Amiran Kenya Limited has found a permanent solution to bacterial wilt, a soil born disease caused by bacteria ‘Pseudomonas solanacearum’ which normally destroys nearly 100 percent of tomatoes, potatoes and peppers in the farm.
Through Amiran soil sterilization process where the affected soil is steamed to 80-100 degrees census hence killing the pathogen that causes the disease, farmers are able to cleanse their soils. In order to achieve this result, a farmer is supposed to use an Amiran bacterial wilt kit that consists of; planting bags with perforations where sterilized soil is kept and later seedlings transplanted onto. The perforations offer the roots ventilation to breathe.
Amiran plastic mulch provides eco-friendly boundary between the planting bags and the affected soils. The kit also comes with the company’s products for soil conditioning and water cleansing.
“A characteristic of this disease which sets itself apart from the other wilt diseases is that plants wilt and die rapidly without yellowing or spotting of the foliage. Bacteria causes wilt by invading and gradually blocking the plant’s vascular tissue,” said Christopher Mutune, Amiran’s Technical Agronomist.
“A survey conducted by Amiran across the country revealed that bacteria wilt was among top challenges facing farmers,”
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Tomato plants affected by bacterial wilt disease. Courtesy
Emma Wanjiru, Amiran’s Capacity Building Coordinator on the other hand explained that, in addition to the Amiran Soil Sterilization, farmers are supposed to adhere to strict pytosanitary levels to reduce the chances of having their crops affected by the disease.
Examples of the pytosanitary measures are; limiting traffic into their greenhouse for people might carry bacteria especially on their shoes bringing them into the greenhouse, have a foot bath at the entrance of the greenhouse structure that one can cleanse their feet/shoes in before entering the greenhouse.
Farmers normally spray fungicides on their crops with the hope of dealing the bacteria but unknown to them is that it resides in the soils and not on the crops. These does not only force farmers to incur huge fungicide expenses but also intoxicate their crops, a health hazard venture.
The soil sterilization process vary from a farm to another, hence farmers can request for professional assistance from Amiran Kenya Limited by contacting their agronomists on 0719 095 000.