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TRODUCES PROFESSIONAL ETIES………. EN TASTE IS BACK WITH MORE URES Glossy attractive head type cook glossy looking heads of an average head agen taste and the lost slogan of Bachelors’ variety. ure in only 55 days in hot areas and 60 days in cold rofiting plant population of 50,000 plants/ Ha or a or 60T/Acre. The conventional varieties give 00 plants /Acre at a spacing of 60cm x 60cm. 58 Natural Resource Management Improving Sustainable Farming Farmers in Kiambogo Village, Nyeri County, face a number of environmental challenges, including soil erosion, deforestation, charcoal burning, water mismanagement, and erratic rainfall. These issues impact the climatic conditions of the area, thus limiting agricultural productivity, food security, and income. The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Kenya Horticulture Competitiveness Project (KHCP) is working to reduce these trends by teaching farmers simple Natural Resource Management (NRM) techniques that not only help conserve the environment, but also help improve their incomes. In June 2010, USAID-KHCP began working with Wilmar Agro Ltd, a major exporter of Kenyan flowers, which contracts more than 3,500 smallholder farmers. USAID-KHCP provides technical assistance to Wilmar Agro, which in turn, trains smallholders in NRM and sustainable farming. Trainings are conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, and include demonstration plots, field days, and farmer-exchange visits. William Mugo, a 24-year-old smallholder farmer who grows Arabicum flowers for export in Kiambogo Village, started receiving training from Wilmar Agro early last year. He quickly adopted several NRM techniques, such as water harvesting to control water usage and proper soil preparation to prevent erosion. These allowed him to save money on resources while increasing production. By the end of the year, he had sold flowers worth KSh100,000 ($1,250) from just a quarter acre of land. He’s now using his profits to further increase his income by diversifying into onions, Irish potatoes, and local market vegetables. In addition, he is able to support his family and educate his siblings. William says he now understands that NRM is the only way to make his farm – and income – sustainable, and is now leading efforts towards conserving the environment in his community. NRM is a concept that brings together sustainable land use, participatory planning, integrated water management, biodiversity conservation, and planning for future sustainability. To date, more than 400 farmers working with Wilmar Agro have planted over 11,887 trees and adopted NRM techniques such as tree nurseries, water conservation, reforestation, crop diversification, and soil erosion controls. As a result, farmers are now benefiting from reliable rainfall and good climatic conditions for horticultural H O R T I C U LT U R A L N E W S I m a r c h - a p r i l 2 0 1 2 and incomes Simple environmental conservation techniques improve farmers’ yields William Mugo examines his Arabicum flowers. With technical assistance from USAID-KHCP, youth are taking up smallholder flower farming with the incorporation of natural resource management as a sustainable option for employment and income generation. “Having been jobless for close to seven years after dropping out of school for lack of school fees, I am glad that I can have a good income and be happily self-employed by simply planting flowers and conserving the environment.” – William Mugo, smallholder flower farmer. farming, thus increasing their yields and incomes.
SUMMARY The month of January was relatively dry across the country. During the month, USAID-KHCP trained 11,591 farmers (54 per cent women) in crop husbandry and production techniques, postharvest handling, and market linkages. These trainings equip farmers with the necessary skills to harvest and market their produce. KENYA HIGHLAND SEED INTRODUCES PRO CABBAGE VARIETIES………. AS THE LENGENDRY COPENHAGEN TASTE IS B FEATURES CABBAGE BLUE JAYS F1 January highlights include: • Greenhouse tunnel technology set to benefit smallholder export farmers in Mt. Kenya region • New pea varieties and adoption of good agricultural practices leads to bumper harvest in Eastern region. • Farmers’ response to Dimethoate restrictions encouraging. • Addressing frost in Central region through Natural Resource Management. Smallholder export farmers benefit from greenhouse tunnel technology and drip irrigation Crops grown in open fields are vulnerable to environmental factors such as drought, excessive rainfall and pests and diseases, which can limit yields and crop quality. To reverse this, Vegpro (K) Ltd, a USAID-KHCP partner working in Central Kenya is currently demonstrating the new technology for growing snow peas and sugar snaps using