News by coffee researchers in the country that new zones had been identified as the next production frontiers is not only music to the ears of the farmers in those areas but also to the country and a major economic boost. This as coffee touted as Kenya’s black gold continue recording dismal production especially in […]
Climate change realigns coffee growing zones Read More »
Pomp and fanfare best described the Premier National Farmers award which saw both large and small scale farmers feted for their novel contribution to the economy and food security. A one of its kind journey that has taken one year to complete, with lead sponsors and organizers Elgon Kenya Limited working with the Ministry of
Agriculture’s finest feted at Farmers Awards Read More »
Over 300 farmers in Kitale have learnt how to optimize their small pieces of land and raise yields by adding trees, shrubs and other crops in a classic complementary tree crop farming thanks to initiatives by the Kenya Forestry Service. Since the KFS started the initiative, dubbed Bio-Intensive Agriculture, in Naisambu-Kibomet in Kitale in 2009
Farmer field schools spur on farm tree cultivation Read More »
A sweet potato based pig feed is providing a low cost alternative to the prohibitively priced commercial pig feeds to farmers across East Africa who have been left at the mercy of the market forces. East Africa has over 5 million pig farmers in East Africa who have seen the price of conventional feeds more
Low cost sweet potato pig feed offer hope to millions of EA farmers Read More »
Over 2,000 farmers in Kilifi county are recording 10 times more mango yields thanks to five new commercial mango breeds launched by Kenya Agriculture Research Institute, as part of a drive to take the returns from local mango farming to new highs. The five varieties- Haden, Tommy Atkins, Van Dyke, Sensation and Kent – from
Superior mango varieties lift Kilifi farmers’ fortunes Read More »
A funding scheme introduced ten years ago to assist farmers buy metal silos for storing grains and insulating them from weevil and other pest attacks has recorded fanatical uptake with over 90 percent of farmers introduced to the programme having already secured their own silos. Traditional cribs and gunny bags, the most common storage facilities,
Unique silos insulate farmers from weevil attacks Read More »
Mahogany farmers in Kenya are counting on a new research that shows that the pollen from the leaf can help the globally threatened species. The researchers from the University of Adelaide studied the important role played by the trees’ pollen in the health and re growth of mahogany forests. The researchers found that the extensive
Mahogany farmers bet on pollen to save the endangered species Read More »
For some 10,000 farmers, many in the Rift Valley, recent months have brought the discovery that the solution to Kenya’s perennial milk shortages, and to low milk output generally, lies not with cattle, but with growing smart grass, in a technique being promoted by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). Dubbed the Tumbukiza Method (TM),
Tumbukiza method doubles milk yields Read More »
A global information portal launched to provide information on crop pest and disease has assisted farmers cut farm losses by upto 50 percent as more farmers embrace it for timely interventions. This while supporting reports that indicate information access by farmers assists them in saving 40 per cent of their crops from pests. The portal
Crop pest portal slashes attacks by upto 50 percent Read More »
As the cost of raw materials for producing beer brands gets to an all-time high, brewers are looking for cheap alternatives with some sorghum varieties being preferred. This has seen farmers across the country benefit as the brewers enter into a contract with the farmers to grow sorghum for them. The demand for sorghum in
Farmers scale up sorghum farming as brewers come calling Read More »