KISUMU COUNTY FOCUSES ON RICE FARMING

The rice industry has witnessed a major decline in the past few decades. There have been challenges of reduced yields per acreage, consequently leading to reduced acreage under rice crop.

The County Government of Kisumu has undertaken to evaluate the socio-economic challenges facing rice growing farmers; and develop strategies to assist households improve their economic status, household food security and water management for irrigation.

It established that the western Kenya rice irrigation schemes are pump-fed; this has a negative impact on the farmer since it elevates the production costs due to pumping cost of irrigation water. There is need to explore gravity water sources to cut down on the production cost and improve on the farmer’s income. This could be facilitated through the construction of dams upstream and gravity intake works and conveyance to offer continuous water supply to the schemes.

Other reasons cited for decline include, among others, poor seed quality, poor farming methods, post-harvest handling challenges, and market challenges.

Some proposed solutions to these challenges include: Mechanized farming – this, it is understood, will increase the acreage under rice crop; address the challenges of post harvest handling thereby increasing the yield per acreage; address the challenge of poor seed quality (this too will increase the yields per acreage); pumping water through gravity will reduce the cost of water supply thereby allowing for affordability by farmers.

That is why the recent acquisition of tractors for both Ahero and West Kano Irrigation Schemes is a

major boost to the rice sector. This is consistent with the vision of the County Government and that of the Governor of Kisumu. Thus pillar Number One, that is, Food Security and Commercialization of Agriculture is no longer a pipe dream but a evolving reality.

With the mechanization of Agriculture come myriad solutions: First, it is a panacea to the challenge of land preparation. The rotavators will enable proper preparation of land to enable planting of the rice crop. Moreover, the post harvest handling challenges will be resolved through the use of combined harvesters, thereby significantly reducing the quantity of grains lost during the manual harvesting and threshing as well as the mixing of grain with clay which compromises both the quality (discoloration) and aroma of rice.

Besides, mechanized farming enables tillage of large tracts of land using minimum labour. This increases the acreage of land under crops. Proper ploughing also ensures increased yield per acreage.

Rice farmers should be encouragement to form cooperative societies that will enable them access credit facilities at low interest rates as compared to the banking sector. Such societies are better placed in accessing inputs and reliable markets that offer competitive prices due to their strong bargaining power.

The Governor of Kisumu has zeroed in on series of interventions that will revolutionize the rice sector. So far, a forum that brings stakeholders together to brainstorm on the challenges and solutions has yielded fruit. This forum has successfully brought together the cooperatives, the irrigation board and the farmers together. The result is increased cooperation across the sector.

In addition, attempts towards mechanization of the sector have begun in earnest. The County Government, in cooperation with other development partners, has secured a variety of machinery for land preparation and harvesting. This is a significant step towards mechanization.

Also, processes are ongoing to ensure steady water supply to the farms. In Rae, the county Government has initiated processes that will see gravity intake works and conveyance of water supply to the scheme.

Finally, the County Government of Kisumu, together with the Kenya Agricultural Value Chain Enterprises (KAVES), is supplying certified seeds to the farmers. This is another initiative that will see our farmers maximize their yields per acreage.