Smart farms

: 05 March 2018; Hits: 76005

Farmer grows short-term crops to earn big in just 67 days

organic sukumawiki 1 kales

A thousand headed kales variety. The veriety produces about eight tonnes which is equivalent to eight thousand killograms per acre in a season.

Paul Serut, farmer from Kericho County has ventured into growing crops that take between 60 and 75 days to mature such as kales, zucchini, okra and tomatoes to enable him earn quick income in a short time than coffee he used to grow four years ago which he had to wait for up to three to five years to see the first fruits and wait for an extra nine months to start harvesting the fruits.

From 2007 to 2014 Serut grew coffee until August 2014 when he attended a farmers’ field day in the county which was organized by the county agricultural ministry to educate smallholder farmers on the need to grow fast maturing crops for sale.

“I discovered from the event that there some crops such as vegetables that I could harvest and take to the market more than three times a year than wait for coffee fruits to mature in nine months and wait for another three months for the payments from a processing company,” said Serut.

He now grows a thousand headed variety of kales which take 60 days to mature harvesting about eight tonnes per season from his one acre part of his land. He has five acres of land which he has divided in portions for his various crops.

He sales a 50-kilogram bag of kales at Sh700 farm-gate price and Sh1,200 market price translating to about Sh112,000 a season. His markets include Kericho Town and Kisumu’s Kiboswa market.

He grows tomatoes in his two greenhouses measuring 8x40 metres. One greenhouse has a capacity of 1250 tomato plants which translates to 2500 plants. A single tomato plant can give him around Sh500 totaling to Sh1.3m a season.

I grow Anna F1 tomato variety which take only 75 days to mature, I sell from my farm to trders who come on order and take some to the market,” said Serut.

“I can harvest this variety for over a month as long as I keep my greenhouses clean and free from pasts and diseases.”

Okra and zucchini which takes one and a half an acre. But he grow okra in one acre while zucchini in the remaining a half an acre because okra do not require much time and money to produce.

“Okra, especially the spineless variety I grow does not need strict and costly management after sowing like tomatoes or kales. This variety yields up to 10 bags an acre.”

Besides selling the fruit raw for consumers, he also sells a kilogramme of dried okra seeds at Sh150 while most farmers prefer to sell their produce when still in pods for more profits.

The zucchini squash he grows matures after 60 days after planting and the crop lifespan is 5-6 months. According to him, immature tender zucchinis are picked twice a week at a length of 15-20cm.

Though Serut admits that it is challenging to give every crop full attention, but it is a full-time job he has chosen to do-with success being the only alternative.

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: 05 March 2018; Hits: 15606

Agricultural Center to provide free two day training for Murang’a farmers

More than 6,000 Murang’a farmers are set to benefit from a free two day training courtesy of Kenyatta Agricultural Center. The training seeks to help farmers in the area diversify their crop production from over dependence on coffee, tea and macadamia to other crops such as avocado farming to reap more income.

“The free training will be held at Mariira farm along Kabati- Kangari Road from 16^th to 17^th March 2018 and will be attended by at least 45 stakeholders in the agricultural sector including seed companies, agro chemical industries and farm machinery companies,” said Peter Muchiri, the Principal Kenyatta Agricultural Training Center.

“Over 60 per cent of smallholder farmers in the region grow coffee and tea, coffee production for instance has declined over the years with production in 2017 estimated at 35m tonnes against a potential yield of 70m tonnes,”

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In the 1980’s, Murang’a produced 200m metric tonnes of coffee a year. It is projected that by 2022, coffee farmers will have reduced from the current 70,000 to below 40,000 farmers according to the ministry of agriculture.

In 2015, the County lost 710 acres of coffee to the construction industry mainly the real estate sector as well as to other agri-business ventures such as macadamia farming.

uganda training

A past farmers training/Photo/File

Farmers in the region are expected learn more on avocado farming. In this, they will be educated on the varieties to grow suitable for their regions. A Majority of farmers in the area grow fuerte and pinkerton varieties but Muchiri says there is need to adopt hass variety which is in high demand in the local and international markets.

Avocado contributes seven per cent of Kenya’s total fruit export to the global market but production has been static over the years. Farm production stood at 230,948 tonnes in 2015, rising slightly to 246,057 tonnes in 2016.

About 387.2 tonnes worth Sh5.4b was exported in 2016, compared to 461.1 tonnes worth Sh7.1b last year as per the Agriculture and Food Authority of Kenya data. Most of the fruits are exported to the European Union.

However, the export of the crop was banned in January this year due to severe shortage that raised the price of the fruit to a three and half year high. A single avocado for example is currently retailing at between Sh50 to Sh80 in Nairobi’s retail markets up from between Sh10 to Sh20 in the high season.

Besides avocado farming, farmers will also be trained on livestock management practices such as fodder production and conservation- silage making, hydroponic fodder production and different types of chaff cutters.

In the crop production category they will learn on greenhouse technologies and the new hybrid seed varieties in the market such as KATEH01 maize lethal necrosis diseases resistant variety amongst others.

For more information, interested farmers can contact Peter Muchiri on +254 726591694

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: 05 March 2018; Hits: 12160

Expect minimal rains this year, says Weatherman

The long rains will start in the fourth week of March and farmers in the country are advised to seek recommendations from agricultural extension officers within their region before they plant their crops as the ongoing rains are set to diminish as from 6^th March.

According to the Kenya Meteorological department, the rains will start at the end of March over the western sector and early April over the eastern region. The expected late onset in some agricultural areas is, however, likely to impact negatively resulting in delayed planting and germination.

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In 2017, Kenya experienced its worst drought in half a century with some areas receiving 50 per cent of normal rainfall both in the long and short rain seasons. As a result, maize, the staple food crop in Kenya recorded a drop in production from the projected 40m bags to 36.9m bags and the number of people facing starvation increased from 2.6m in 2016 to 3.4m in 2017 according to statistics from the ministry of agriculture.

In 2018, depressed rainfall is expected over most parts of the country, especially the Eastern sector, during the March-May 2018 long-rains season. However, near-normal rainfall is expected over most parts of Western Kenya, central Rift Valley and parts of central Kenya including Nairobi.

Most of the eastern sector of the country is likely to remain generally dry during the month of March. Most of the seasonal rainfall is expected during the peak month of April and in May.

Women in Agriculture

Women in agriculture/PHOTO/FILE

Counties in the Lake basin region and in the highlands west and central of the Rift Valley will receive rainfall as from the third and fourth week of March with the rains expected to continue to June 2018. These areas include Bungoma, Homa Bay, Kakamega, Kisii, Migori, Nyamira, Siaya, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu and Nandi. The coastal strip and the northern coastal strip will also receive rains during this period.

In the southern parts of the Rift Valley such as Narok and Kajiado and the central highlands including Nairobi area, the onset of the rains will begin between the fourth week of March and the first week of April and end in the third or fourth week of May 2018.

The south eastern counties of Makueni, Machakos, Kitui and Taita Taveta will receive rains starting the fourth week of March and subside between the first and second week of May.

The north western counties of Turkana, West Pokot and Samburu will get rains as from the first week of April and this will go on up to the fourth week of May.

As for the northern and the north eastern counties of Wajir, Garissa, Mandera and Marsabit, the regions will remain generally dry in March until the first and second week of April when rains will fall and last until the third week of May.

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