January 2022

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Meru dairy farmer banks on genetics to turn profit as feed costs rise

By George Munene 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 …

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37-year expert sets up 2-acre coffee farm as perfect retirement plan

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 with coffee rearing, now …

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Marikiti trader helping farmers track and predict agriproduce prices

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, …

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Teeth clipping key in controlling mastitis in pigs

Farm­ers can cut on sow mast­itis treat­ment costs by clip­ping pig­let teeth on the first day after birth. Clip­ping in­volves ‘cut­ting’ or ablunt­ing of the eight teeth to get rid of the sharp poin­ted ends. Pig­lets are born with needle­like teeth, which can in­jure the udder of the mother dur­ing suck­ling. “Wounds pre­dis­pose the moth­ers …

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Irregular irrigation causes splitting in tomato farming

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 …

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KFC to buy Kenyan potatoes if farmers meet stringent requirements

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 …

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Managu acts as organic red mite control in other vegetables

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 …

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Low cost charcoal cooler keeps produce fresh for a week

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 …

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