Smart farms

: 31 August 2017; Hits: 19256

KALRO launches online farmer platforms

Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) logo. KALRO is now able to offer Kenyan farmers, researchers, students and over 9 Kenyan Universities with real-time agricultural information.

The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) has launched an e-service platform and three mobile apps for chicken, dryland crop and pasture seed farmers, delivering real-time updates from their research labs and meteorological agency, following a comprehensive internet upgrade from Liquid Telecom Kenya.

To enable the new launches, Liquid Telecom Kenya has installed a faster and scalable MPLS - Wide Area Network and VSAT internet connection, offering up to 100Mbps across 42 KALRO branches and headquarters.

As a result, the organisation is now providing farmers with timely, high-level research and agro-weather data for specific value chains, advising farmers on the best agronomics practices for their geographical areas.

“Before the internet infrastructure and connection upgrades, we could spend days and incurred huge travelling and phone call costs in delivering information from our research centres across the country to the headquarters’ data centre for processing and dissemination to farmers. Now, we are able to communicate in real-time through our IP phones, equipped with video cameras, receive data from the field promptly, process it and channel it to the respective mobile app portals,” said Boniface Akuku, KALRO’s Director of ICT

Kenya’s innovation in agriculture and information delivery has received global recognition, with Planet of the Apps, a TV reality show about apps and talented developers, set to feature KALRO’s app on 6 – 7th September in USA, Washington DC.

“This is great recognition of our efforts to develop apps that support agriculture, not only in Kenya but across Africa,” said Akuku. “In addition, we have upgraded and installed high-performing computers for big data analytics at our data centre, which now has a capacity of 48TB of upgradable storage capacity.”

KALRO is now able to offer Kenyan farmers, researchers, students and over 9 Kenyan Universities offering agriculture courses with new, timely and more detailed research information, leading to advanced knowledge in livestock and crop production in the country.

“Liquid Telecom recognises the role of technology in research, generation and creation of new knowledge, which is vital in national development. KARLO’s new e-services will be driving our common vision and goal of restructuring agricultural and livestock research into a dynamic, innovative, responsive and well-coordinated system,” said Adil Youssefi, CEO of Liquid Telecom Kenya.

“New technologies and internet-based agricultural infrastructures are reshaping the way farmers are producing livestock and crops, helping them adopting new methods of farming by accessing up-to-date data on crop varieties and farming methods.

This, in turn, ensures food security and nutritious diets for millions of Kenyans,” he added.

It is estimated that the livestock farming alone contributes to 7.9 – 10 per cent of Kenya’s GDP with the poultry industry contributing an estimated 1.7 per cent. Poultry agriculture has emerged as a lucrative venture for young farmers, particularly among small-scale farmers, which support over 70 per cent of Kenyans.

“Through our apps, KALRO aims at empowering young farmers, who can now easily start farming poultry to raise their potential and increase their incomes as captured by the sector's driving strategy, the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy,” said Dr. Eliud Kireger, Director General of KALRO.

The KALRO Indigenous Chicken app is now offering farmers information on feeds, both as varieties and availability, diseases and animal breeds, in a bid to increase productivity from the current estimate of 32 million birds.

Additionally, KALRO has moved to support the expanded productivity from drought tolerant crops to support household food production through their ‘Range Pasture Seed Production App’, in a country where 80 per cent of land falls in arid and semi-arid areas that are home to over 4 million residents or 10 per cent of Kenya’s population.

“Farmers in these areas can now access information on soil and water management technologies, as well as seeds varieties that are tolerant to drought, pests and diseases, further improving food security,” said Dr. Kireger.

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: 30 August 2017; Hits: 21202

Discover hidden treasure in local chicken

Indigenous chicken.png

Indigenous chickens need enough feed to grow and lay eggs.

Indigenous local chicken provide a cheap source of food and easy cash to the family for most smallholder farmers in Kenya. Local chicken are readily available for most rural people, they do well in most areas and do not cost much to keep. They also have tasty meat and eggs.

Local chickens do very well if they are given extra feed, housed well and kept in a disease-free environment.

Feeding

Chickens need enough feed to grow and lay eggs. A majority of smallholder farmers usually leave the chicken to find their own feed by allowing them to move freely. In case you are interested in rearing indigenous poultry you should give extra feed in form of kitchen leftovers including fruit and vegetable waste, cereal grains and by-products, green leaves, fish meal (Omena), tubers and roots, insects, termites, worms and brewers waste. Ensure that you provide adequate clean water and feed the birds in a clean dry place.

Housing

Proper housing in chicken should keep the birds, especially young chickens, secure from wild animals, hawks and theft. It should be spacious, well lit and airy, have perches, be easy to clean and maintain.

Control of diseases

To stop the birds from getting sick: clean the chicken house frequently to maintain hygiene. Vaccinate chickens against Newcastle disease, fowl typhoid and fowl pox. Deworm growers to control internal parasites and dust the birds to control external parasites.

Breeding

To improve your birds: use good cocks and hens for breeding. Change breeding cocks at least once every year to avoid inbreeding and keep 1 cock for every 20 hens.

If all the above is adhered to then a farmer will ensure his/her indigenous chicken multiply faster leading to increase in body weight, improved egg weight and taste , more eggs for hatching, increased profits from their sale and consumption and finally more income.

According to the Kenya Agricultural Research and Livestock Organization (KALRO), a fully grown kienyeji cockerel costs Sh1, 000 while a hen costs Sh 600 although prices vary depending on the location.

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: 30 August 2017; Hits: 10611

Uasin Gishu Based CBO abandons crop farming for chicken rearing

CHICKS, Mary Poultry farm, nakuru, by Laban Robert.JPG

Berur farmers group has resorted to chicken rearing due multiple crop losses

Many smallholder crop farmers across Kenya as face many challenges including unreliable rainfall and low crop yields due to the existing climate change that has led to unpredictable rainfall patterns and crop diseases and pests such as fall army worm which has devastated more than 700,000 ha of crops.

Berur Community Based Organization, a farmers group with thirty members in Kapseret, Uasin Gishu County decided to venture into indigenous poultry rearing after many crop failures and losses in their farms.

The members joined hands in 2013 after receiving training and advice from the Agricultural Sector Development Programme and the Anglican Development Sector. The two organizations trained the farmers on Selection and breeding, Disease diagnosis and management, vaccine handling and usage, vices related to production and their management, hatchery management, chick brooding and placement, feeding and feed formulation, housing and record keeping.

Rael Tai, the County Coordinator Agricultural Sector Development Programme notes that one of the big challenges the farmers faced in the initial stages was the control of diseases in the chicken. “Before, farmers had challenges in controlling diseases like gumboro, Newcastle & coccidiosis, but with simple training, the farmers are now experiencing minimal disease attack on their chicken” observes Rael.

Anne Mengich, one of the members of the group says she started rearing chicken more than 30 years ago though on a small scale but she has now fully embraced chicken rearing. “I really love this work as it has enabled me to educate my children and sustain my family” says Anne.

The group collectively owns more than 500 chicken which they manage jointly. The eggs from the chicken are sold in hotels within Eldoret town and profits shared based on the shares of the members.

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