Each and every year, farmers get poor harvests because they planted the wrong varieties in their regions. Before you try and new variety, if you had never grown it before, isolate a small portion of land and observe how it grows into full production. When sure that the variety can do well in your region. This avoids the risk of planting new varieties without the…
By Pauline Kairu In the first decade of the 20th century, two German chemists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch developed a way to produce synthetic nitrogen cheaply and on a large scale. The agricultural industry fell in love with the chemical. Today, according to the United Nations, approximately 250 million tonnes of nitrogen are used around the world. Now, experts say, nitrogen, which is ubiquitous…
By Michael Zappa Below are technologies related to agricultural and natural manufacturing under four key areas of accelerating change: Sensors, Food, Automation and Engineering. Sensors help agriculture by enabling real-time traceability and diagnosis of crop, livestock and farm machine states. Food may benefit directly from genetic tailoring and potentially from producing meat directly in a lab. Automation will help agriculture via large-scale robotic and microrobots…
Vegetables out of thin air? Learn more about this environmentally-friendly approach to food production. Aeroponics Defined Aeroponic systems nourish plants with nothing more than nutrient-laden mist. The concept builds off that of hydroponic systems, in which the roots are held in a soilless growing medium, such as coco coir, over which nutrient-laden water is periodically pumped. Aeroponics simply dispenses with the growing medium, leaving the…
Sorghum is steadily becoming one of the highest potential cereals in Kenya, especially in the semi-arid areas. This is due to its drought-resistant nature and the availability of a ready market. East Africa Maltings Limited (EAML) places its current annual demand at 40,000 MT. Out of the 40,000MT, only about 15,000 MT is being sourced from Kenyan growers. Despite this readily available market and stable…
The levying of Agriculture Produce Cess (APC) is one the most significant barrier to trade for agricultural producers across the country. A study conducted by Dr Daniel K. Karugu in 2017 revealed that multiple and high agricultural cess rates were being charged arbitrarily and with no justification for the rates applied across different counties. Even though the payment of APC is reported to have been…
The planting season is one of the most expensive times for farmers in the cropping calendar. Farmers must dig deeper into their pockets for seeds and fertilizer. All this with the escalating cost of farm inputs, notwithstanding. Data from our wheat farmers register for example confirms an average wheat production rate of fifteen 90kg bags an acre. There is however the potential for farmers to…
By Mathews Ndanyi Agriculture officials in North Rift fear that cereal production will drop by a big margin after the government decided not to import subsidised fertiliser. The input is likely to go up by more than 200 per cent in the open market. The National Cereals and Produce Board has been selling the subsidised DAP fertiliser (for planting) at Sh1,200 per 50 kg bag.…
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that food security achieved “when all people, at all times have physical and economic access to adequate, sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. It is not just about physical availability of food. It is more about the accessibility of food in terms of its affordability in…
Barely two months to the onset of next planting season, there is no government subsidised fertilizer in sight. In what could lead to a food crisis in the country, most farmers in the North Rift, the country’s bread basket, are also yet to prepare their farms ahead of long rain season expected to begin in March. The farmers are still stuck with tonnes of maize currently…
