Swap maize for rice for high yields, farmers told

Farmers in Elgeyo Marakwet have been advised to turn to rice production as an alternative to maize to address food insecurity.

With the lethal necrosis disease wreaking havoc in maize fields, David Bunyatta, an economist at the Agriculture Ministry’s rice promotion unit, advised farmers to diversify their crops.

The maize disease hits the region annually, exposing farmers to massive losses and food shortage.

Mr Bunyatta said upland rice — known as Nerica (new rice for Africa) that withstands harsh climatic conditions and requires less water to grow — can easily be introduced in the Kerio Valley.

Nerica is a cross-breed of traditional African and Asian rice credited to the Japan International Corporation Agency in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture.

The four varieties piloted in western region include Nerica 1, which is aromatic, Nerica 4, Nerica 10 and Nerica 11.

All are high-yielding and can be grown like other grain like millet.

Mr Bunyatta said Nerica requires supplementary irrigation and takes a short time to mature, yielding up to seven tonnes an acre.

A kilo of rice fetches between Sh100 and Sh120.

He said in addition to the actual rice grains, broken rice can be milled into flour to make make highly nutritional chapati.

ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY CHARCOAL

Other by-products can be used to make confectionery — cake, biscuits, etc — while the husks can be turned into environmentally friendly charcoal.

Nerica thrives in areas with an average temperature of 26 degrees Celsius, suffocates weeds, is drought tolerant and can withstand pest infestation, he said.

Areas that have shown high potential for Nerica in Kerio Valley include Chegilet, Chesongoch, Tot, Arror, Kabulwo and Cheptebo — the very areas recently affected by the maize disease.

Mr Bunyatta’s comments were echoed by Elgeyo Marakwet county crops officer Peter Isigi, who said there was high potential for growing upland rice using rain-fed agriculture supplemented with irrigation.

Despite the high potential for rice production in the area, Mr Isigi said only 15.5 hectares are currently planted to rice with eight hectares in Marakwet West, one hectare in Marakwet East, one and half hectares in Keiyo North and five hectares in Keiyo South.