Farmers in the bread basket areas of Kenya are expecting a bumper maize harvest from the long rains season.
This is owing to the good rains and the government’s intervention to provide subsidised fertiliser.
However, things are different for many farmers in arid and semi-arid areas as they are still grappling with low yields or no harvest at all. This is attributed to poor rains in the region.
Anthony Nzioka, a farmer from Kavete, Makindu in Makueni county, said the last time he received a good maize harvest was during the El Nino rains in 1998 and again in 2002.
“Since then, the rains have been erratic and the harvest has been low. I either receive poor harvest or no harvest at all,” he told the Star.
He said this is due to poor rains coupled with pests and diseases.
Most farmers have since shifted to growing drought-tolerant crops, such as green grams and cowpeas.
The farmers are now seeking a solution to the perpetual poor maize harvests in the region.
Nzioka urged researchers to help them get the new varieties that can fight pests and grow under low rainfall.
The farmers urged the experts to provide them with the right information about genetically modified organisms (GMO) maize so they can make informed choices.
“We have been hearing about it but lack the information,” Nzioka told researchers when they visited his farm in Makueni.
“We only hear that GMO is a bad thing but no one has told us why.”
The farmers urged researchers to organise lessons for them in the local market to teach them about GMO maize, saying they were ready to adopt the crop if it will improve their production.
Another farmer, Mary Mutua, decried the frequent crop failures.
She said they can no longer buy maize from the agrovet because they know it will fail.
This is due to a combination of issues, including stem borer damage and frequent rain failures.
“Unaona vile mimea yangu ilifanywa na wadudu, halafu mvua pia ilikuja ikatuacha kwa njia?” Mutua said with disappointment in her eyes.
She urged researchers to help farmers with new varieties that can fight pests and grow under low rainfall.
Counties in the arid areas of Ukambani and the Coastal regions have called for education on GMOs.
Makueni Agriculture executive Joyce Mutua said GMO is not a problem as long as the people are sensitised and regulations put in place to allow consumers to decide whether to consume or not.
She said a confined field trial (CFT) for the Bt maize was conducted at a Kalro farm in Kiboko, Makueni county, as a model for testing for insect protection and drought tolerance.
“We cannot deny people a technology that can enhance farm productivity and household incomes, as long as that technology is safe, regulated and they have a chance to choose,” Mutua said.
She urged the researchers to reach out to agricultural extension staff, farmers and consumers to equip them with the right information on GMOs so they can decide appropriately.
She said Makueni county will partner with the consortium in public awareness among farmers and other agricultural extension staff.
Her Taita Taveta counterpart Eric Kyongo said the county is ready to partner with the Kenya University Biotechnology Consortium in enhancing awareness among agricultural extension staff and farmers on GMOs to make informed choices.
He said food security is their priority and Taita Taveta is interested in technologies that can improve farm productivity and food security.
Kyongo said opposition to GMOs is mainly due to inadequate information among the farmers, government officials and the general public. He urged the experts to communicate to more stakeholders so that people can make informed decisions.
The executives spoke during a visit to the Asal counties by the Kenya University Biotechnology Consortium (Kubico).
Dr Joel Ochieng, leader of Agricultural Biotechnology Programme at the University of Nairobi, said crop pests are a bigger problem in drier areas because farms are at times the only green thing around.
Pests such as maize stems and corn borers damage crops and pose a food safety risk as they expose the maize kernel to fungal infection.
Certain fungal species produce mycotoxins.
The most widespread mycotoxin is produced from Aspergillus (A. flavus and A. parasiticus) and Fusarium sp, which produce aflatoxin.
“Aflatoxin causes disease and deaths in both humans and animals,” he said.
“Aflatoxins are more common in hot and humid conditions, but can also occur in cool dry and hot dry environments. Asal counties have a unique situation not frequently seen in the other counties.”
Ochieng, who is also Kubico’s secretary general, said GMO undergoes rigorous safety assessment from laboratory research, field trials and commercialization.
They can only be approved if proven beyond reasonable doubt to be safe, he said.
The Bt maize that is awaiting adoption by farmers is engineered using a gene from a harmless soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis.
This has been used for more than 30 years to make crop pesticides against insect pests.
When formulated as a spray, it kills a wider array of insects because it has several insecticidal proteins.
“What we have done is to eliminate spraying and to transfer a single specific gene into maize to deal with only one group of the stem borer pests,” he said, adding that controlling the borer improves yields and food safety by eliminating the pest that opens up the maize for fungal infection that causes aflatoxins.
He said Kenya has both the capacity and a robust regulatory regime that assures safety, surveillance and a labelling regulation that will allow consumers to decide whether to consume GMOs or not.
Source: The Star