Young innovators breathe new life into farming

Diana Wandia Odinga Jomo Kenyatta Student demonstrates how she uses Insects and Cassava as alternative feeds for livestock production. The insect and cassava feeds are kept in insect house. [Samson Wire]

From Prof Mary Abukutsa, Kenya’s queen of indigenous vegetables and professor of horticulture at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKuat) to Dr Jane Ambuko who has set herself apart in tackling post-harvest losses, Kenyan female researchers have played a pivotal role in agricultural research.

And now, walking in the footsteps of their seniors are female students below 30 years who are creating solutions to problems facing Kenyan farmers.

Smart Harvest caught up with four students at the institution’s expansive farms and research labs.

Diana Wandia Odinga Jomo Kenyatta Student demonstrates how she uses Insects and Cassava as alternative feeds for livestock production. The insect and cassava feeds are kept in insect house. [Samson Wire].

Diana Wanda

Age: 25 years

Project: Insect and cassava-based livestock feeds

Maize is the biggest energy source in livestock feeds. Apart from being a key component in feeds, the commodity is also a staple food in many Kenyan households.

But there has been a serious shortage of maize in Kenya that saw maize prices surge, prompting the government to import the valuable commodity for human consumption. This shortage has seen livestock feed manufacturers raise the cost of feeds to also make up for the increased maize prices.

A 70kg pack of growers marsh which previously sold at Sh2,800 was raised to Sh3,100 about a month ago in what Association of Kenya Feeds Manufacturers described as a move to make up for the increased maize prices.

Keen to address the gap, Diana Wanda, 25, is researching on feeds that will explore alternative energy sources to maize. This way, she says, livestock feeds won’t be expensive.

“It is becoming very expensive for farmers to rear livestock with increased cost of livestock feeds. Today, feeds account for more than 60 per cent of livestock production because raw materials are becoming scarce,” says Ms Wanda.

The student’s innovation dubbed, 'alternative insect and cassava-based livestock feeds' involves feeds made from cassavas instead of maize.

She explains that unlike maize which is more prone to pests and diseases, cassavas are hardy and more tolerant to harsh environmental conditions and available all through the year. And at the moment, cassavas aren’t as highly utilised as maize by households.

Wanda aims to use crickets reared at the university to provide protein component of the feeds instead of fish. She says the country’s move to ban overfishing has created a fish shortage, creating the need to find alternative protein components in feeds.

In a research titled ‘Acceptance and preferences for insect and cassava-based livestock feed products’, the researcher is talking to farmers to find out their willingness to buy livestock feeds made from cassava and insects.

Christine Wamuyu a student at Jomo Kenyatta University at a food project sweet potatoes explains how she uses cow dung manure produced locally to enhance production of sweet potatoes under the greenhouse technology. [Samson Wire]

Christine Mwangi

Age: 24

Project: Clean seed in sweet potato value chain

The biggest challenge in the sweet potato value chain is accessing clean seed for planting. And because such seed isn’t easily available, farmers rely on sweet potato vines that have been grown over and over to propagate their own crop. This has in turn given them meagre yields.

Christine Mwangi, a Masters student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKuat) says the solution to productivity challenge in the sweet potato value chain is accessing clean seed.

“Kenya is currently producing a paltry 12 tons of sweet potatoes per hectare against a potential of 40 tons on the same size of land. The problem is the quality of seed they use,” says Ms Mwangi.

Clean seed is produced by vine multipliers all the way from the laboratory where shoots, also called slips are propagated from healthy and clean sweet potatoes.

At the JKuat greenhouses, slips are further propagated into seed that is then planted on a small farm for rapid multiplication. It is from these plants that vines are obtained and re-planted for harvest.

Mwangi, 24, says the seed ceases to be clean after the first planting.

According to the Agricultural and Applied Economics students, clean seed is more resistant to sweet potato weevil and viral diseases known to attack sweet potatoes.

In her study dubbed ‘Economic viability of clean sweet potato seed multiplication’, the JKuat researcher found that lack of access to clean seed has led to farmer-to-farmer engagement in obtaining sweet potato seeds as opposed to getting clean seed from certified seed multipliers. Her research proposes an increase in vine multiplication points across the country to help farmers access clean seed.

