farmers training on good agricultural practices …
TRANSCRIPT
FARMERS TRAINING ON GOOD AGRICULTURAL
PRACTICES (GAP)
KISUMU, BUSIA AND KISII COUNTIES
JANUARY 2018
Introduction Sugarcane production system’s effectiveness depends largely on the key players involved in the
production within the sugar industry. Sugar Research Institute (SRI) being one of the players
embraces training as a tool to build capacity of sugarcane farmers and other stakeholders on the
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in sugarcane growing areas for enhanced productivity and
sustainability.
SRI in collaboration with the county government of Busia, Kisumu and Kisii counties organized
for a five (5) day farmers training on good agricultural practices as follows:
No. Date County Venue
1. 18th to 22nd December 2017 Busia county Kakamega Multipurpose training centre
2. 8th to 12th January 2018 Kisumu
County
Maseno Agricultural Training centre
3. 22nd to 26th January 2018 Kisii County Kisii Agricultural training centre
The training activity was jointly funded by the European Union (EU) under the Sugar Reforms
for Support Project (SRSP) component.
The training sessions were graced by the following personalities:
The Director, SRI,
The Center Director, SRI-Kibos
The Head of Technology Transfer, SRI
The Head of SRSP, SRI
County government officials
Ward Administrators
The Principal, Kakamega multipurpose training centre
The Principal, Maseno ATC
The Principal, Kisii ATC
Objective
The overall objective of the training was to enhance capacity of the farmers on all aspects of
appropriate and good agricultural practices.
Specific Objectives
The specific training objective included to:-
1. Educate farmers on good agricultural practices on sugarcane production with a view to
Increase sugarcane yields through dissemination and adoption of appropriate sugarcane
production technologies and innovation
2. Increase sugarcane yields through adoption of appropriate sugarcane production
technologies
3. Educate farmers on technologies that have been generated by SRI and their application in
sugarcane production.
4. Educate farmers on their roles and that of other players in the sugarcane production value
chain
5. Educate farmers on challenges in sugarcane farming as a business
6. Enhance diffusion and adoption of improved sugarcane varieties
7. Educate farmers on enterprise diversification programmes with a view to Improve food
security and general livelihood
8. Strengthening the capacity of small scale farmers in order to achieve sustainable
agriculture and improved food security.
9. Educate farmers on soil & water conservation and environmental management for
sustainable productivity.
Farmers’ Expectation on Training
Before commencement of the training, farmers’ expectation regarding the training was sought.
The following were their expectation:-
1. To gain knowledge and skills on sugarcane production technologies
2. To use knowledge acquired to empower other farmers
3. To learn changes in the Sugar Industry
4. To learn changes in farming technologies
5. To be educated on new sugarcane varieties
6. To put into practices technologies learnt during the session
7. To learn about Sugarcane pest & diseases
8. To learn about enterprise diversification
9. To be issued with participation certificates
10. To get empowerment in monetary value
Facilitation Mode
The facilitators for the training were drawn from the institute’s pool of Research Assistants who
achieved the objective through power point presentation conducted via use of the following
facilitation modes:-
i. Lectures
ii. Case studies
iii. Plenary discussion
iv. Questions and answers
v. Teaching aids (photographs and video)
vi. Field excursions
Findings
The total number of sugarcane farmers trained during the period was 138. The table below shows
distribution per County and gender.
County Male Female TOTAL
Busia 38 12 50
Kisumu 29 9 38
Kisii 38 12 50
TOTAL 105 33 138
Distribution per county
The figure below show farmers distribution by county; 36% were from Kisii, 36% from Busia
and 28% from Kisumu county.
Distribution per county
Distribution by Gender
The figure below shows the distribution of the participants by gender. In particular, 24% of the
participants were female while 76% of the participants were male.
Busia36%
Kisumu28%
Kisii36%
DISTRIBUTION PER COUNTY
Gender distribution by county
The graph below show gender distribution by the counties
Gender distribution by county
Male76%
Female24%
DISTRIBUTION BY GENDER
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Busia Kisumu Kisii
Chart Title
Male Female
Topics covered During the five day long training farmers were educated on all aspects of Sugarcane production.
