With a 70 kilogram of concentrate dairy feed setting farmers back around Sh2,800, the gnawing question for most dairy keepers is how to still turn a profit in an industry whose production cost is increasingly exorbitant. For Gordon Chui, a dairy farmer at Igoji, Meru County, the answer lies in having a good foundation stock […]
Meru dairy farmer banks on genetics to turn profit as feed costs rise Read More »
By George Munene Since 1984 Paul Muthuyia has been rearing coffee; from the heady 80s to the lean 90s he’s seen it all; now in retirement, the veteran farmer based in Equator, Meru, earns over one million shillings yearly from his 1770 coffee trees on two acres of farmland. While he previously juggled dairying
37 year expert sets up 2 acre coffee farm as perfect retirement plan Read More »
By George Munene Since 2017, Joshua Mamwaka, an agriproduce broker and trader at Nairobi’s Marikiti market has been charting the prices of Kenya’s agricultural commodity prices. His weekly price updates ensure farmers he works with have the prices of tomatoes, onions, potatoes, etc., at hand. Having mapped price trends for up to three years,
Marikiti trader helping farmers track and predict agriproduce prices Read More »
Farmers can avert drastic and immediate death of day-old chicks soon after introducing them into the new brooders by offering clean water and ensuring the temperature is kept within the required range. A few days to the end of brooding period, chicks absorb all liquid in the egg. The moisture would keep them going until
Water helps avoid deaths in day old chicks Read More »
Farmers, who fail to follow a regular irrigation routine, make losses due to the splitting of the tomatoes as a result of stress. Tomato fruits crack after a water shortage followed by a sudden excess availability. Splitting or cracking makes the fruits lose the market value, besides turning into multiplication zones for disease causing pathogens
Irregular irrigation causes splitting in tomato farming Read More »
By George Munene Global fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken, KFC, has said that it is ready to on-board Kenyan potato suppliers given they meet its strict expectations in quality and safety. Following a Monday announcement by the American franchise that it had ran out of French fries, many Kenyans were aghast to learn that
KFC to buy Kenyan potatoes if farmers meet stringent requirements Read More »
Farmers can control red mites attack on vegetables by growing the hairy African nightshade, commonly called managu, along orchard borders after a research revealed that the crop ends the reproduction cycle of the pest. Red mite susceptible crops include gooseberry, bitter apple, tomato, eggplant potato, among others. The mites can destroy up to 80 per
Managu acts as organic red mite control in other vegetables Read More »
A family owned farm in Thika is considered the benchmark in mixed farming as over 10 to 15 famer groups visit them every week to learn how they are able to operate several farming activities in a small piece of land. The family of five; Kenneth Macharia, his wife and three children cultivate in less than
Thika family farm setting pace in mixed small-scale farming Read More »
Farmers must regularly test their soils to check for presence or absence of essential nutrients for appropriate action of realising high productivity. The testing, which is done by soil experts, would also guide a farmers on what to plant at a certain time. This is possible because the procedure identifies the available nutrients, which forming
Soil tests crucial for obtaining top yields Read More »
Farmers in dry regions can keep vegetable and fruit produce fresh for more than a week using an energy free wooden charcoal cooling chamber. A charcoal chamber, which works best in regions where the air moisture content is 30 per cent or less, reduces the spoilage rate and allows for more time for sale of
Low cost charcoal cooler keeps produce fresh for a week Read More »