The Mombasa Agricultural Society of Kenya provided a platform for farmers and agricultural institutions from across the country to exhibit various innovations.
Here are some of the top innovations that were showcased at this year’s event.
Seeds SMS system
Richard Karinde, an officer with the Kenya Seed Company, said the company has developed an SMS system to help farmers know the best variety of seeds to plant and which region.
“If you want to know which variety of maize seed will do best in your division, say Bondo, you type the word maize, then star and the area you are in. For example (MAIZE*BONDO). You then send the message to 20336 at a cost of Sh10,” said Karinde.
The system will then send a text to your phone giving you the best variety of maize to plant in Bondo.
Farmers can also get information on the amount of seeds to plant per acre from the system. In this case, the farmer can send the word RATE*MAIZE.
“The system can also give the best price the farmer can fetch for their plants, what to plant and how to plant. Some agents do not have the precise information on the seeds they have in their shops and in the process mislead the farmer who may not know,” said Karinde.
Multi-storey farming
Serah Nyamvula, a farmer based in Mombasa, has devised ways through which she can utilise a small space to do multiple agricultural activities.
Through her company, Foretu Enterprises, she has introduced multi-storey farming through which a small space can accommodate several types of farming including fish-farming, poultry farming and growing of crops.
“In this method, you construct a structure where you can rear poultry or rabbits and you can make a flat roof so that you plant some crops on it,” said Nyamvula.
This, she said, helps small scale farmers sustain themselves through subsistence farming and is also economical because it does not require a lot of space.
The farmer has also innovated ways through which seedlings can be prepared in small trays in a nursery instead of the ground.
The seedlings are planted using coco peat made from coconut husks, which are washed and heated before being processed into various denses.
Nyamvula says this method ensures that seedlings are not damaged during transplanting as the trays make it easy to remove seedlings to another place.
Fruitfly trap
Owaga said farmers can use special traps, known as the fruitfly traps, to keep pests at bay.
The trap is made of a small bucket into which some pheromone chemical is poured. The trap is then hang on a mango tree where the smell of the pheromone chemical attracts the male fruitflies into the bucket.
“They die when they get into contact with the chemical which means, they will not mate with the females. At the end of the day, you will have less fruitflies,” said Owaga.
Fruitflies, which are mainly found in Tana River and Kilifi counties where there are a lot of mangoes, damage the quality of the fruits which are exported to countries in the Middle East. The trap costs less than Sh100.
Cassava-based silage
Samuel Bimbuzi, a Kenya Agricultural Research and Livestock Organisation officer in Mtwapa who works in the animal production section, said they have come up with cassava-based silage for animals in the Coast region. “The cost of molasses at the coast is equal to the cost of sugar so we had to look for alternative ways of making silage by utilising a carbohydrate source,” said Bimbuzi.
“We then thought of making use of the cassava tubers which are always wasted during harvest and are unmarketable,” said Bimbuzi.
The cassava roots are a source of carbohydrates which helps in the fermentation process while the cassava leaves are a source of protein.
The two are crashed and mixed to make enriched protein silage for milk production. “The milk production potential of the cassava-based silage is similar to that of the molasses and this is a technology that dairy farmers can use at household level,” said Bimbuzi.
Farmers in Kilifi, Kwale and Taita Taveta counties have already adopted this technology.