The topics included:-
1. Soil Sampling& Sampling techniques
2. Harvesting and Transport
3. Ratoon Management
4. Role of out growers Institution
5. Variety Identification
6. Seed cane Selection
7. Fertilizer application, rate, type and methods
8. Common Sugarcane weeds and their management
9. Seed cane Multiplication
10. Sugarcane Pest and its control
11. Sugarcane diseases and its control
12. Soil and its Management
13. Variety recommendation by zones
14. Soil and water Conservation
15. Environment Conservation
16. Enterprise diversification
17. Group dynamic
18. E-service in KALRO/SRI
19. Information access and management
20. Land Preparation
21. Cane establishment
22. Role of Farmer Research Groups
23. Irrigation Methods
24. Drainage
25. Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) in sugarcane production
26. Keeping Farm Records
No. Facilitator Topics Covered
1
Kennedy Yegon
Soil Sampling&
Sampling
techniques
- Indigenous plants/vegetation that describe the
status of Soil fertility
- Importance of Soil Sampling & testing
- Soil sampling tools& accessories
- Soil Sampling procedure& Instruction
- Consideration during sampling
- Frequency of sampling& testing
Harvesting and
Transport
- Sugarcane harvesting procedure
- Cutting procedure
- Safe cutting procedure
- Ideal harvesting Standards
- In field and transit cane losses
- Harvested cane transportation
Ratoon
Management
- Benefits of Ratoon crops compared to plant
crop
- Recommended Ratoon Management practices
- Trash alignment methods
- Advantages of trash in Ratoon management Role of out growers
Institution
- Definition of Out grower Institutions
- Structure & membership
- Objective of the Institutions/Mandate
- Roles & responsibilities of the various players 2
Gabriel Bor
Land Preparation
- Factors considered when selecting sugarcane
field
- Objective of land preparation
- Factors influencing the type of land
preparation
- Source of power for land preparation
- Factors influencing choice of land preparation
implements
- Categories of land preparation
- Stages of land preparation
- Appropriate ploughing, harrowing, furrowing
and ridging standards Cane establishment - Objective of timely planting
- Principles of Good crop Establishment
- Sugarcane planting Material
- Sugarcane planting methods and their
Suitability, Merits and demerits
- Recommended Sugarcane establishment
standards
-
3
Marygorreti Okal
Variety
Identification
- Reasons for having different varieties
- Criteria used to identify Sugarcane
Identification
- Different sugarcane Varieties their features,
morphology and general characteristics
Seed cane Selection
- Meaning of seed
- Attributes of ideal Seed material
- Seed cane selection criteria
4
Eliud Ombok
Fertilizer
application, rate,
type and methods
- Definition of fertilizer
- Type of fertilizers
- Rates of fertilizer application by zone
- Methods of fertilizer application
- Macro nutrients
- Micronutrients
- Role of potassium in Sugarcane production
- Nitrogenous fertilizers and role of Nitrogen in
crop development
- Fertilizer deficiency symptoms
Common Sugarcane
weeds and their
management
- Definition of weeds
- Economic importance of weeds
- Common Sugarcane weeds
- Factors influencing weeds survival
- Classification of weeds
- Major weeds of Sugarcane
- Critical period of weed-crop competition
- Method of weed control
- Integrated weed management Seed cane
Multiplication
- Origin & distribution of Sugarcane
- Sugarcane fuzz and its role in sugarcane
development
- Sugarcane germplasm
- Objective of Sugarcane improvement
- Improved Sugarcane varieties developed by
SRI
- Multiplication of Seed cane and collaborating
institutions
- Selection of parents
- Seed cane preparation and treatment
- Farmer as Seed cane producer
- Identification & requirement for Seed cane
farmers
- Seed cane nursery
- Seed cane harvesting and distribution
- Single eye bud technology
-
5
Kennedy Ngutu
Sugarcane Pest and
its control
- Termites
- Borers
- Moles
- White grubs
- Primates
- Sugarcane scales
- Sugarcane aphids
Sugarcane diseases
and its control
- Ratoon stunting disease covering its mode of
transmission spread, symptoms and
management
- Sugarcane Mosaic virus covering its mode of
transmission& spread, symptoms and
management
- Sugarcane leaf yellow virus covering its mode
of transmission& spread, symptoms and
management
- General methods used to control spread of
diseases 6
Joyce Makhokha
Soil and its
Management
- Meaning of Soil
