

Mokaya runs an integrated aquaculture system in the prisons, where fish are reared below a chicken and rabbit house, which also has kales farm on the roof.

He helps farmers establish such structures upon request.

Food and Agricultural Organisation, FAO, recommends that farmers rear fish in flooded fields with rice. The excrements from fish are nitrogen for the rice. The rice consumes the ammonia in the body waste while the fish also release carbon dioxide for photosynthesis in the crop.

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: 20 November 2019; Hits: 9967

Redworm rearing promises better income for undergraduate

Instead of idly waiting for his graduation, Samuel Gichohi, a student-cum-farmer having come across some information online about earthworm farming (vermi-culture) started rearing redworms in March this year expecting to earn at least Sh1,800 per kilo of the worms.

After completing his Barchelor of Arts in Geography and Environmental Studies course at the University of Nairobi last year December, he decided to start Geographic Information Systems (GIS), an online job in which he uses GIS software to make and correct maps as a GIS cartographer.

At the flipside, he could do some online research on earthworm farming which he had developed intense interest in following a motivation story of a farmer from Ruaka that he came across.

“With some capital I got from my online job, I set out to inquire from the farmer who advised me to first go for a training at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) to get the agronomical knowledge on how to rear the worms,” said Gichohi.

He therefore parted with Sh5,000 fee for the one-day course of which thereafter he bought some redworms and compost (a medium through which the worms live) at a total of Sh7,000. He also made a structure with two beds made of blue plastic drum cut top-bottom to male the beds.

Gichohi says that the vermi-culture bed can be thick plastic or fibre containers which are placed on raised timber. The bed should be 10 feet long, three feet wide and two feet high. The containers are put soil at the bottom, some manure where the worms breed and covered with grass. Before introducing the red worms, the bed should be watered adequately so that the moisture content is about 70 per cent.

“The worms threat through their skins hence enough moisture is favourable which can be enhanced by covering the beds well to further prevent sunlight rays striking the pits.”

worm farmer redworm earthworm

Samuel Gichohi at his vermi-culture farm at Ngong.

After completing the structure at a cost of Sh3,500 at Ngong at his parents's quarter piece of plot, he introduced the worms in the beds in March this year and in three months period, he recorded a significant increase in the number of worms following a proper feeding on organic matter.

Currently, he says the worms are ready for commercialization and he is targeting fish and crop farmers as his main consumers.

“The worms are better feeds for the fish while crop farmers can also use them to help in churning organic kitchen wastes for manure,” said Gichohi.

For a start, he is planning to begin selling a kilo of the worms at Sh1,800 as he focuses on sensitizing farmers on the importance of the earthworms in organic farm productions.

eartworm redworm

He is now focusing on his forthcoming graduation this December which set him free to move his venture to the next level.

“My graduation was stuck due to some technical reasons, but now I have sorted out everything. After this, i Iant to up my production and marketing.”

Gichohi can be reached on +254 710 595 844.

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: 15 November 2019; Hits: 8213

Lamu youth increase earnings fivefold as hotels’ demand for tomatoes soars

greenhouse tomato fruits

A decision by a group of young men to dump their small businesses that used to earn them at least Sh500 each a day and delve into tomato farming is finally paying off now seeing them earn Sh2700 each daily on growing demand for their produce by major hotels.

Members of the Young Fathers Group Majembeni, a small village in Mpeketoni, Lamu County once looked down on agriculture even as they continued recording average earnings from their small businesses like welding, shoe shinning and running of kiosks.

On an ordinary day, three years ago they would earn Sh500 which was not enough to take care of their household expectations. With new attitudes and skills, this is no longer the case, especially for the Young Fathers Group from Majembeni Youth Bunge.

“We had to feed our families, buy school uniforms, pay for school allowances above our personal needs. It was very difficult for us.” says Elijah Muremi, chairman of the Young Fathers Group. The young fathers consulted with their bunge board members on how to meet their parental responsibilities.

With support from USAID’s Yes Youth Can program, bunge members had previously received training on how to practice sustainable agriculture, and were well-positioned to teach and practice commercial farming. They helped the young fathers establish their own group to increase incomes.

Today, nearly three years later, the young fathers have improved their livelihoods and also transformed their community. The young men plant maize that they sell at both local markets and large-scale granaries. Their profits have enabled them open a tailoring business and also venture into tomato farming. The group also inspired women in their bunge who have started a young mothers group to practice commercial farming.

“We are a transformed community. The mindset among youth about farming has changed and the majority are now commercial farmers. Our children don’t miss school for lack of funds, and we enjoy a balanced meal every day since we are able to purchase other types foods,” said Elijah.

On average the cumulative sale of their produce earns a farmer upto Sh2700 in a day as demand expands to hotels, and schools from the traditional markets.

The Majembeni young fathers youth bunge is one of the 20,000 bunges nationally that is improving livelihoods of thousands of youth. USAID/Kenya’s Yes Youth Can program supports the empowerment of Kenyan youth as envisioned in the 2010 constitution.

Young people organize themselves in youth-run and youth-led bunges (parliaments). The bunges provide a structure and a forum for young women and men to mobilize and take action to improve their own lives and those of their neighbours.

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