KENYA: Lime improves maize harvest
By
Isaiah Esipisu
As the world’s worst food security
crisis continues across the Horn of Africa, including in Kenya, some smallholder farmers in
the western part of the country are still feeding their families with last
year’s abundant harvest.
This
is thanks to an agricultural programme focusing on reviving the fertility of
the soil in the region.
According
to David Mbakaya, a soil scientist at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute
(KARI), early findings from on going research established that the soil in Western Province was too acidic for maize
production due to climatic factors and the overuse of nitrogenous fertilisers.
“From
field trials we have discovered that the average Potential of Hydrogen (pH)
levels in soil within the region stands at 4.5 – meaning that such soil can
hardly support growing maize,” said Mbakaya.
Scientifically,
the neutral pH level, where it is neither acidic nor alkaline, is seven.
Anything below seven is acidic, and above that is alkaline. However, maize can
withstand mild acidity ranging from 5.5 to 6.5.
Research
scientists at KARI – Kakamega branch, with funding from the Alliance
for a Green Revolution in Africa, encouraged
farmers to neutralise their soil using lime – a soil additive made from
pulverised limestone or chalk. It is cheaply available in Kenya.
“I
tried liming my land for two seasons, and the results are astounding,” said
Isaac Ochieng Okwanyi, a 29-year-old father of two who began farming after he
was evicted from Nairobi’s
Mathare slum in 2008 following the country’s post election violence.
“Just
like any other young man, I thought that working in the city was the best way
of earning a living. But after I lost everything during the violence, I decided
to (come) back home and try my luck at farming,” said Okwanyi from Nyangera
village in Siaya in Western
Province.
Using
half of the 2.5 hectares of land he inherited from his father, Okwanyi began
growing maize using the same phosphorous and ammonium fertilisers his parents
had used for years before him. He harvested four 90-kilogramme bags of maize
that season.
“I
sold half of it because I also needed some money, and the rest served as food
for my family and my parents for three months,” he said.
But
when his farm was selected for liming trials by the KARI team, Okwanyi was
sceptical.
“The
entire community, including myself, were very sceptical because we did not
believe that what looked like cement (lime) could change anything,” said
Okwanyi.
But
when it came to harvesting time, the villagers and Okwanyi changed their minds.
“Indeed,
it rained as expected. And from what I saw, I can attest that I have never seen
such a big harvest in this community,” he said.
From
one hectare of land he harvested 32 bags of maize, which was far higher than
the four bags he had harvested from the same land the previous season.
“The
proof of last year’s harvest is evident. I have since moved from a tiny grass
thatched house to a nice semi-permanent house,” he said pointing to his new
house.
Together
with five other farmers who had successful harvests, Okwanyi opened a grain
bank at the local Sega market, where he and the other farmers withdraw small
portions of their stored grain for domestic use.
“We
created this bank because of security reasons. With the biting hunger at the
moment, it is possible for people to break into our semi-permanent houses in
order to steal maize,” he said.
He
has two bags remaining for his domestic consumption, while his next harvest is
only a few weeks away.
There
are currently 3,000 farmers from northern Kakamega and 2,000 from Siaya in Western Province on the trial.
Western Province
is one of the regions in Kenya
that has a stable rainfall all year round. But according to Dr. Marin Odendo,
the senior research officer at the Socio-economics and Statistics Division at
KARI, the region imports food for six months of the year.
“Most
of the farmers in Kakamega are smallholder farmers. Yet this should not be the
case because there is growing evidence that smallholder farmers hold the key to
the world’s food security,” said Odendo.
He
is confident that in the near future there will be a huge increase in harvests
in the region.
No comments:
Post a Comment