By Antynet Ford

Duncan Karanja has doubled his cabbage farming after stopping leaf miner and blight by switching from conventional chemicals to rabbit urine, Bacillus, and chilli‑ginger extracts. 

“Leaf Minor and blight have been on my neck when farming cabbage since 2015. Leaf minor affects the folding of the cabbage because you will always find the larvae on the leaves. For blight, during the rainy season is when the impact is always huge, especially even now when the rainfall amounts are huge,” said Duncan, who farms in Kiptangywanyi, Nakuru County,

But he now uses rabbit urine for both blight and leaf miner and supplements it with commercially available bio-pesticides containing Bacillus and extracts of hot pepper and ginger.

Research shows rabbit urine is  effective as a fertiliser, and may reduce some insects. Some farmers even report it reduces fungal disease, but scientists have not confirmed this. By contrast, Bacillus and chilli-ginger extracts have proven effects: Bacillus strengthens the plant to resist disease and stops bacteria or fungi from spreading on leaves and roots. Chilli and ginger repel pests, reducing feeding and egg-laying on cabbage leaves. Together, these methods keep the cabbages healthy longer and reduce losses, especially during heavy rains.

“I started cabbage farming in 2015 and one thing that was constant is the effect by pests, especially blight, during the rain seasons. When blight affects the cabbage and it is raining, you’ll see the vegetables wither and die off because the roots rot,” Duncan said.

“When I started the farming, I was using the conventional pesticides, which I can attest were very expensive. The profits were really low. In 2021, during Covid, it is when I realised that I could make my own bio‑pesticides and they were really working well. So I resorted to using that to spray my crops. When I plant using manure, I will always use my homemade bio‑pesticide or buy organic ones from companies that make the same,” he said.

“I spray using my rabbit’s urine or buy organic pesticides from manufacturers. Organic pesticides have so far worked as the best for me. It is economical because it can be easily found and even when spraying, the harvest intervals are not necessary.  It makes my cabbage flourish well and look healthy with no plant stress,” he said.

“The first testing was a couple of years when I had started farming. I planted the Baraka F1 variety and the Copenhagen separately. For F1, I used rabbit urine to spray the pesticide while for Copenhagen, I sprayed with the conventional chemicals. F1 yielded so well. I could tell my buyers to come for it and I was never worried that they would be affected by chemicals because they did not have any,” he said.

Read Also:

Healthy red cabbage delivers 12x price of green cabbage for Nyandarua farmer

Simlaw seeds introduce black rot tolerant Chairman F1 cabbage

Youth farmer: student gets cabbages moving on WhatsApp

“When I spray with organic pesticides, it sticks for long and works slowly but for long. For the conventional chemicals, it works but for a short time. For example, when you spray during the rainy season, the chemicals get washed away by the rains taking you back to the drawing board,” he said. “To me, organic is the best,”

Duncan has now expanded his cabbage farm to a 50 by 100-foot plot and plans to add more. “Currently,, I just supply within Nakuru but when I get funds, I intend to move to a half an acre and do supplies to the neighbouring cities like Nairobi.”

Are you a farmer looking to grow the most profitable crop on your farm, with or without irrigation. Use FarmBizAfrica’s HarvestMAX on https://harvestmax.farmbizapps.com and it will tell you in less than a minute what the highest income-earning crops are for your weather, soil type and this season, based on your seasonal weather forecast. Don’t make weather losses ever again, and more than triple your income.