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Pests

chicken mite

Laikipia poultry farm sprays garlic, thyme & mint to kill off chicken keepers’ nightmare

A poultry farm has rid itself of mites, which had killed 569 of its laying chickens, chicks, and ducks, by using an organic pesticide mixture of garlic, thyme, and peppermint. Edward Mwahvuta, who owns Inua Jamii Farm in Igwamiti, Laikipia County, suffered an almost total wipeout of his birds in 2023 after a futile three-week […]

Laikipia poultry farm sprays garlic, thyme & mint to kill off chicken keepers’ nightmare Read More »

Avocado farm sees 150% fruit increase shifting to weed and pepper pesticide

By Francis Ndungu An avocado farm has increased its fruits by 150 per cent and avoided its exports being rejected by abandoning chemicals for a pest-stinging organic mix of hot pepper and Mexican marigold weed. Located in Laikipia, Marmanet Farm has kept off thrips, mites, and caterpillars that were sinking the farm increasing its hass

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sunflower nets

Sunflower growers use nets and guardian eagles to keep field clearing birds away 

Onion net bags and watchdog eagles are assuring smallholder sunflower farmers of 100 per cent harvests who previously shared half their seeds with birds. After having almost half of his sunflowers snacked on by birds in 2023 Wycliffe Namano protected his sunflowers by clothing their heads in grocery nets and flying a 100-shilling toy eagle

Sunflower growers use nets and guardian eagles to keep field clearing birds away  Read More »

striga

Siaya farmer increases maize harvest five-fold by burying striga weeds, rotating crops 

A farmer in Siaya has fought striga weeds that had made her farm unusable and won by uprooting and burying the weeds, followed by crop rotation increasing her harvest from five bags to 24 bags. More than 20 million hectares of sub-Saharan Africa’s farmland are affected each year by striga. According to international maize researchers

Siaya farmer increases maize harvest five-fold by burying striga weeds, rotating crops  Read More »

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