By Felix Ochieng Akech

Belinda Obonyo has halved her post harvest maize losses and lifted the price of her grain, simply by dehusking her maize before drying, instead of drying it with husks on.

“We used to harvest the maize and just heap it with the husks on, sometimes outside or in the store,” said Belinda, in Odienya village, Rongo sub-county, “We thought the husks protected the maize from pests, but after a few weeks, moulds would start forming inside. We would lose a lot, sometimes nearly a quarter of what we harvested.”

In fact, the retained husks can foster aflatoxins and increase insect damage.

“When we opened the cobs later, many were soft and black inside,” she said. “You feel the pain after working hard for months and seeing your maize rot.”

It was an agricultural extension officer from the Rongo sub county agriculture office that, last season, showed Belinda and other local farmers that dehusking before drying allowed airflow and faster drying, cutting mould growth sharply.

“At first, I didn’t believe it,” Belinda said. “It looked like more work to remove husks immediately after harvest. But I decided to try it on two bags of maize to see if it made a difference.”

“I realized the maize dried in half the time just a week instead of almost three,” she said. “The kernels were bright yellow and clean, and when we took it to the miller, they paid Sh8 more per kilo because the quality was so good.”

Belinda now dehusks all her maize the same day she harvests it. She spreads the cobs in a thin layer on raised racks under shade, allowing free air movement and turns them daily for five to seven days until fully dry, then shells and stores the grain in airtight containers treated with diatomaceous earth powder.

She said she now loses less than 10% of her harvest, instead of the 25% she used to lose. Her maize also stores longer without spoilage.

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“Before, I used to throw away full sacks of spoilt maize. Now, every cob counts,” said Belinda. “Even my store smells clean, no more that bad, damp smell.”

She has also now started teaching her neighbours about the benefits of early dehusking.

“Some were laughing at me when I started. Now they come to see how I dry mine. When they see how clean it looks, they all want to try it.”

 “If you dry it right, you save your effort, get better prices, and eat clean food,” she said.