Farmers growing fodder sorghum can double livestock milk production than those stuck to low-yielding and disease-susceptible Napier grass. Besides doing well in low rainfall areas, sorghum is not attacked by diseases like stunt, which causes dwarfism, yellowing of the leaves, thinning of the stems, and death of the stool after harvest. The disease has no […]
Fodder sorghum doubles milk production Read More »
In meeting household and livestock needs, one farmer has resorted to intercropping fodder and food crops to beat the shrinking land while increasing milk yields with the protein-rich purple vetch feed. Joseph Maina, who is a mixed farmer, owns seven dairy cows. In cutting the cost of protein supplements in commercial dairy meals, the farmer
Farmer intercrops fodder and food crops to utilise shrinking land Read More »
A solar-powered pump has helped a Homa Bay County farmer to continuously push water into two upstream ponds where he is rearing at least 1,000 tilapia fish. Michael Olalo bought the SF1 solar pump from Futurepump to cut the fuel costs he was incurring while using a fossil fuel generator to push water from River
Homa Bay farmer pushes water into upstream ponds with solar-powered pump Read More »
Siaya County farmers have tripled milk yields by feeding livestock on brachiaria grass, which contains more proteins than Napier. Leonard Oremo noted a significant increase in milk soon after he introduced the grass as part of the fodder for his cattle. In the past, Oremo got three litres of milk per day, but the yield
Siaya farmers triple milk yield feeding brachiaria grass Read More »
One poultry farmer has discovered the use of banana peels in controlling fleas instead of chemicals, which may have a negative impact on chicken products as well as the environment. Edwin Mobe stumbled on the simple integrated pest management method while researching on the Internet on the best practices in poultry rearing early this year.
Banana peels help control fleas in chicken Read More »
One Nyeri County farmer has found a new way of mixing multi-nutrient exotic beans, sweet lupines, with maize flour to feed his semi-indigenous cattle. The mixture has seen him increase milk output by three litres. Juma Gichohi, learnt of the multiple nutrient in the beans, which originated from Egypt and the Mediterranean regions, and decided
Nutrient-rich sweet lupines increase milk output by 3 liters Read More »
Mwingi farmer Charles Kalili expects to earn more than Sh977,500 from the sale of his sheep and goats at the end of the year after a water harvesting project enabled him to increase his livestock herd from 20 to 63 goats, and sheep from 20 to 52. This comes at a time when the total
Mwingi farmer earns Sh977,500 from sheep and goat sales Read More »
Ezekiel Mumo is running his own beekeeping venture in a two acre farm at Masinga in Machakos County earning him about Sh58,000 per month which he uses to settle his bills and pay his school fees as opposed to over-relying on his basic monthly salary. Mumo started beekeeping as fun at ten years old when
Beekeeping side-hustle earns Masinga youth Sh58,000 monthly Read More »
The cabinet has approved the importation of zero-rated animal feed-making products into Kenya in an effort to reduce the cost of feeds for farmers. The measure which was approved during President William Ruto’s cabinet sitting on Tuesday in Sagana, Nyeri, will see products used by feed makers such as yellow maize, soya bean, and oil
Cabinet approves import of tax-free animal feeds to reduce farmer costs Read More »
Smallholder farmers in the developing world should be implementing cheap and readily available solutions such as silvopastoralism, the provision of sheds, and crossbreeding to tackle the growing problem of heat stress in livestock. It is estimated that seven per cent of global cattle is affected by heat stress, a number that could rise to 65
Fact Sheet: Tackling the Growing Problem of Heat Stress in Livestock Read More »