Elgeyo Marakwet

Location

Elgeyo Marakwet County covers a total area of 3029.9 km2. It borders West Pokot County to the North, Baringo County to the East, Trans Nzoia County to the Northwest and Uasin Gishu County to the West. The main crops produced in the county vary with ecological zones with the highlands producing food crops such as maize, wheat, Irish potatoes and beans. The average land holding size in the county is 7.0 ha with the small scale farming acreage of 1.36 ha. The total acreage under food crop farming is 88,639.3 ha.

Potato Production

Elgeyo Marakwet County, potato is the second most important food crop after maize. Potato is one of the leading enterprise supporting food and nutrition security, employment creation and income generation in the county. Elgeyo Marakwet is one of the leading counties in production of ware potato (2015 Agriculture Economic Review Report). The crop is grown in 14 of the 20 wards in the four sub counties. Approximately 23,000 hectares are cultivated annually with a production range of 250,000 – 340,000 tonnes. The crop is mostly grown by small scale farmers with an average land holding of one hectare mostly for commercial. The average yield is about 15 tonnes per hectare which is much below the optimum yield of 40 tonnes per hectare and this is attributed to lack of good quality seed.

Farm Demonstrations Field Days and Trainings ( October 2021- December 2021)

NPCK in partnership with Agrico EA, Cropnuts, Baraka, Amiran, Fanisi, Omnia, UPL, Corteva, Bayer, and Osho chemicals, Lachlan, AAK and Hygrotech are conducting field demonstrations in Elgeyo Marakwet.The demos are meant to showcase to farmers technologies/innovations and GAPs for potato production.

In this regard, NPCK and partners conducted the first field day in the six demo sites to showcase the performance of the crops and also to train farmers on GAPs.

 

It is important to note that the planting of the demo plots and trainings were conducted during the Covid-19 crises period hence the team had to ensure that the preventive measures provided by the ministry of health were observed during the planning and operationalization of the field demos. These included avoiding overcrowding, wearing face masks in public, maintaining 1.5 meters apart and frequently washing or sanitizing the hands.

Objectives

To demonstrate benefits of adopting high yielding varieties, high quality planting materials, high quality inputs and good crop management practices in potato production. The initiative was able to demonstrate to farmers the benefit of using good inputs and practices for increased yield and return on investment.  

Role of partners           

  1. Spray service providers-AAK
  2. Soil sampling and Testing- Cropnuts
  3. Crop protection-UPL, Corteva, Bayer, Osho chemicals, Lachlan and Amiran
  4. Fertilizer-Baraka, Amiran, Fanisi, Lachlan and Omnia.
  5. Seed- Agrico, Hygrotech and Shangi seed
  6. Overall coordination- NPCK
  7. Farmer groups/coop- Plot management in close supervision from NPCK

The protocol was developed as shown below;

  1. Amiran Full Program + Shangi seed+ Agrico
  2. Lachlan Full Program +Shangi seed+ Agrico
  3. Corteva +Baraka +Shangi+ Agrico
  4. Corteva + Fanisi + Shangi+ Agrico
  5. Bayer +Baraka+ Shangi+ Agrico
  6. Osho + Fanisi+ Shangi+ Agrico
  7. Bayer+ Omnia+ Shangi+ Agrico
  8. UPL + Omnia + Shangi+ Agrico
  9. Bayer + Fanisi + Shangi + Agrico
  10. UPL + Baraka + Shangi + Agrico
  11. Farmer Practice

Technologies showcased and role of partners

  1. Site selection and soil testing services

The site selection for the demos was carefully chosen based on parameters such as the previous crop planted, direction of run-off water and land topography. After site selection, Cropnuts took charge in soil sampling and soil testing for pathogens and complete soil analysis, and provided recommendations that were considered. Cropnuts also advised partners about the suitability of each of the sites, especially bacterial wilt and PCN-free plots. They also offered trainings to farmers on importance of soil testing, soil sampling methods, soil testing process and interpretation of soil testing results.

      2.Use of high quality seeds

The quality of the seed planted is a very important factor in determining the potato yields and quality. Agrico E.A and Hygrotech provided certified seeds required for the demo sites considering suitable varieties for the locations. The varieties provided were Markies, Destiny, Manitou and Shangi. They also trained farmers on importance of using quality seeds, improved potato varieties as well as demonstrating well sprouted tubers for planting, planting process and good crop management practices.

       3.Crop protection

In order to achieve good yields, crop protection against pests and disease is important. The common pests affecting potato are potato tuber moth, whiteflies, cutworms, and red spider mites while bacterial wilt and late and early blights are the common diseases in potato production. To manage these pests and diseases, UPL, Corteva, Bayer, Osho chemicals, Lachlan, and Amiran, provided crop protection products for the demos and also they ensured proper crop application and timely. The field agronomists trained farmers and partners on appropriate stages and timelines for application of crop protection products for effective pest and disease control. Furthermore, they demonstrated good spraying regimes through the Spray Service Providers (SSPs) trained by Agrochemical Association of Kenya (AAK).

       4.Crop nutrition

Proper application of crop specific fertilizer essential in ensuring improved crop yield. Baraka, Amiran, Lachlan, Fanisi and Omnia participated in this initiative by providing recommended fertilizer for potato planting and topdressing. The field representatives in the regions also offered a series of trainings to farmers on recommended fertilizer for potato, timely and good fertilizer application practices and recommended quantities for good yields. 

Design of the farm demonstration sites

The demonstration was based on the following treatments;

  1. Amiran Full Program + Shangi seed + Agrico
  2. Lachlan Full Program + Shangi seed + Agrico
  3. Corteva + Baraka + Shangi + Agrico
  4. Corteva + Fanisi + Shangi+ Agrico
  5. Bayer + Baraka + Shangi + Agrico
  6. Osho + Fanisi + Shangi + Agrico
  7. Bayer + Omnia + Shangi + Agrico
  8. UPL + Omnia + Shangi + Agrico
  9. Bayer + Fanisi + Shangi + Agrico
  10. UPL + Baraka + Shangi + Agrico
  11. Farmer Practice

Elgeyo Marakwet County

In this demo site, Shangi, Markies and Destiny varieties were planted under nine interventions. In comparison with the farmer practice, it was observed that the following on nine treatments. Shangi variety resulted in better yield of 16.8t per acre under Amiran full program as compared to the other treatments. Markies variety resulted in better yields of 13.35t per acre under Fanisi+Osho treatments as compared to the other treatments. Destiny variety resulted in better yield of 11.5t per acre under Fanisi+Corteva treatment as compared to other treatments. Below shows a table of performance summary per treatment in this demo site.

 Table 6 Yields of different potato varieties in Elgeyo Marakwet County demo site equated to acre

Variety Fanisi+Osho (t) Amiran full prog(t) Baraka+Corteva (t) Lachlan full prog (t) Omnia+UPL (t) Farmer practice (t) Fanisi+Bayer (t) Baraka+Bayer (t) Baraka+UPL (t) Omnia+Bayer (t) Fanisi+ Corteva(t)
Shangi 10.5 16.8 13.5 13.65 15.45 – – 15 – 14.7 12.45
Markies 13.35 – 8.7 9 11.7 – – – – 7.5 –
Destiny – 10.2 – – – – – 9 – – 11.5