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Maendeleo Vijijini
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For a long period of time, residents of Kerio Valley in Elgeyo
Marakwet County had viewed cattle as their main source of income since
they considered their soil unsuitable for meaningful agricultural
activity.
But it is not the same for Mary Kiptoo from
Sambalat village, Marakwet East sub-county, who has diversified into
tissue-culture bananas under furrow irrigation as an additional source
of income and food.
The mother four has about 1,000
banana tubers in her two acres, which she cultivates alongside finger
millet, sorghum and cassava for subsistence use.
“I
generate an average of Sh800 from each of the high yielding bananas as
opposed to conventional ones that go for less than Sh300,” Mary told
Seeds of Gold in an interview.
“Banana farming requires
low capital and is less labour intensive unlike maize or even
vegetables,” she explained, noting that farmers in the region share some
of the tissue-culture banana tubers for planting.
County
director of agriculture Peter Isigi said tissue-culture bananas are
disease and pest free, enabling farmers to earn better profit.
“The
bananas grow uniformly and mature within eight months thus facilitating
easy harvesting and marketing earning farmers a lot of income,”
explained Mr Isigi.
To increase production, banana farmers in Kerio Valley have set up nurseries for the crop and adapted modern technologies to increase production.
To increase production, banana farmers in Kerio Valley have set up nurseries for the crop and adapted modern technologies to increase production.
They have also formed cooperative groups to enhance their bargaining power in marketing their produce.
“The
new banana orchards can remain in place for 5 to 7 years and the yield
can be 32 tonnes per hectare as compared to conventional bananas which
give a yield of 14 tonnes per hectare,” explained Mary.
She
said Kerio Valley had a high potential area for banana production due
to the fertility of the soil and plenty of water following revival of
furrow irrigation schemes like Tot and Arror.
More
farmers, especially women are investing in banana production due to
availability of planting materials and a ready market in the North Rift.
Mr
William Kaino, an agricultural consultant in the region, said most
farmers in the region have dumped the old banana varieties for the
tissue-culture ones, riding on better returns.
He,
however, said it was difficult to state the exact number of farmers who
have invested in the new variety, as most were sharing the
tissue-culture.
Banana farming has changed the life of
Mr Joshua Chepting, who 10 years ago was wallowing in abject poverty
after he lost all his animals to armed raiders.
“Cattle
raids are no longer of any concern to me since crops are of no value to
the attackers,” explained Chepting’, a resident of Tot, Marakwet East
sub-county, who has adapted modern crop production technologies in his
five-acres of banana, paw paw and mango plantation.
The
county government has now put in place policies to encourage
horticulture farming and marketing of the crop, as well as increased
financial allocation to repair roads in the valley to facilitate smooth
transport.
SOURCE: NMG
SOURCE: NMG
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