You can turn cane leaves into money

A trader Gabriel Arambee of Makhaya village, Shitochi sub location Khayega location in Kakamega County arranging leafs of sugarcane stems in bundles to attract customers at Khayega market. Each bundle is sold at Ksh100 which customers buy to give their cattle. PHOTO | ISAAC WALE

What you need to know:

  • A bundle of cane top is sold at between Sh150 and Sh200. Sabatia Trading Centre in Butere sub-county is among the market places where it is sold to dairy farmers.
  • Unlike napier grass, which compromises soil fertility and requires huge space to grow, cane top is chopped off sugarcane during harvesting, Mr Motaroki says.
  • The method was formulated to cushion farmers from incurring huge expenses on commercial dairy meals. 

Sometime back, cane leaves commonly known as cane top were a source of frustration for farmers in Kakamega County as they did not know what to do with them.

The waste was a bother as it would pile up on a farm after harvest, taking space that could be put to better use.

But farmers in the region have now found a way of making some money from the waste.

They are selling the leaves to dairy farmers. Others, who grow cane and keep livestock, use the leaves as forage, thus reducing their expenses.

A bundle of cane top is sold at between Sh150 and Sh200. Sabatia Trading Centre in Butere sub-county is among the market places where it is sold to dairy farmers.

Mr Kennedy Bwire has been selling the waste at the market for over a year now.

“I usually go to cane farmers and buy cheaply then ferry it to the market,” he says. Occasionally, Mr Bwire delivers the leaves right at the doorstep of a livestock farmer. Some dairy farmers, however, avoid the middleman and buy the feed directly from cane farmers.

On a good day, Mr Bwire makes up to Sh4,000 from selling the leaves. Mollah from Namulungu Village in Matungu and Ms Selina Atako from Sisokhe in Navakholo have been feeding their cows on the leaves for nearly two years.

They are among several dairy farmers in the expansive Mumias sugar zone, who were trained on how to formulate dairy meals from cane top by experts from Mumias Sugar Company (MSC).

Ms Molla says her two-acre sugar farm gives her enough cane top.

According to experts, cane leaves comprise over 10 per cent of total yield. For instance, a farmer who harvests 50 metric tonnes of cane will get over five tonnes of cane top, according to Julius Motaroki, an officer from Entrepreneurial Development Department at MSC.

“I no longer buy commercial animal feeds since I learnt to formulate silage on my farm,” Ms Atako says.

Unlike napier grass, which compromises soil fertility and requires huge space to grow, cane top is chopped off sugarcane during harvesting, Mr Motaroki says.

The pair dismissed the common belief that lactating cows record a drop in milk production when fed on the cane top.  

To make silage, one has to chop cane leaves into smaller pieces and later soak in molasses. The mixture is then enclosed in tightly-closed drums for a month. 

“Cane top take shortest time to convert into nutrients once mixed with molasses and enclosed in a container to keep away oxygen,” Mr Motaroki says.

The method was formulated to cushion farmers from incurring huge expenses on commercial dairy meals. 

“To manage each cow, dairy farmers incur about Sh150 a day on napier grass, but this reduces when silage is used.”

Cane top is rich in carbohydrates, which are important for dairy cows, according to the officer.

Farmers are advised to add to the silage soya beans or sunflower flour before feeding the animals. This boosts the meal’s nutritive value.

Mr Motaroki says cane top must be collected from the farm immediately the sugarcane is harvested.