Secrets of getting higher yields taught at the farm clinic

The hunger for agricultural knowledge was evident at the eighth edition of the Seeds of Gold Farm Clinic held at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation in Kitale last week on Friday and Saturday.

On both days, farmers started to troop at the venue as early as 8am. Some came on motorbikes, others rode in matatus and school buses while a good number arrived in personal vehicles.

The farmers – young and old – came from as far as Kampala in Uganda, Nakuru, Kajiado, Kirinyaga, Siaya, Taita Taveta, Makueni, Uasin Gishu, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia and Kwale counties, with the weather providing a perfect environment for learning.

To offer the invaluable agricultural lessons were experts from the Kenya Agricultural Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro), Egerton University, Elgon Kenya Ltd, Amaco Insurance, Yara East Africa, Kenya Seed Company, Simba Corp, Koppert, Seed Co, Transnational Bank, National Bank, Big Dutchman, Baraka Fertiliser and Cooper K-Brands.

A group of poultry farmers from Kakamega County wanted to know why their chicks never attained 100 per cent survival rate.   

Kakamega Kalro Centre Director, Dr Luvodicus Okutoi, started by engaging the farmers on how they keep their poultry.

“How many eggs can an average Kienyeji hen lay before it sits on them?” he asked. Farmers gave figures ranging from 15 to 25, and settled on 18 as the average.

“Any free-range hen that lays more than 20 eggs never sits on them. If it does, most of them don’t hatch. The average number of eggs a hen can sit on is 14 and the average number of chicks hatched is 10 and only six live up to maturity,” he told the farmers.

He noted that the average cost of a chicken in the region was Sh500, and given that the indigenous hens lay eggs only three times a year, a farmer only makes Sh9,000.

To raise the figure, he said the farmer should feed the hen well and curb diseases to reduce mortality.

“Instead of giving a hen 14 eggs, give it 10 and it will hatch all of them and live to maturity.”

A farmer questioned why some hens stop laying eggs yet they are still in production age. Dr Okutoi interjected, “You can always replenish the egg laying capacity of a hen. Dip it in cold water. After that, its hormones will change and start laying eggs again. By doing this, your hen can now lay eggs 10 times a year, up from the initial three.”

ADOPT FOSTERED MOTHERING

Farmers were perplexed by the method, that from quick calculations showed one can earn up to Sh50,000 from a single hen.

Cecilia Ndirangu, a poultry farmer asked if rotten grains affected by aflatoxin were good for chicken.

“Chickens, like humans, have one stomach, unlike cows that have four which can reduce the impact of the micro-organisms in the feeds. Therefore, the birds may die from aflatoxin poisoning,” he said.

Sometimes cocks fight even if a farmer complies with the recommended ratio of 10 hens for every male, Samuel Mwangi pointed out.

Dr Okitoi said that though the ratio is recommended, most farmers make the mistake of keeping more immature hens, which results to competition.

“Cocks like other animals fight for dominance. It is important for a farmer to ensure that there are no immature hens in the parent stock because that will result to the fights even with the correct ratio.”

To maintain quality of birds reared, farmers were advised to adopt fostered mothering where only one hen is dedicated for taking care of all chicks.

“Choose your best brooder to take care of your 100 chicks hatched by other hens,” advised Dr Okoiti.

“How is this possible?” a question was shot immediately.

The chicken expert explained that even though every hen knows its chicks by smell, chicks from other hens can be introduced to the foster mother at night using clean hands.

By morning, the smell would have vanished and it will accept all chicks. If it doesn’t, then you must have had perfume on your hands.

A farmer can easily turn their free-range hens into natural incubators by selecting the hen with the best record of hatching chicks.

VACCINATE ONLY HEALTHY BIRDS

“Give 10 eggs to this hen every 21 days continuously. Get new eggs from other hens for it to sit on, on the 22nd day.

