Smart farms

: 12 April 2016; Hits: 11265

Testing eggs for fertility boosts hatching

Small-scale poultry farmers can predict with certainty the percentage of chicks to be hatched by testing fertility for eggs against light in a cheap and simple process.

The procedure, which is better known as candling, together with other practices, can lead to 100 per cent natural hatching just like in artificial incubation.

A farmer does not require sophisticated training or equipment, but a strong source of light and a dark room.

Edwin Mobe, a Nyamira County poultry farmer, has consistently achieved good results with candling for more than six years.

With the help of a torch, he holds an egg against the light and observes the content. The light allows for him to see ‘dirty’ strains in the clear mass of the egg.

The strains are threads of blood vessels, sign of life. Candling is usually done about seven to eight days after incubation.

In dark and thick-shelled eggs, it can be challenging to identify developing embryo after the first week.

Food and Agricultural Organisation says highly enclosed chamber with only one source of light will show the embryo responding after about 30 to 40 seconds.

This also helps solve the uncertainty in shells having marks mimicking the embryo. The farmer can also roll the egg so see the spotted mass moving unlike the stationary marks.

A lamp and cardboard can also be used if a farmer does not have a torch or bulb. They will drill a hole through the cardboard, just enough to hold the egg gently, but in position.

Candling also helps in detecting, minutely cracked shells. A cracked egg cannot hatch because of high chances of entry of air and germs.

Dead embryo eggs can also be removed early; such embryos would appear fragmented.

Hygiene is a key factor in determining the number of chicks one will get. Handling eggs with oily hands blocks air pores, which allow for ‘breathing’.

The pores are also blocked when chicken incubate dusty nests.

Some farmers assume that fine soil helps in incubation. On the contrary, ‘sinking' eggs do not allow for proportionate turning that is meant to give equal exposure to temperature.

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: 08 April 2016; Hits: 9732

Rice farmers in Kenya to double yields with SRI technique

Rice farmers in Kenya are set to double their production, reduce seed wastage by 90 percent and cut on water costs by 40 percent, thanks to a new precise production method that significantly reduce plant population, improve soil conditions and require less water.
Dubbed System of Rice Intensification (SRI), this low water, labor-intensive, organic method that uses younger seedlings singly spaced and typically hand weeded with special tools unlike the traditional flooding method currently used by farmers that demand transplantation of only overgrown seedlings, instead of one young seedling hence seed wastage. This old method also requires a lot of water, making farmers in Ahero Irrigation Scheme for instance spend at least Sh18m on water per year.
Advantages
SRI practices provide immediate benefits. There is no transition period, as necessary with many conversions to a more organic agriculture. After prolonged exposure to synthetic chemicals soil ecosystems often require some time to become fully restored. SRI yields generally improve over time, but there is no initial period of loss: first-season yields are usually higher than before.
The lower capital costs of using SRI also mean that its economic and other benefits are not limited by access to capital, nor does it require loans and indebtedness. It can thus contribute rapidly to greater food security for the poor. Some initial evidence suggested that labour requirements made SRI less accessible to the poor; but a larger study in Sri Lanka found poorer farmers to be as likely to adopt SRI as richer ones, and less likely to abandon it.
According to Professor Bancy Mati of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, although rice is a water loving plant, it does not have to grow in water like it is a swimming pool.
READ ALSO: Farmers bake fortunes with rice cakes and soap
Research on the rice-growing schemes across the country shows that the crop can do well in highly moist but not flooded soil, the agriculture expert says, adding that moist soil improves root growth and promoted diversity of aerobic soil organisms.
Following the research, the National Irrigation Board (NIB) in partnership with AgSri, an Indian organization introduced the SRI method to help farmers save on water, labour costs and seeds while doubling yields. The Indian firm is offering expertise, training, seeds, fertilizer and mechanical rice weeders.
Dr Sammy Lyatema, the NIB national chairman says the new method and mechanization of major schemes including Perkerra, Ahero, West Kano and Bunyala will double production in the country from the current 983,694 bags per year.
“Rice is the next staple food that will make Kenya food secure but its production has remained low. We are keen to improve on that,” says Dr Lyatema.
The SRI technology was introduced three years in Mwea Irrigation Scheme and has been adopted by half of the farmers.
In Ahero and West Kano schemes, over 100 farmers have been trained on the new system.
Agriculture experts are betting big on SRI to help Ahero farmers save up to Sh8 million annually on water costs.

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: 08 April 2016; Hits: 8892

Europe avocado demand to benefit Kenyans until August

Avocado farmers would benefit from the extended export period of the fruit into Europe, a move meant to meet the growing demand after major supplying countries dropped in production.

Leading global fresh produce exporter, Eagle Fruit Alliance, says production in South Africa and Peru dropped due to hostile weather conditions.

The news comes a few days after the Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA) approved commercialisation and export of the fruit starting April until August.

Kenya has two main Hass seasons, with the first one starting in March and ending in July. The second one commences in September extending to February.

The South African company also sources the fruit from Kenya, packs and exports.

Anthony Bothma, an official from the company, says farmers would benefit more following a drop in the shipping costs and their clients has agreed to buy from Kenya until August.

"We just returned from Europe to secure marketing programmes. We are sure that we have a very good season ahead,” he said.

However, suppliers must ensure the produce meets the required maturity standards.

While assuring that a lot has been done to ensure quality produce, he said, Europe would continue consuming Kenyan produce if the first batch proofs to be good.

HCDA had been met with export and packaging stakeholders to discuss quality. The agency also met farmers and enlightened them on the essence of harvesting mature produce for quality.

Packing companies are under scrutiny from HCDA, the official told FreshPlaza, a global produce publication.

HCDA controls horticultural export from Kenya in collaboration with Kenya Plant Inspectorate Service.

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