Pests

: 27 January 2017; Hits: 7771

Livestock farmers to save Sh160 with cheap foot and mouth vaccine

A dairy cow at the 2016 Nakuru ASK Show. farmers could save Sh160 per year in vaccinating a cow against foot and mouth disease with the new oil-based immunity product. PHOTO BY LABAN ROBERT

Livestock farmers could save up to Sh160 per head with the new oil-based vaccine that gives the animals immunity against the foot and mouth disease (FMD) for one year.

Farmers pay Sh200 for a single dose of a water-based vaccine against the viral disease, which is administered thrice year. This means one would incur Sh360 in vaccinating one cow. A single dose of the new vaccine from the Kenya Veterinary Vaccine Production Institute (KEVEVAPI) costs Sh200.

“The new vaccine offers livestock immunity against the virus for six months and the frequency of vaccination is once or twice per year,” Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Organisation Acting Chief Executive Officer Jane Wachira said.

KEVEVAPI is a vaccine research organ under KALRO, the overall livestock and animal production state agency.

FMD is an acute contagious viral infection that attacks hoofed animals including cows, goats, pigs, sheep and about 70 others in the wildlife such as antelopes and buffaloes.

According to Westgate Research, an online science repository, the infected animals show, loss of appetite, excessive salivation as well as emergency of red rashes in the mouth lining and between the spaces in the feet. Coronary bands also form at the feet ad teats.

It is classified as one the Transboundary Animal Diseases, therefore movement of livestock and their products from countries where it is endemic is restricted.

The discovery of the vaccine could bolster chances of Kenya mitigating the disease, to enable the county access rich beef markets like the European Union, where livestock and their products are not allowed to enter. This costs the economy billions of shillings yearly, given that the EU is one of Kenya’s biggest international agricultural produce market.

Dr Wachira said the agency is also working on reducing the cost to farmers to Sh160 ahead of commercial production.

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: 24 January 2017; Hits: 8144

Heat kills dreaded bee pests

A farmer introduces bees into a beehive. smart technology can help farmers eradicate deadly varroa mites. PHOTO BY BANGOR DAILY NEWS

Farmers, who have lost the entire bees stock to the varroa destructor mites and viruses, can eradicate the pest with smart technology sensors, which automatically turn on heaters upon hive infestation.

The pest, which is also called the varroa destructor mite, can destroy the entire bee colony by sucking blood or spreading the deformed wing virus.

Deformed wing virus causes malformation and malfunction of the wings, therefore, limiting movement.

Studies from Japan have shown that the mites do not survive in temperatures beyond 47 degrees Celsius.

“It is not easy to know the infestation of the mites into the hive because one cannot pick a live bee for examination. But the smart technology tool detects the mites from the ‘uncomfortable’ humming bees. It is programmed to turn on installed heaters to gradually increase the hive temperatures to from the way it is programmed,” Domotele Technology's Machine to machine (M2M) innovator Alfred Ahuta said.

The normal body temperature of bees is between 33 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees Celsius.

Although during cold seasons and brooding ‘heater bees’ can beat their wings to raise the hive temperatures.

Their body temperature rises to about 44 degrees Celsius according to the UK’s Telegraph science article.

“The heater eater causes the temperature to rise up to around 47 degrees Celsius. This happens for about two hours. All the mites in the honeycombs and those attached to the bees are destroyed by more than 90 per cent,” he said.

The sensor is connected to other machine in the Internet of Things network to detect the temperature to have reached the required ‘lethal’ levels for the pests. It takes another 30 minutes to restore the temperature.

The source of heat can be electric and it is only turned on upon instructions from the sensor.

Upon temperature rise, the bees spread out while others swarm outside the hive.

Recent studies are showing an inclusion of a solar panel into the hive to supply heat to bees when it is cold. The same can be customised to the M2M technology to power the hive upon detection of the pests.

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: 24 January 2017; Hits: 12588

Used engine oil tames termites

termitehill by omajowa-mushroom-028.JPG

A man harvests mushrooms from termite hill in a park. Raphael Ngari applies used engine oil to stop the pests from attacking wood. PHOTO BY www.africahunting.com.

In slowing the wearing out of the wooden posts of cheap greenhouses, one innovator is applying used engine oil to deter termite pests and extend the life of the farming structures to more than six years.

Termite pests, which feed on wood, destroy farm structures by chipping the parts buried into the soil.

Raphael Ngari helps farmers in East Africa in making cheap greenhouses through alternative use of local materials.

Whilst metal-supported greenhouses of 8m by 15m cost about Sh300,000, the wooden ones require Sh135,000 to install.

Ngari realised in as much as the wooden greenhouses are supposed to last for at least six years, the posts were dangling within a year within a year.

“Three litres of used engine oil are mixed with half a litre of diesel. This makes the engine oil to be lighter or less viscous to penetrate the wood. The oil gives the wood an unpleasant taste, which discourages the voracious termites,” he said.

In addition, charring wood from the side that will be in contact with the soil also helps in reducing the attacks.

Charring involves superficial ‘roasting’ of wood to harden the upper layer.

Termites attack wood by spreading cellulose-digesting enzymes, which break it down into food. But after the charring, the upper surface of the wood, which majorly comprises cellulose, is defaced leaving lignin, which is distasteful to the pest.

According to the Maderas Ciencia y tecnología journal, it takes up to 30 weeks for the termites to attack after the application and burying the wood in a termite infested area. This may take even longer than the 30 weeks in less infested areas spanning into years.

The journal also cites neem extracts as a preservatives of wood against the termites for at least 17 weeks.

The termites attack untreated poles of dead fences, houses, livestock structures, among others.

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