Smart farms

Weatherman: heavy rains expected during Nov-Dec short rains, farmers advised to take advantage

damliner waterharvesting Damliner full of harvested water. Farmers can take advantage of the predicted above average November-December short rains to harvest water for food production.

Kenyans have been warned of heavy rains during the November-December short rains which may result into floods, thunder and lightning. However, farmers are advised to take advantage of the rains and improve in their productions.

The distribution of the rainfall in time and space is also expected to be good over most places especially during the peak month of November

According to Kenya Meteorological Department Director Stella Aura, most parts of the country are expected to experience above average rains but urged Kenyans to take advantage of the positive impact of the enhanced well distributed rainfall that is expected over agricultural areas of the country which will be favourable for farming activities.

“Farmers are advised to take advantage of the good rains to maximize on crop production, pasture conditions in the pastoral areas are also expected to improve significantly so pastoralists are also advised to optimize in livestock production in order to benefit fully from the increased pastures,” said Aura.

Vegetation is also expected to increase significantly and people have been urged to plant more trees in order to increase forest cover.

Senior Meteorologist Stanley Kinyua also encouraged people to harvest the rain water for future use.

He encouraged urban centres to urgently construct storm drainage systems and open up clogged drainages to avoid floodwaters in cities and towns.

Areas likely to receive above normal rainfall include Western, Nyanza, Eastern, Nairobi, North rift, Northern region, Eastern region, Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Central Kenya.

Aura also called upon the Disaster Management Department to be on standby to mitigate any calamity that may arise.

“Following the forecasted enhanced rainfall over most parts of the country, various sectors are expected to experience both negative and positive impacts. Contingency measures should therefore be put in place to avoid some of the probable negative impacts,” she said.

For more information, visit http://www.meteo.go.ke/pdf/seasonal.pdf

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Government plans to transform arid counties into Kenya’s bread baskets

The Kenya government plants to transform the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya into bread baskets by reducing overreliance on rain-fed irrigation and instead practice merchandised irrigation farming.

In 2017, the number of Kenyans staring at starvation increased to 3.4m from 2.6m in the previous year due to drop in maize production from 37.2m bags to 35.4m bags according to Relief Web, an online source of humanitarian information on global crises and disasters.

In this, the seven billion shilling Galana-Kulalu irrigation scheme in Tana River and Kilifi counties will be used as a benchmark to produce food in other ASAL areas such as Turkana, Marsabit, Wajir, Garissa, Kwale, Isiolo, Kitui, Makueni, West Pokot, Lamu, Samburu and Taita Taveta.

In Galana-Kulalu, at least 10,000 acres of land are under irrigation for maize production and this has enabled Tana River and Kilifi Counties to be food sufficient in times of drought according to Kenya’s ministry of devolution.

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galana

Maize under irrigation at Galana-Kulalu irrigation scheme. (Photo: courtesy)

According to the ministry of agriculture, the country’s irrigation-based farming is still limited. Of the total land area under agriculture, 2.9m ha, irrigation accounts for only four per cent but contributes to three per cent of the GDP and provides 18 per cent of the value of all agricultural produce, demonstrating it’s potential in increasing agricultural production and productivity.

Irrigated agriculture is carried out mainly in irrigation schemes and in large scale irrigation of crops such as rice and coffee. Individual farmers have developed their own systems of irrigation especially for export crops such as coffee and horticulture.

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EU grants Sh116m to promote potato sector in Nyandarua County

potato farming

Potato farmers in Nyandarua are set to benefit from Sh116m grant by European Union to boost potato production in the county.

Speaking after signing the deal at the Ministry of Devolution headquarters in Nairobi yesterday, county officials said the grant would help improve the sector.

October last year the county received Sh120m from EU which was to be used to set up a national project for the crop with Nyandarua County being the national potato hub.

The Nyandarua delegation at the ministry comprised county executive committee members Mary Mugwanja (finance and economic development) and James Karitu (agriculture, livestock and fisheries) and the county secretary, Hiram Kahiro.

“This allows us to embark on preparatory activities and request for pre-financing ahead of the grand launch next month,” said Ms Mugwanja.

Devolution Principal Secretary Charles Sunkuli hailed Nyandarua for meeting EU requirements for the project. “You are the second county to sign the contract after Makueni,” he said.

Under the EU programme, the grant will fund Nyandarua’s seed potato production and storage project at Ol Joro Orok and Njabini Agricultural Training Centres (ATCs) and a tissue culture laboratory.

“We will increase production of potatoes in the county through enhancing availability and access to certified potato seeds from the current estimated two per cent to 10 per cent by the year 2020,” said Dr Karitu.

Mr Kahiro announced that farmers and other actors in the potato industry would be sensitised on the benefits of using high-quality certified seeds.

“We will reach out to potato consumers, hotels and supermarkets, input suppliers, transporters, wholesalers, retailers and processors so that every interest group is on board,” he said.

Of 131,697 farm households, 113,000 are small-scale potato farmers while about 7,400 are large-scale.

In 2017, the county produced potatoes worth more than Sh8 billion.

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