In every 21 days, the 10 chicks hatched will be healthy enough to survive to maturity. So this hen needs sufficient supply of food and water,” he said, noting in a year, this translates to 17 times enabling the farmer to pocket Sh85,000 at the comfort of his home.

Farmers said they experience difficulties vaccinating birds of mixed ages, but Dr Okitoi had a simple solution for them. Start by marking the first ever laid egg since it never hatches because it lacks an embryo to support life formation.

“Always break the first egg, cook the york and fill the shell with sand and seal it to make a dummy egg. You will place this dummy egg on the nest each time you collect a laid egg. A hen is encouraged to lay more eggs if it finds one on its nest.” He asked farmers to always date their eggs.

“Eggs that were laid 7-10 days ago will be ready for incubation and will hatch chicks of the same age,” he outlined, adding that cannibalism results from overcrowding.

“What is the lifespan of a chicken?” a farmer asked.  

“The lifespan of a chicken is dependent on the owner,” he began.

“Just like a snake, a chicken moults. When you see its feathers disappearing, force it to moult. Too many feathers indicate lack of water and feeds. Deny it water and feed for one week, it won’t die. After that it will replenish its growth hormones and start laying eggs again. That’s how you prolong its life.”

When starting to keep day old chicks, he advised farmers to avoid rushing to give them chick formula and antibiotics.

“The so-called day-old chicks are not actually one day old, some could be as old as seven days. A chick can survive for 14 days without food because it already feeds on egg yolk from which it was hatched. What the chick needs is just water, liquid paraffin or glucose which act as anti-stress agents,” he noted, advising farmers to vaccinate only the healthy birds since administering a vaccine to sick one would lead to death.

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Several farmers from within and outside the country participated in a four-day training held in collaboration between the Nation Media Group’s Seeds of Gold and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro).

THE TRAINING

John Bosco Wasswa from Kampala, Uganda, was among the attendees. His aim was to learn how to be a successful dairy farmer.

“I have been growing bananas and I wanted to begin rearing dairy cows. I was to start last year but I faced logistical challenge,” he said.

Christine Mayabi, a farmer with three cows from Busia, wanted to learn how to improve milk production.

“I have been having challenges on silage-making. From my two lactating cows, I just get five litres,” she said.

Kitale Kalro centre director, Dr Francisca Lusweti, an animal expert told the farmers that to start dairy farming, one must ensure that they have adequate feeds, know the right breed as well as have proper housing units.

“On feeds, you must have a budget for the whole year. One cow will require at least four tonnes for a whole year. If hay, it needs five tonnes, 10-15 tonnes of silage and two acres of pasture. A drier place requires four acres,” she said.

Dr Lusweti also said that cows require balanced diet that contains dry matter and protein such as lucerne to increase milk production

Good maize for use to make silage should be at milk stage, which means it has higher protein content.

She isolated sorghum and maize as the best fodder for making silage.

“Kalro recommends the KH5500-43A variety of maize for best results since it matures quickly and you can grow sunflower after harvesting. If you need a highly quality silage, then use green maize at the stage where when you press it, milk comes out. But if you need a higher quantity but with low protein content, you will have to use maize at soft dose stage when it’s ready for boiling. Rhodes grass is also good.”

Kalro has released a number of seed varieties for pasture and fodder for various ecological zones. For instance, there is silver desmodium for medium and highlands and green leaf is for drier lowlands.

“Lucern requires less rains and soils must be saline. It doesn’t grow well in acidic soils or black cotton soils and in case one notices this, they should add lime,” Caroline Kute, a pasture breeder at Kalro said.

Felix Muhati, a dairy farmer wondered why his cow did not show any signs of pregnancy yet it had been served last August.

“This problem might be caused by overfeeding which sometimes causes the walls of ovaries to have layers of fat. But get a vet to check the animals,” advised Dr Lusweti.