greenhouse tunnels on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. Five demonstration tunnels have been set up in the region targeting 554 smallholder export farmers working under the Vegpro Liki-outgrowers scheme. The pod yield harvested in December 2011 of snow peas and sugar snap in the tunnel was 48% higher, on average, than in the open field. The data also indicates that only 15% of crop in the open field was marketable, with most of it affected by disease infection, compared to 98% grown in the tunnel. Each tunnel generated an average gross income of Ksh 30,745 ($384) compared to only Ksh3,188 ($40) from the open field, about 10 times more income. More than 550 farmers have been trained at the demonstration sites in tunnel technology, drip irrigation and safe use of pesticides. To date, 29 farmers have adopted drip irrigation installing 18.5 acres while this month farmers with a cumulative area under production of 40 acres have sold 95,852 kilogrammes of snow peas to Vegpro, valued at Ksh 5,409,070 ($67,613). Through continued support from USAID-KHCP, farmers under the Liki-outgrowers scheme are expected to adopt drip irrigation and the tunnel Uniform early maturing variety Lucy Mbijjiwe’s farm in Timau, Meru County which is used as a demonstration site to educate farmers in the community about the advantages of growing snow peas in the greenhouse tunnel as opposed to the open fields. Glossy attractive head type ‣ Very early maturing cabbage with the easy to cook glossy looking hea weight of 3kg. ‣ The variety brings back the legendry Copenhagen taste and the lost sl ‣ Adapted to both hot and cold regions, it mature in only 55 days in hot regions. ‣ At a spacing of 45cm x 45cm, it gives a high profiting plant population 20,000 plants /Acre, with potential of 150T/Ha or 60T/Acre. The conv plant population of 28,000 plants/Ha or 11,000 plants /Acre at a spac Excellent transport quality Sweet taste Easy to grow High market demand Vigorous and uniformly growing variety Resistances: technology as a way of protecting their crops from extreme weather conditions and pest and disease outbreaks while improving crop quality and year round production. Under good management, a farmer can recover the costs of a tunnel and begin accruing profits after an average of three years. Peas are both a high-value and high-technology export crop for smallholders in high-altitude areas and their susceptibility to disease in harsh weather conditions is being addressed with the cost-benefit analysis involved in these tunnel trials. Dryland pea farmers anticipating bumper harvest thanks to new varieties Despite erratic rains, farmers in Eastern region are anticipating bumper harvest as a result of the introduction of new early maturing varieties of pigeon peas. The expected high yields are also attributed to farmers easily accessing quality seeds and adopting good agricultural practices. Dry Land Seed Company (DLSC), a USAID- KHCP partner involved in production and dissemination of certified seeds, has increased the acreage under pulses seed multiplication undertaken by contracted farmers from 150 acres to 600 acres. This has resulted in an increase of the quality of seed varieties sold to farmers from 12 MT in 2010 to 20MT in 2011. The seeds were redistributed to 833 smallholder farmers through agro dealers trained by DLSC, KEPHIS and KARI, resulting in 2,500 acres of pulses planted in October 2011. This year, farmers are expecting to harvest around 656MT of pulses, with potential sales of Ksh28.2 million ($352,600). This is a significant increase from the last season’s production of pulses, which is approximately 440MT annually with a farm gate value of Ksh 18.7 million H O R T I C U LT U R A L N E W S I m a r c h - a p r i l 2 0 1 2 59
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no. 21 MARCH/APRIL 2012 Ksh 300, us
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Kenya’s leading and the fastest g
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Revolutionising the Flower Industry
Page 7 and 8: H O R T I C U LT U R A L N E W S I
Page 9 and 10: Member of Agrochemicas l A sociatio
Page 11 and 12: The Real IPM Company (K) 
Page 13 and 14: Cleanlight a proven solution to sto
Page 19 and 20: He ordered uprooting of eucalyptus
Page 21 and 22: Chrysal Africa now offers — Pre-t
Page 29 and 30: A farmer Mrs Manea Masika admires T
Page 31 and 32: H O R T I C U LT U R A L Value N E
Page 35 and 36: Dimethoate ‘ban’ a major challe
Page 37 and 38: Harakisha....wapi page za AAK you n
Page 39 and 40: Jit Bhurji explaining the benefits
Page 41 and 42: East Africa’s Leading Agricultura
Page 43 and 44: from research to the market Provinc
Page 45 and 46: ! Differences in leaves of 
Page 47 and 48: HORTICULTURAL CROPS DEVELOPMENT AUT
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