Smart farms

: 01 March 2018; Hits: 17222

Nyamira youth earning Sh1.25m a year from mixed farming

Janet Chebet receiving Best Youth Farmer award from president Uhuru Kenyatta during Nairobi International Trade Fair in Nairobi. She has also won other two farmer awards. Photo courtecy.

Janet Chebet Onganga, 30, is making over one million shillings gross annual income from dairy, aquaculture and horticulture farming a venture which has seen her win three awards within a period of six months.

She started with dairy farming in February 2012 by using bout Sh140,000 part of the money she got from her parents sent her as college fees. She used about Sh60,000 to purchase two Friesian and Jersey heifers, spent Sh10,000 on transport and Sh90,000 on cowshed.

“I chose to start with dairy farming because I needed compost manure since I had a big plan to use the remaining money to start aquaculture and horticulture farming since manure is good for algae needed in fish pond and crops growths,” said Chebet.

“Using compost manure from the cows’ shed would reduce my cost of buying the manure from other farmers.”

She has won Best Youth Farmer award in Kenya in 2015 for practicing aquaculture and green house farming. She also won the Best Farmer award by National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) in the same year and Most Successful Farmer award by Equity Bank in 2016 for having excelled in agribusiness through the loans assistance from the bank.

She disregarded her parents’ wish to train as a teacher after completing her high school education and instead chose to be a farmer, a decision which has landed her three awards and other recognitions in a period of six years.

She finished her secondary school from Kiptere Mixed in 2004 and scored C- then got married to her husband Julius Onyancha in December the same year. Her parents gave her Sh300,000 in January 2012 to enroll for a teaching course at a college of her choice the amount she instead used as a capital to start off in farming.

When her parents realised their daughter was not in any college, they became angry. “My parents were bitter with me about the decision I had taken and they stopped calling or sending me any message,” said Chebet.

Currently she has ten cow of which two are lactating. She milks 10 litres per day from the two cows selling a litre at Sh60. This gives her about Sh18,000 a month and Sh100,000 a year after spending Sh16,800 on feeds.

To cope up with the dry condition experienced in the country right now, she prepares silage of napier grass, maize stalks and molasses which she use to feed the cows.

Her efforts in dairy farming attracted attention of agricultural officers of the county government of Nyamira who gave her a certificate of recognition in 2012 upon accessing her work and realising she had a good understanding in farming.

“I got full approval by the ministry of agriculture of Nyamira County in December 2012 after the officers from the ministry came, looked at what I was doing and asking questions to find out whether I had knowledge in farming,” said Chebet.

This encouraged her and she proceeded to spend about Sh200,000 out of her income from dairy farm to build two fish ponds of 300 metres square each in 2013. She then bought 2000 tilapia fingerlings at five shillings each spending a total of ShSh10,000 on the fingerlings.

Today she has 2000 tilapia fish in her two fish ponds. She does major fish harvest twice a year but she can occasionally harvest depending on the demand. She sells one mature fish at Sh200 translating to over Sh200,000 annual income.

Fish farming became her second completed plan because the aim was to use the water drained from the fish pond to irrigate crops in greenhouses and open field.

“Water from fish ponds are nutritious to crops because it has fish wastes and this also helps me to cut cost on manure and water usage especially this dry season since I rely on harvested water,” she said.

Chebet who is now harvesting tomatoes from her 10x40 and 8x30 metres greenhouses started greenhouse farming with a capital of Sh350,000 in late 2013. She has other two greenhouses measuring 8x15 and 8x30 metres currently under vegetables such as spider plant and kales among others awaiting tomato planting next season.

Greenhouse is Chebet’s main agribusiness in her farm as this is what has earned her a state award and recognition apart from earning her over Sh300,000 annual income.

“My four greenhouses keeps me busy the most especially when I am harvesting tomatoes. I invest Sh450,000 in tomato production and I earn over Sh750,000 return,” she said.

She also grows butternuts on part of her farm. One butternut plant yields her about five fruits and one fruit goes for Sh20 meaning from her 1000 plants she has right now she expects to earn Sh100,000. This with the money she earns from vegetable sales gives her a total of Sh181,000.

Her farm which has now become a host of agribusiness activities now attracts other farmers from the region who come for bench marking and university students from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in China who occasionally come in a company of other students and lecturers from the University of Nairobi (UoN) to conduct case studies.

“To avoid any interferences with our family affairs, we have put up an office in our compound where we receive visitors and farmers besides keeping our farm records,” said Chebet

Her parents have heard news about her success in farming and they now appreciate and encourage her. “They have come to respect my decision and have become my great supporters.”

To boost her skills and knowledge in farming, Chebet attends agricultural trainings organised by the county’s ministry of agriculture and World Vision organization which work with children, families and communities worldwide to reach their full potential by addressing the causes of poverty and injustice.

Additionally she also gets financial and knowledge support from his husband who works as a procurement officer at Nyamusi district office in Nyamira County.

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: 28 February 2018; Hits: 10504

Oserian’s vuvuzela flower variety gains popularity in Kenya

Churchill packhouse vuvuzela flower variety

Daniel Ndambuki famously known as Churchill pose for a photo with Oserian flower farm workers at the farm. He visited the farm in preparations to shoot his weekly comedy show Churchill Show.

