Tony Kaganda is a maize farmer from Jinja Uganda. Over the years, the youthful farmer has grappled with ways of identifying the best certified seeds as quacks have infiltrated invaded the market with fake seeds. This season, is one he would do anything to forget. It all started when he purchased 35kgs of ‘certified’ seeds […]
Uganda mulls fingerprint tracking to tackle fake seeds Read More »
Spraying or watering crops with the painkiller Aspirin increases their immune system while triggering their natural defense systems that fight bacteria, fungi, and viruses according to researchers. A study by the US Department of Agriculture, found that the use of an aspirin spray, which can be made at home, resulted in a 47 per cent
How Aspirin reduces pest attacks in crops Read More »
Farmers in breadbasket areas of Kenya are spending upto 15 percent of their earnings shelling maize, a venture they decry as eating into their profits. This is despite the fact that more expenses are incurred during land preparation and planting.To hire people to do the shelling costs about Sh200 for a 90kg bag and with
Maize shelling takes toll on farmers’ earnings Read More »
Farmers in arid areas have perfected the art of water harvesting to insulate their crops and livestock during dry spells with black plastic film and mulching having successfully transformed deserts into oases while doubling yields. For a long time many farmers in dry areas have struggled with harsh weather conditions that have seen yields dwindle
Black plastic film tames water evaporation in arid farms Read More »
Kenya farmers’ preference to sell their grains on their own is hurting them with majority counting losses from market vagaries and lack of consistent market. At the moment, most of the smallholder farmers are stranded with their produce having failed to get market. A glut has seen prices plummet to Sh1500 per 90 kg bag,
Farmers bear brunt of accessing markets solo Read More »
As the world embraces Bt cotton for its superior traits in fighting the voracious Bollworm pest which is responsible for wiping up to 100 percent yields, Kenya trails its regional and international peers as anti GMO crusaders backed by pesticides manufacturers who are set to lose a big chunk of their market through the introduction
Kenya looses on Bt cotton fortunes as peers rake millions Read More »
High yielding crops that weather dry spells, a blossoming export market and a huge appetite by lenders to the agricultural sector have conspired to draw more entrepreneurs into agribusiness with the new breed of agroproneurs easily clinching export deals emerging as the latest millionaires. With the latest development, a new breed of SMEs has now
SMEs turn to agriculture to grow profits Read More »
A new dairy credit financing model is giving anyone interested in dairy farming easier ways of owning a cow, a move that has gained impressive traction in the country on the surging interest in commercial agribusiness. Dubbed Dairy Loan and offered by Kenya Women Finance Trust Deposit Taking Microfinance (KWFTDTM), the loan targets those already
Dairy farmers milk fortunes with new finance model Read More »
Kenyan farmers engaged in the farming of the little known tea tree also referred to as cosmetic leaves have been smiling their way to the banks as income more than triples buoyed by a burgeoning demand for the commodity in major export markets in the world. According to statistics from the Kenya Horticulture Competitiveness Project,
International markets open up to Kenya’s cosmetic leaves Read More »
A childhood curiosity about the differences in yields between young Fredrick Muthuri parent’s farm and that of his neighbor has been the spark that has turned him into a renown botanist and chemist who uses modern technology to test soils and increase yields. Over 90 percent of soils in Kenya are untested, a fact that
Childhood curiosity births soil testing lab Read More »