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By ISAIAH ESIPISU
On a sunny Tuesday morning, Lucas Malubi, a village-based
agricultural advisor in Mungoye village in Vihiga county, visits
Margaret Ngota and her husband Moses Ngota on their small farm to check
on their soybean crop.
This crop is special because it was planted using Biofix, a product that helps legumes fix nitrogen in the soil.
“Use
of organic fertiliser is a totally new concept in this area. But two
years after we introduced it, you can see that it has become popular,”
said Malubi, who offers extension services on behalf of Farm Input
Promotions Africa, a not-for-profit company committed to improving
productivity of small-scale farmers.
“We did not know
much about soybeans,” said Margaret. “But after the crop was introduced
on a trial basis by farm inputs, we realised that it could easily
complement ordinary beans, which are often affected by too much rainfall
that is prevalent in this area,” said the mother of eight.
The Biofix contains cultures of rhizobium bacteria that help in nitrogen fixation in the soil.
“Nitrogen
is usually the most limiting nutrient in crop production in many
countries including Kenya, and it is commonly boosted using chemical
fertilisers such as Di-Ammonium Phosphate, Calcium Ammonium Nitrates or
urea,” says Nancy Mungai, Associate Professor of Soil Sciences at
Egerton University.
“Use of rhizobia inoculants is
therefore an alternative approach to improving nitrogen content in the
soil,” she told the Seeds of Gold.
SOYBEANS' RESILIENCE
The don explains that rhizobia inoculants are live bacteria cultures that are applied on seeds or roots of young plants to help them make their own nitrogen through nitrogen fixation.
The don explains that rhizobia inoculants are live bacteria cultures that are applied on seeds or roots of young plants to help them make their own nitrogen through nitrogen fixation.
Biofix is a
brand of commercial rhizobia inoculants currently manufactured by MEA
East Africa in partnership with the University of Nairobi. It is sold
across the country through agrochemical dealers.
After
successful trials at household level, farmers realised the resilience of
soybeans to unfavourable climatic conditions, the importance of using
inputs, and their market potential.
As a result, Ben
Maniaji, the FIPS Africa coordinator in western and Nyanza regions,
reports that some 57,000 households in the area are now cultivating
soybeans using Biofix and other necessary farm inputs.
“Through
our village-based advisors and agricultural extension service providers
from the government, we identified a number of farmers at village level
and distributed free kits containing soybean seed, a packet of Biofix,
and chemical fertilisers,” said Maniaji.
Each farmer
would then set aside a small piece of land (five metres by five metres)
for trial at home. “Just as it is done by researchers, we asked the
farmers to plant a few lines using seed that has been inoculated with
Biofix with basal phosphorous fertilisers, and a control line without
any input,” said Maniaji.
PLANT HEALTH DIFFERENCE
This was to help the farmer see the difference in plant health and yield when using inoculated seeds and planting without.
This was to help the farmer see the difference in plant health and yield when using inoculated seeds and planting without.
Inoculated seeds yielded twice as much, giving farmers “the appetite to plant more,” said Maniaji.
Thomas
Otieno, a smallholder farmer in Siaya county, says after his first
trial in 2012, he increased acreage to a quarter-acre last year and
harvested 400kg. Now he has about half-an acre under soybeans.
“Most of us sold the beans to a local organisation that makes flour for porridge fed to people living with HIV,” he said.
“It
is a fresh crop, with fresh technology, bringing us a fresh opportunity
in the wake of climate change,” said Elizabeth Baraza from Sibale
village in Bungoma County.
The mother of five, who is
growing the inoculated crop for the second time, says ordinary beans
have failed to perform well following heavy rains. “But soybeans are
more resilient,” she said.
Benta Ekudoi, a mother of
four from Edama village in Busia county, says ever since doctors advised
her to avoid tea leaves, she has turned to soybean flour to make her
beverage, which she says has a pleasant taste.
IMPROVED SOIL FERTILITY
The farmers also say they have been able to improve soil fertility and have realised good returns after planting maize on land formerly used for growing soybeans.
The farmers also say they have been able to improve soil fertility and have realised good returns after planting maize on land formerly used for growing soybeans.
“I will increase my acreage next
season,” said Everline Juma, a mother of seven who has already uprooted
sugarcane and is growing soybeans on 1.5 acres in Bungoma.
“The
sky is the limit. If I get the market, I will be more than willing to
lease more land to grow this new crop using this new technology of
Biofix,” she said
Health experts say soybeans are very
nutritious as they contain all the three macro-nutrients — protein,
carbohydrate and fat — as well as vitamins and minerals, including
calcium, folic acid and iron.
DAILY NATION
DAILY NATION
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