Farmers are turning to weeds and other tree extracts to eradicate moles and other rodents after finding the method to be cheap and safe for use. Moles destroy crops by feeding on the roosts or pulling them down for leaves while mice attack grains like maize while on the cobs. James Mochere, a Nyamira County …
Farmers use poisonous weeds & tree extracts to eradicate moles Read More »
A Nakuru County hatchery entrepreneur has resorted to dipping her chickens in pesticide suspension, a method which she says kills more than 90 percent of external parasites. Mary Njeri, the owner of Poultry Farm Hatchery, said chicken shake off powder pesticides, making them less effective in controlling the blood sucking external parasites. The agripreneur uses …
Chicken dipping eradicates 90% of external parasites Read More »
Research has shown that disposed aloe vera peels can be used as a natural insecticide to safeguard staple foods from insects. Dr. Debasish Bandyopadhyay, a physiologist at the University of Calcutta, and his colleagues showed how aloe vera peels can act as a natural insecticide, staving off insects from crops such as maize or millet. …
Research shows aloe vera peels useful as natural insecticide Read More »
Brassica crops, which include cabbages, kales, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli and rape seeds, are important vegetables in Kenya, largely grown for local consumption, export and processing (dehydration and oil extraction). While most of the production is in the small holder sector, commercial production is on the increase, especially, for cabbage. One major limiting factor to …
Combatting the Destructive DiamondBack Moth in Vegetables Read More »
15 June 2023, Naivasha, Kenya– In a bid to combat the African Armyworm and safeguard staple food crops in eastern Africa, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has initiated the “Emergency Support to Manage Outbreaks and Infestation by African Armyworm in Eastern Africa” project. This project aims to provide support to …
FAO Launches Project to Protect Staple Food Crops from African Armyworm Read More »
Farmers can stop bees from migrating because of the invasion of hives by painting stand posts with grease. Speaking when he visited bee-keeping farmers in Nyamira North Sub-county, agricultural officer David Nduko Atuya said the grease controls crawling insects that invade beehives in search of food. “Sugar-loving ants move up into beehives in search of …
Greasing beehives helps keep them safe from crawling predators Read More »
In boosting crop protection against pests for 24 hours, Derick Nyambane in the last season resorted to lighting a kerosene lantern at night in his half an acre tomato field as a way of luring pests to death traps. Beside the lantern is a fruit fly trap device. Nyambane used a metarhizium 69-filled lure, which …
Lighting kerosene lantern helps tomato farmers control fruit flies Read More »
Though Anthony Kamiti’s decision to grow blueberries–a superfruit rarely cultivated in Kenya– might seem confounding, his answer to anyone who asks is simple: “There are few crops you can grow in Kenya that will earn you Sh2,000 a kilogram.” In 2019, the farmer based in Limuru, Kiambu County, was gifted five blueberry seedlings by a …
The superfruit earning its pioneer farmer Sh2,000 a kilogram Read More »
By George Munene A study conducted on invasive alien pests (IAPs) has identified 120 species not currently present in Kenya but could be introduced and become invasive in the future threatening the economy by impacting on agriculture. The research conducted by the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) identified these as the most dangerous …
Scientists warn of threat from 120 new pests on Kenya’s agriculture Read More »
The African armyworm, scientifically known as Spodoptera exempta, is a particularly devastating pest. An early warning system using traps that fake the smell of mating female moths has delivered a breakthrough in countering the spread of the armyworm, which can move into an area and devastate entire crops. The over 2 million farmers in Kenya …