Vuvuzela, a niche market flower variety produced by Oserian flower farm in Naivasha attracts high end markets regardless of the arguments that the variety is difficult to produce.

The variety which was launched during the World Cup in South Africa when the instrument was the most popular signature of the globe’s biggest sporting event has earned the farm orders from the biggest supermarkets and retail shops in Kenya and beyond. The farm has successfully managed its production.

We have conquered the flower, reputed as a difficult one to grow by managing to successfully produce it despite its being a hard to please variety,” said Anton Koning, Oserian’s Rose flower grower.

Koning was purposely brought to the farm to grow the flower and succeed something that has him baptized as Mr. Vuvuzella. He is now in charge of the Queen of Africa, another of Oserian’s top products, a white big-headed-long stemmed flower arguably the continent’s best among specialty roses, and bred by Select Breeding.

Vuvuzela is a breed of De Ruiter East Africa.

Both varieties are raised at Oserian due to the farm’s geothermal heating that creates a managed environment that supports the required optimal growing conditions without which it is impossible to get the best quality.

At the farm’s pack house, housing the greatest concentration of workers, Administration Director Kirimi Mpungu had to intervene to avoid disruption of the production schedule as staff downed their tools when Churchill entered the venue. He was literary escorted out of the pack house, waving to an excited crowd, promising to return. Pack house division head Martin Kabaka, initially thrilled when Churchill invaded into his territory quickly got alarmed when push came to shove, his main concern being the clock considering flowers are time sensitive. He breathed a sigh of relief when Mr Mpungu, who seems well conversant with crowd control psychology pacified the situation, persuaded his team to go back to work and Chruchill’s team to move into the next station.

As he walked out, Churchill was overheard heard saying ‘Oserian si Kenya’, loosely translated as this is not Kenya, a phrase Kenyans use when they encounter an impressive, well organized place. Oserian, the Place of Peace as its name means leaves a lasting impression on anyone who visits it.

Churchill next station was the farm’s Hilltop Primary School where he met kids for the ‘Kid’s Corner’ part of his show, the children entertained him with responses to his question on what is special about Naivasha. The answers were quick, and unexpected. What do they know about Naivasha? The lake, hotels, wildlife. Above all, the kids said, Naivasha is peaceful and there is no corruption!

Kenya’s top comedian Daniel Ndambuki, aka Churchill had his eyes caught by the flowers, brought the giant flower producer Oserian to a standstill when he visited the farm in preparations to shoot his weekly comedy show Churchill Show.

Popularly known as Churchill, it was hard to tell who between the comedian and the flower farm workers was more thrilled.

While he was visibly mesmerized by the colourful show of a mix of variety and colours, at the vase room, the workers were equally star-struck as chants of Churchill, Churchill rent the air.

Mr Ndambuki is staging the Love Edition of Churchill Show, aired on NTV on Sunday evenings from 7.30 – 9pm. The Love edition will air on Sunday March 4 2018.

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: 23 February 2018; Hits: 16600

Rice husks, stalks value addition to benefit Mwea rice farmers

Rice husks

More than 7,022 farmers from Mwea Irrigation Scheme are set to benefit from a programme which aims to use rice husks and stalks to make hay, block boards and ceiling boards among other products saving farmers problems of disposing the rice by-products which has faced them for over 64 years now.

Kirinyaga County government which pursuing a solution to this problem is seeking a partnership with a private firm which will help process the by-products into useful products to earn farmers more income.

“We are engaging a private company to help our farmers add value to rice husks and stalks which they normally burn when they want to plant rice in the subsequent season. This will enable them earn additional cash and relieve them the stress on where to take them after harvesting,” said Deputy Governor Peter Ndambiri.

Although farmers can turn rice husks into manure to use in the farm, they will need to let them decompose for the carbon which is used by plants to make their own food to be available a process which takes 4-8 weeks.

Hay production for instance is estimated to be a multi-million-shilling business as this will be an advantage for farmers over the shortage of pasture due to prolonged drought that has hit many parts of the country.

Despite low nutritional value in rice stalks, already the demand is high from farmers keeping livestock due to the dry period experienced in the country country.

“We are now selling some of these stalks because livestock farmers need them for their animals as there is no enough pasture but we hope more will be added to it when it is finally turned into a complete animal feed,” said Julius Murutu, Mwea rice farmer.

According to cop experts rice husks could also be used in cement manufacturing and production of high charcoal briquettes which cannot cause harm to the environment and are affordable.

“Though Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) centre in Mwea has also started manufacturing charcoal briquettes, the product is yet to be commercialized in order to benefit farmers,” said Ben Musyoki, research technologist at KALRO.

Another rice by-product, bran, which is key ingredient in animals’ feed is also manufactured by four main rice milers in the county owned by National Irrigation Board namely National Cereals and Produce Board, Nice Rice Milers and the Mwea Multipurpose Sacco.

For more information, call Mr. Ariemba Innocent on +254 726760731

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