Betty Orangi a student at Jomo Kenyatta University demonstrates how she uses new technologies in applying the use of Food Nutrients Nitrogen to quality yields in indigenous vegetables like Managu. [Samson Wire].

Betty Orangi

Age: 27

Project: Utilisation of nitrogen in growing of African nightshade (managu)

Most managu farmers, for lack of knowledge, use large amounts of fertilisers hoping to reap more.

But this, according to Betty Orangi, a researcher in the department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at JKuat, is not only wasteful but also leads to contamination of soil by excess nitrogen applied in the fertilisers.

Ms Orangi blames low productivity in managu farming on improper use of inorganic fertilisers.

“After amaranths, African nightshade is the most widely produced and consumed of all indigenous vegetables. However, the crop records a paltry 3 tons per hectare against a potential of 30 tons on the same size of land,” she says.

She adds: “Continuous application of inorganic fertilisers results in soil acidification rendering land less productive and poses environmental contamination risks.”

Her study is aimed at investigating the effect of amounts of nitrogen on growth, yield and quality of African nightshade.

Ms Orangi expresses the need to optimise the use of inorganic fertilisers to prevent losses at the farm.

“Most African nightshade producers in Kenya are small scale farmers who have limited resources and grow this vegetable for subsistence. This brings about the need to optimise fertiliser usage to reduce economic losses,” says Orangi.

In a controlled experiment at the JKuat farms, Ms Orangi supplied varied quantities of nitrogen to different African nightshade plants. At the end of the experiment, there was no significant difference in between plants that were supplied with 1.8g of nitrogen and those that were supplied with 3.6g of the same element.

“There was very little difference between plants that were supplied with high amounts of nitrogen and those that had a lesser amount. This means that a farmer can save costs by applying the less amount of fertiliser because excessive fertiliser is lost through leaching, volatilisation or luxurious feeding by crops,” explained the JKuat researcher.

Apart from lowering productivity, high nitrogen levels in crops have been shown to pose health risks in humans when unused nitrates in plants are converted into nitrites. Studies indicate that the nitrites react with other elements in the body to produce disease-causing compounds.

Sylvia Buleti Jomo Kenyatta student in her farm checking the characteristics of plants leaves and the relationship of plants food in cowpea at the initial growth levels in the farm. [Samson Wire].

Sylvia Buleti

Age: 28

Project: Cowpea weevil resistant varieties

Buleti is researching on better ways to manage weevil infestations in cowpea farming. Cowpea weevil, the main pest that farmers grapple with is known to cause up to 100 per cent losses especially during storage of farm produce.

But according to Buleti, a researcher in the department of horticulture and food security at the institution, cowpea farmers still rely on ineffective traditional ways to fight the pets.

“The cowpea weevil which is referred to as ‘tsingui’ among the Luhya community has been the biggest headache for farmers for a long time. If not managed, the pest can destroy produce and lead to up to 100 per cent losses,” says Buleti.

Buleti also analysed packaging methods that minimised damage by the pests.

To fight the pests, farmers are forced to add ash to the cowpeas before storing them in sacks, khaki paper, glass bottles and in guards. In the place of ash, other farmers use capsicum, chilies and other herbs to keep the pests at bay. Still, others hang their produce on ceilings and in places where they hope the weevils cant access.

Still, other farmers opt to sell their produce straight from the farm to prevent damage by the weevil.

In her research, Buleti was analysing plant characteristics that made cowpeas resistant to weevil infestation. Cowpea varieties that took long to mature were more infested.

“The more the crop stays in the farm, the more they are pre-disposed to infestation by cowpea weevil which attacks crops during podding,” says Buleti.

She explains that during podding, female weevils enter the pod of cowpea, lays eggs on the seed and exits, leaving the eggs to grow within the pod.

Cowpeas with thick pods are less likely to be infested by the weevil according to the study that also analysed cowpea size, colour and chemical content in relation to infestation. Dark coloured cowpeas, those large in size and those high in protein content were found to be more likely to be infested by cowpea weevil.

The JKuat researcher says the study is aimed at informing farmers on the varieties of cowpeas that are more resistant to weevil infestation.

“Farmers in other places have genetically modified cowpeas resistant to cowpea weevil. But GMOs have their own downside and we want to work with our own indigenous varieties to find out those with inherent ability to withstand the pest,” says Buleti.

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