- Function of Soil
- Factors that affect Soil formation &
development
- Soil component
- Soil type
- Soil suitable for sugarcane growing
- Spoil Physical Suitability parameters
- Soil sampling & testing
- Soil nutrients that influence yields
- Soil loss
- Effects of Soil erosion
- Soil management Variety
recommendation by
zones
- Overview of major Sugarcane varieties in
Kenya
- Potential impact of New varieties in the Sugar
Industry
- Features of Sugarcane varieties released by
SRI to date
- Varieties suitable for Kakamega County Soil and water
Conservation
- Description of Soil and water conservation
process
- Application measures
- Conservation measures
- Soil & water conservation measures
- Water harvesting& its advantages and
mitigation measures
- Water storage
- Features of water pan 7
Rashid Katama
Enterprise
diversification
- Objective of Enterprise diversification
- Factors influencing diversification
- Drivers of diversification
- Benefits of diversification
- Factors considered in diversification
- Examples of Enterprise Combination
Group dynamic - Definition of a group and what Group dynamic
involves
- Process/Stages of Group
development/Evolution
- Characteristics of a Group
- Types of Groups
- Factors affecting Group behavior
- What causes poor Group performance
- Turning Groups into effective teams
- Strategies for improving team dynamics
- Factors responsible for success of Groups Environment
Conservation
- Description and definition of environment
- Impact of environment degradation
- Consequences of not conserving the
environment
- Environmental issues in Kenya 8
Lilian Odongo
E-service in
KALRO/SRI
- What is E-service
- Why E-Service in SRI
- Electronic Access mechanisms
- The Social media
- The SRI website
- E-Repository
Information access
and management
- What is Information management
- Rationale for availing information &
knowledge
- Information Access mechanisms
- Steps to managing information
- The essence of information management 9
George Adoyo
Cost Benefit
Analysis (CBA) in
sugarcane
production
- Definition of CBA
- Uses of CBA
- Advantages of using CBA
- Designing a CBA
- Cost Analysis
- Benefit Analysis
- Case examples: Mumias, Nzoia, Sony,
Transmara, Nyando and Soin sugar zones
Keeping Farm
Records
- Definition
- Categories
- Examples of the types
- Importance of farm records
- Application of farm records Irrigation Methods
- Over view of irrigation in Kenya
- Description and meaning of irrigation
- When should irrigation take place
- Factors to consider when designing for
irrigation system
- Choice of irrigation method
- Irrigation methods
- System maintenance
- Benefits of irrigation Drainage
- Description of drainage process and its
meaning
- Effects of excess water in farms
- Factors to consider when designing for a
drainage system
- Types of drainage 10
Samuel Wasula
Evaluation - Training Evaluation
Issues raised by the farmers during the training During the training the farmers raised issues that affect Sugarcane production within the Counties. They noted that some services and operations offered by the milling companies were far below the expected standards, that they were being educated on. Some of the matters raised included:- 1. Delayed payment of sugarcane harvested and supplied to the miller. 2. Non supply of inputs (Fertilizer) by the miller 3. High cost of inputs 4. Poor services by cane cutters contractors 5. Poor seed cane supply
Suggestions During the training the farmers noted that there was need for SRI to undertake the following:- 1. Follow up and evaluation of the trained farmers in order to assess the impact of such
trainings 2. SRI to form more Farmer Research Groups in sugarcane growing zones, especially the
trained farmers 3. SRI to advice millers on appropriate Sugarcane Best Management Standards
Conclusion
The Institute achieved its objective by training 138 participants from the counties; at end of training all the farmers trained were awarded certificates of participation and packaged information on good agricultural practices on crop management. Farmers were urged to practice lessons learnt from the workshop so as to improve on sugarcane farming for increased production and sustainable yields. This was an excellent approach and therefore the institute should organize for more trainings to other areas so as to increase adoption of technologies and improve on management of cane. Report by: Lillian Odongo ICT - Documentation