Smart farms

: 31 October 2017; Hits: 9382

Free farmers’ training set for 29th November in Kabete

Livestock farmers within Nairobi and its environs are set to benefit from a free farmers field day organized by the Kenya Animal and Genetics Resource Center s in Lower Kabete, Nairobi County on 29th November, 2017 at 9.00 a.m. The theme of the field day will be enhancing livestock productivity through modern technologies in animal genetics for food security and national development and will be graced by agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett.

Limited on-farm and off-farm processing of agricultural produce has translated to low prices, fewer job opportunities and eventually low income for farmers. This can be attributed to the challenge of inadequate adoption of new technologies and innovations, managerial and technical skills to effectively establish and manage viable agribusinesses.

KAGRC livestock expert, Eliud Mwangi holding an artificial vagina used to collect semen from bulls at the 2017 Nairobi International Trade Fair

KAGRC advices farmers on how to rear breeding bulls for provision of high quality disease free semen to meet the national demand for export, they will also train farmers on semen collection, semen production and distribution, semen storage and training of agents to work on their behalf.

According to KAGRC Livestock expert Mwangi Eliud, farmers need to develop a dynamic and competitive agribusiness which requires not only enhanced technical and managerial skills but also greater marketing orientation and networking; better market information and better linkages with service providers.

Smallholder dairy production in Kenya accounts for over 70% of the total milk production and supports more than 600,000 smallholder dairy farmers.

What will be done?

Smallholder farmers will be taught on the need to develop business plans with the assistance of agricultural extension officers to guide their projects to successful implementation. Business planning is important to a beginner farmer as it helps them plan for the economic sustainability of a new farm enterprise.

Many farmers in rural areas do not have the most up-to-date information on how to manage their animals efficiently and economically. Improving their knowledge of new techniques and technologies, in addition to providing them with any physical resources necessary for implementation, can dramatically increase the farmers’ level of productivity

Educating farmers’ leads to increased local food availability, increased farmer income and increased sustainability of agricultural practices.

Farmers need to form smallholder groups in order to maximize the power of numbers in input and output acquisition and in marketing their produce.

With all the above to be done, farmers will thus be assured of better management of their farms so as to increase productivity, earn more income and ensure their animals are well taken care of.

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: 25 October 2017; Hits: 16672

SF2 solar pump increases water pumping fourfold

SF2 Solar Pump.PNG

Futurepump Ltd, the manufacturer of solar irrigation products for small scale farmers has launched SF2 solar pump with ability to deliver a litre of water per second from a depth of 30 feet vertically. This is four times their previous solar pump, SF1 which delivered 0.25 litres per second from even a lesser depth of 20 feet vertically.

The SF2 which has been manufactured by the company’s own ISO 9001:2015 factory in India comes in handy after the success of its previous model, the SF1. The new model answers all the requests from users and finance companies which are: it is smaller, more powerful, more robust and remotely monitored.

“The pumping ability of SF2 provides a farm with over 21,000 litres of water per day, whilst avoiding any fuel costs. It works with hoses, tanks, sprinklers or drip irrigation systems, and is ideal for any farmer serious about making money from horticulture all year round,” said Toby Hammond, Futurepump Managing Director in a statement.

He noted that the solar irrigation market is starting to get infiltrated by cheap, poor quality imports that are unable to handle the environment found on a typical Kenyan farm. Mud, sand, grit and running dry among others meaning significant problems to substandard submersible pumps whereas SF2 has no problem handling whatever it finds in a Kenya farm water supply.

“In a sector that is rife with unreliability from small irrigation pumps, both petrol and solar, there is now a pump that is so robust that the manufacturers, Futurepump Ltd, are confidently supplying it with a full five-year warranty,” said Hammond.

“SF2 is the embodiment of all of our experience with selling over 2,500 solar pumps to date. Its Dutch design is more portable, more robust, and pumps the most water for the price tag of any solar pump on the market.”

All SF2 pumps offer built-in GSM monitoring, enabling Futurepump partners to access data on the usage and performance of each pump via a cloud database and dashboard, as well as pump location-tracking.

The SF2 is sold across Kenya by a network of distributors including Davis and Shirtliff, Solarnow and Suntransfer, and the KES 68,000 price tag can be spread over two years with a loan from either Equity bank or KCB.

For more call Kinya on 0715 539 911

RELATED NEWS: Solar water pumping takes root in Kenya

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: 23 October 2017; Hits: 11710

Dry land crops to curb hunger and malnutrition developed

Sorghum seeds. Photo: Oyugi Zablon

Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) researchers are coming up with indigenous crop varieties which are high yielding, tolerant to drought and rich in micronutrients like minerals and vitamins which are good for normal metabolism, growth and physical well-being.

Under a programme dubbed Arid and Semi-arid Lands (ASALs) Productivity, the experts are focused to improve the indigenous crop varieties to help regions which face hunger caused by long droughts and unpredicted rainfall.

“Our continuous surveys indicates that unavailability of high quality seeds and that non-existent of these seeds in many other areas other than some areas where on-farm trials were being conducted has been a major contributor to low yields in small-scale farms in ASALs,” said Ben Musyoki Research Technologist at KALRO’s Arid and Range Lands Research Institute during Nairobi International Trade Fair.

KALRO Katumani has therefore pre-released over 50 improved sorghum, finger-millet, cowpeas, pigeon peas, beans and green grams varieties.

Under green grams there are Ndengu Tosha KAT 00301, Biashara KAT 00308, Karembo KAT 00309. These varieties takas 65-75 days to mature and has ability to yield up to between 1800-2100kg per hectare.

Beans varieties include Angaza, Nyota and Meta Meta which take 75-84 days, 65-70 days and 75-84 days respectively to mature. Angaza can give 2000kg per hectare, Nyota produces between 1400-2200kg per hectare and Meta Meta 2000kg per hectare.

Pigeon peas varieties are KAT PP 005, 006 and 008. Their maturity period ranges between 130-150 days with ratoon ability to produce not less than 1800kg per acre under proper agronomic practices. These is also Amaranth KAT 001 and 114 which take three months to mature and can give 500kg of produce per acre.

According to Musyoki these improved indigenous crop varieties are under certification by Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) and will soon be available for farmers. “Our seed are under approval and once the process is through, the seeds will be released to the market,” said Musyoki.

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