Smart farms

: 07 June 2017; Hits: 15031

Farmers saves over Sh30,000 with artificial insemination

bull mating photo by agritech.tnau.in.jpg

Bull serves cow. Using artificial insemination is cheaper than rearing a bull to serve cows. Photo by Agritech.tnau.in

Farmers rearing bulls to serve cows make loses of more than Sh30,000 per year in maintenance expenses, as oppose to those using artificial insemination.

Whilst the maintenance cost for the bull can surpass Sh30,000 per year, AI requires between Sh700 and Sh1,500 to serve a cow over the same period.

Nyamira County farmer Patrick Chuma says the space for the bull can be made productive by adding an extra cow that yields milk for about seven months before drying.

The farmer, who rears local breeds crossed with jersey, said rearing a bull for a single service per cow annually was a costly affair that he abandoned two years ago.

“The bull requires feeding for the rest of the year; it only serves the cow and takes a recess to feeding and fattening. I found this uneconomical as an upcoming dairy farmer,” the Nyankongo village farmers said.

The cost of AI service is about Sh1,500. With the subsidy from most county governments like Nyandarua, the cost has been reduced to between Sh700 and Sh1,000.

A bull requires feeds of about 10 kilos per day. It also requires vaccination, treatment, pest control sprays like ticks, mineral supplements like salt licks, among others.

Because of the excess energy after feeding well, the bull also causes damages to fences, and other structures if not well controlled.

READ ALSO:How bulls cause cow infertility

It can also cause injuries to the farmer’s family and other cows.

“An account of the accruing costs of a bull for the entire year ranged from Sh30,000 to Sh40,000. That was way high given that AI for the three cows could have cost me a maximum of Sh4,500 per year, that if they were all on heat,” the farmer said.

Beside the treatment cost of bulls, they can also transmit diseases such as trichomoniasis, camphylobacteria, bovine herpes virus, ureaplasma, fibroids, among others.

Diseases like fibroids can cause infertility in cows.

“Since I started using AI, I am not worried of sexually transmitted diseases. Safety is also guaranteed with these rather docile cows, unlike the unruly bulls. The semen used in the AI is sourced from carefully selected bulls, screened before storage. There is no screening of the bull before serving a cow on heat. Sometimes the bull serves the cow before the farmer even realises,” Chuma said.

If the bull serves a cow in absence of the farmer, it may be tricky to keep accurate reproductive records, the farmer said.

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: 02 June 2017; Hits: 13491

MPesa eases farmers' inputs loan repayments

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A farmer displays a delivery confirmation message. One Acre Fund has improved loan repayment process with MPesa payments. Photo by TechnoServe.

The integration of the mobile phone money transfer in loan repayment plans has increased the access to farm input credit facilities, a step that is reducing poverty among small-holders.

The study dubbed ‘How digitizing agriculture input payment in rural Kenya is tackling poverty’ established that farmers accessing input loans from One Acre Fund (OAF) prefer repayment via mobile money service commonly called MPesa.

One of the reasons is that the farmers can pay the weekly remittances in segments.

If one is required to pay Sh500 per week, they can send in the money in bits of Sh100, Sh200, or even Sh50 according to their ability; they do not incur extra transaction costs.

In March 2016, OAF’s 208,000 farmer clients in Kenya received input loans of maize seed, fertiliser, and tree seeds. They also received other products such as solar lights or cookstoves, depending on their preference.

Each farmer had earlier made a Sh500 (US$5) deposit by the end of 2015, then began making payments on their nine-month loan.

“In 2015, farmers in Kenya with the OAF inputs and package of services earned on average Sh21,800 ($211) more annually from agricultural activities than similar farmers in similar areas,” the report says.

OAF is working with Citi Inclusive Finance in impelementin the digitisation.

Before digitisation of loan repayment, money was collected from the farmers by the field officers. Yet the offers are supped to train farmer on the best practices of boosting production.

The number of people employed in repayment processing fell to four, from 56 prior to digitization, with four out of five of these people being reemployed in more productive parts of the organization, the 2017 report reads in part.

The farmers are having more time with the officers, who are teaching them on best production practices of increasing yields.

The farmers also preferred the MPesa repayment method because of reliability. They get an instant confirmation message of their payment as well as the balance. Fraud resulting from officers who never delivered cash to the OAF account after collection decreased by 85 per cent, the report says.

The OFA case study was carried out by the United Nations’ based Better Than Cash Alliance.

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: 31 May 2017; Hits: 7454

Africa Food Prize competition submissions closing soon

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Dr Kanayo Nwanze (in black suit) is congratulated after winning the 2016 Africa Food Prize. Nominations for the AFP competition are ending in four days. The winner pockets $100,000 (Kes10.3 million). Photo by KU-TV.

Nominators have four days to propose their preferred candidates for the competition for Africa’s leading impactful agriculture initiative award, Africa Food Prize (AFP).

The initiatives of the nominees can be research or a collection of other efforts aimed at ending African dependence on aid.

Submissions for considerations for this year’s Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa and Yara International sponsored award started in March 6, 2017 and will close on June 5, 2017.

The winner of the $100,000 (Kes10.3 million) prize will be announced at the AFP gala dinner on September 6, 2017 during the African Green Revolution Forum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

“The prize celebrates Africans who are taking control of the African agenda and changing the reality of farming from a struggle to survive to a business that thrives.

“The prize puts a spotlight on the bold initiatives and innovations that can be replicated across Africa to end hunger, poverty and provide a source of employment,” the AFP Committee Chair Olusegun Obasanjo said at a past event.

Nominators give personal details and specific contributions made by individuals, groups or organizations towards boosting food security and turning agriculture into a business and employment opportunity in Africa. Supporting documents have to be attached to the forms.

The nomination forms are filled online or printed before submission to the AFP Secretariat offices or via email.

The AFP Secretariat is head by prominent experts in the agriculture and food industry. The secretariat selects candidates and hands them over to the AFP Committee for a decision.

One is declared the winner after garnering a majority vote from the AFP Committee. The committee’s decision on the winner is final, and cannot be challenged.

Anybody or organisation can participate in the competition despite their nationality or origin.

AGRA chairperson Strive Masiyiwa was quoted as saying the prize will play a fundamental role in offering solutions to challenges facing African farmers like financing.

Dr Kanayo F Nwanze, the former president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, won the AFP 2016 award for his advocacy and research contribution to supporting small-holders and agricultural research for about 40 years.

In his acceptance speech in Nairobi, the researcher promised to “continue supporting, mentoring and inspiring young generations in building a better and brighter future for the continent - Africa”.

Yara International started the prize in 2005. It was renamed from the Yara Prize to Africa Food Prize and launched in Ghana in 2016.

Dr Nwaze was the first winner of the AFP.

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