Maize farmers lose Sh800m to disease

What you need to know:

  • The agriculture-rich Subukia sub-county is the worst hit as out of the 9,400 hectares under maize, nearly 7,000 hectares are affected.
  • The survey has also recommended the ban on the transportation of green maize from the affected areas to other areas in the county where the disease has not spread.
  • To control the spread of the disease in the country, the reorganised Kenya Agricultural and Livestock  Research Organisation (Kalro) has put up a Sh100 million research facility in Naivasha where it is developing  new maize varieties with high resistance to MLND and with high yields.

Maize growers in Nakuru will be Sh800 million poorer this season due to the infestation of a lethal disease on their farms, a report from the county agriculture office shows.

At least 10,000 hectares are affected by the Maize Lethal Necrosis Diseases (MLND), says the report.

The decrease in maize production means the county will not achieve its target of three million bags of maize production this season.

Instead, it will have to import more than 300,000 bags of the staple food to feed its two million people.

The agriculture-rich Subukia sub-county is the worst hit as out of the 9,400 hectares under maize, nearly 7,000 hectares are affected.

This means that instead of the expected 318,200 bags, only 86,000 will be harvested this season.

The disease has also devastated the land under the cereal in Rongai.

CROP ROTATION

More than 800 hectares of maize have been affected. Some 20,000 bags of the cereal have gone to waste.

Naivasha follows with 600 hectares affected. Only seven hectares of maize have not been destroyed by the disease, according to the report.

Farmers in Kuresoi North have lost 40 acres of the crop.

The report says the county has intensified surveillance and monitoring of the disease in a bid to stop it from spreading by sensitising the farmers on the need to plant alternative crops such as sweet potatoes on the affected land.

“The farmers in the affected regions should stop further planting of maize and skip at least one planting season,” says the report.

At the same time it recommends that farmers should practise crop rotation for at least two seasons with alternative non-cereal crops such Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, beans, onions and vegetables.

The report recommends that growers in the affected areas should be advised to use certified seeds and plant at the onset of rains.

Manure and top dressing fertilisers should be used.

The survey has also recommended the ban on the transportation of green maize from the affected areas to other areas in the county where the disease has not spread.

NEW VARIETY

To control the spread of the disease in the country, the reorganised Kenya Agricultural and Livestock  Research Organisation (Kalro) has put up a Sh100 million research facility in Naivasha where it is developing  new maize varieties with high resistance to MLND and with high yields.

However, the new varieties will be commercially available next year.