Posted on August, 28, 2018 at 10:59 am
Farmers in Bungoma County have recorded a bumper maize harvest after embracing conservation agriculture.
While urging the government to increase training for farmers on conservation agriculture, the farmers say the cost of maize production has drastically reduced due to the new practice.
Beatrice Wamalwa’s compound is buzzing with activities, as visitors comprising of local farmers and international agricultural scientists make way into her home to witness her agricultural success.
Wamalwa is one of the farmers in Bungoma County, who have embraced and practiced conservation agriculture in the past one year.
This year, she has managed to increase her maize harvest from a paltry 5 bags per acre to above 20 bags.
She adds that she was able to increase her maize harvest without using the processed fertilizer which she says is more expensive and makes her land less productive compared to the natural homemade animal manure.
The conservation agriculture has considerably lowered the cost of maize production with farmers using only Ksh 500 to produce a bag of maize compared to the Ksh 2,000 per bag of maize previously.
The farmers now want both the county and national governments to increase extension services that will help farmers acquire the best conservation agriculture skills to mitigate on the effects of climate change and boost agricultural production.
Source: KBC