Crops

Farmers suffering from increasingly poor rains who shift from local and old bean varieties to growing drought tolerant fast maturing beans are increasing their yields by up to 75 per cent during the current short rains farming season.  Growers of drought-tolerant beans consistently get 18 — 66.7 per cent more bean harvests during times of […]

Researchers are introducing new rice varieties that do not need to be put in nurseries, cutting the growing time of rice. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and KALRO have announced that from next year, Kenyan farmers will be able to grow rice varieties that are planted directly, maturing eight to 14 days earlier than

By Henry Jami Mang’eni Wild tomatoes’ ability to grow pest-free has seen the forgotten vegetable return to the plates of many Kenyans. In towns such as Ganze along the Kenyan Coast, demand for wild tomatoes has seen traders, especially women, collect the surplus bitter tomatoes and take them to the market where they sell two handfuls

Employer: Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) Location: Nairobi Education and work experience: Duties and responsibilities: Method of application: All applicants should submit their applications and CVs with certified copies of certificates, indicating current qualifications, working experience, expected remuneration, names of at least three (3) referees, telephone number, job title, and reference ddressed to: – The Managing

A mini tractor is revolutionising Kenyan farming by boosting ploughing speeds by 400 per cent, and slashing farming costs like never before. The Shujaa Tractor developed by JKUAT Industrial Park can plough five acres in a day which would take two oxen and 25 people at least five days while using just five litres of

Cutting off onion stems one inch or two to three centimeters from the bulb instead of leaving them up to eight centimeters long has seen a farmer reduce his onion drying time and become a darling for brokers lifting his earnings by 23 per cent. Edwin Mwangangi, a young onion farmer at Katani, Syokimau, today

A Bomet farmer has doubled his sorghum harvest from growing traditional seeds to a hybrid. After reading FarmBizAfrica’s piece on April 13, 2018, (Beer maker launches new high yielding sorghum variety that can withstand harsh weather) Weldon Korir began growing Advanta’s Hybrid 23012 which has increased his output from 20 two kilogram tins or gorogoros

A biogas maker is transforming the economy of Dunga Beach in Kisumu by using water hyacinth to produce biogas that powers a communal kitchen, commercial chicken brooder, and fish dryer. Every day Dominic Kahumbu, the CEO of Flexi Biogas, and two of his employees take a boat into Lake Victoria not to fish but to

The iCow Soil Advocacy programme is pursuing the change of farming practices by equipping agronomists and trainers in how to restore soil to lift smallholders’ yields. As a reporter with a background in agriculture, I enrolled in the programme to gain firsthand insight—and it turned out to be transformative. I first learned about the programme

Hand-held soil scanners are reducing the cost of soil tests for farmers by more than half and the time it takes to get their soil test information from weeks to just 10 minutes. Introduced by the Dutch Company AgroCares, the handheld scanner gives farmers an on-the-spot report of their soil and recommends what fertilisers they