UNDERSTANDING FARMERS' PSYCHOLOGY

A question arose about some cows’ tendency to retain their placenta after giving birth. The expert said possible reasons could be its genetic make-up, heat stress or the calf is too big. She advised farmers to look for bulls that have a history of siring small to medium calves.

Dairy experts warned farmers against ‘bribing’ a cow before milking it by giving it dairy meal. They emphasized the idea should be rewarding cows for giving the owner milk, and not vice versa.

Farmers were advised against keeping a bull if they only have five cows. Maintenance costs are high, so artificial insemination is the best bet.

Officials of Amaco Insurance advised farmers on the importance of taking cover for their livestock.

“Once a cow is identified for insurance, it is tagged by the company to ease its identity when the risk insured happens. Just like any other type of insurance, if a cow dies, the carcass belongs to the insurer so farmers should not rush to slaughter it.”

Peter Njeru from Simba Corp said that with farm machineries, farmers can raise their earnings by leasing the machines such as tractors to other farmers.

“If you buy a lorry or pick-up truck, you will reach markets without going through middlemen. You can also act as middlemen by buying produce from other farmers and transport directly to the markets,” he said.

Nelson Maina, head of marketing and communication at Elgon Kenya Ltd, said that the farm clinics have enabled farmers across the country to access the right information from qualified researchers.

“The farm clinics are becoming bigger and better. We have had an increase in the number of farmers who attended the clinic in Kitale compared to last year, interestingly, most farmers travelled to the clinic because they heard about it from other farmers who attended and learnt new technologies ,” he noted.

Maina said Elgon Kenya has increased the number of agronomists to accommodate the farmers’ issues.

Kitale Kalro centre director Charles Kariuki said the only way to understand farmers’ psychology is through asking questions and getting answers.

From that, the solutions to their challenges become easier to find. This is one of the objectives of Seeds of Gold clinics.

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Visit to the best dairy farmer

At the end of the four-day training, participants were taken to Rose Yego’s model farm. The farm is home to Friesian cows, sheep and dairy goats all reared under a zero-grazing system.

The farmers were taken through best farm practices such as the recommended size and space of the unit.

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Use quality seeds, fight pests for a big harvest

Crop farmers were mainly keen on how they can get higher yields amid the changing weather pattern and rise in pests
Kenya Seed Company managing director, Azariah Soi, advised farmers to get quality seeds always.

“To know if the seeds are not fake, farmers need to check if the packet of product has a Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis) label or sticker,” said Soi, and added that quality seeds would not only offer farmers higher yields but help to minimise pests.

Samuel Theuri, an agronomist from Elgon Kenya, said that Tuta absoluta is still a serious pest to tomato farmers especially in the greenhouses. The pest feeds on the leaves, resulting to stunted growth and also destroys the fruits.

He added a moth can lay up to 200 eggs in a single cycle.

“The current warm temperatures provide ample conditions for the pest to multiply by laying several eggs (just like armyworm in the corn family). It is important for farmers to spray for the interval of seven days to wipe out the moths and larvae and then also spray for 14 days to kill all the larvae that may have hatched from the eggs that are there,” he observed, adding that one has to alternate with other products to fight pest resistance.

Patrick Kalama, Kalro’s crop expert, asked farmers to adopt push and pull technology to tackle fall armyworm pests invasion in their fields.

“The pull technology entails planting of napier grass which attracts the pest then traps them. On the other hand, farmers can use push technology that involves growing desmodium which repels away the pests.

“They can also intercrop the desmodium with the maize or sorghum to control stem borer and the armyworm,” said the expert, adding molasses grass (Melinis minutiflora) when planted also repels away ticks in animals.

He said that from preliminary results it would be easier to control the pest when farmers plant the maize at the same time.

“It is because if they spray at 3-4 weeks, it would be easier to suppress the pest. They will be at stage one, two and three which is easier to kill and prevent re-infestation of the pest.”

-Stanley Kimuge