1. Agriculture of Central Kenya Research Update

2. The Course Breakdowns  2 Courses  Beginner Course  Informative  Basic Methods/Techniques  Advanced Methods/Techniques  Hands-on  Basic Only  Advanced Course  Hands-on  Advanced Methods/Techniques

3. Corn  Spacing  1 to 4 plants per square foot  Depth  1 to 2 inches deep  Several seeds per hole (about 4)  Harvesting  Each Stalk should produce at least 1 large ear of corn  Harvest about 20 days after the appearance of silk strands  Kernels are fully formed but not yet fully mature  Eat, process, or refrigerate as soon as possible  How does type of corn vary each process?  Processing for livestock versus people?

4. Coffee  Planted in nursery beds until they are about 7 to 15 inches, then transferred to the fields  Rotted cattle manure is used in the fields (1 liter per square foot)  First Harvest  About 5 years after first planting  Single tree produces only about 2 lbs of coffee  Good harvest will produce about 2500 to 3500 lbs of coffee  Harvest is during the dry season  Coffee used for trade?  How is it prepared for trade?

5. Wheat  Spacing  Use a rake/plow to make furrows in the field  Sprinkle about 90 to 100 lbs of wheat seed per acre  Depth  Best yield is at depth of ½ inch to 1 ½ inches  Harvesting  Use a scythe and chop the wheat leaving 2 to 3 inches of stubble sticking out of the ground  Bundle the wheat together into stooks  Threshing - using a flail to beat the wheat out of the straw  Get rid of the chaff (outer shell)  Yields about a quart of wheat per stook

6. Tea  Tea comes from an evergreen shrub/bush that can grow up to 55 meters high but is usually kept below 6 feet  Harvesting Tea  Higher quality tea requires only the bud and second and third leaves to be plucked  Typical tea bush will produce 3000 leaves a year, which makes about 1 pound of processed tea  The type of tea depends on the type of processing  What type of tea?

7. Weed Control  Manual and Mechanical Techniques – more labor intensive  Tilling the ground  Pulling the weeds  Mowing, Brush-cutting, Weed eating  Stabbing, damaging the carbohydrate storage structure  Mulching  Herbicides – more expensive  Determining what herbicides are needed?  Biological Control  Use animals, fungi, or other microbes to feed upon weeds  Which type to use?  How not to damage crop yield  Does control process depend on weed types?

8. Irrigation Methodology – Treadle Pump  Application used often in East India  Foot operated pump used for smaller plots of land  Low cost, easy maintenance  Farmers can take what is needed only  No waste water  2 types of pumps  Pressure (deep water) and Suction (shallow water)  Cost  100 USD

9. Irrigation Methodology – Flood Irrigation  Cost effective method  Depending on land, can use gravity fee  Can level ground for efficiency  Potentially a lot of wasted water  Can flood at intervals to prevent this  Can capture and reuse waste water  Unavoidable challenges during drought

10. Irrigation Methodology – Drip Irrigation  Applies water continuously at a slow rate  Uses less water  More complicated system (than flood or treadle)  System could get clogged  routine maintenance is needed  Purity of water needed to prevent rusting within system

11. Pest Control – Push Pull Method  Push – Pull Method  Used primarily with maize  Inter-plants silverleaf desmodium with Sudan grass and maize  Silverleaf repels pests (maize stemborer)  Grass attracts pests  Produces sticky substance that traps and kills eggs produced by pests

12. Pest Control – Push Pull Method (2) Visual distractions Non-host volatiles Anti-aggregation pheromones Alarm pheromones Oviposition deterrents Antifeedants Visual stimulants Host volatiles Aggregation pheromones Sex pheromones Oviposition stimulants Gustatory stimulants Can also be applied using different repellents and attracts on other things.

13. Pest Control – Push Pull Method (3)  Advantages  Minimizes agro-chemicals  Food security  Increases income if crops are sold  Disadvantages  Used often on a smaller scale (.5 acre plots) and can be costly  Requires much more maintenance after implementation

14. Growing Livestock  Skills needed for growth:  Labor for expanding and growing herd  Feeding and watering, mating  Understanding of energy production and use from the livestock  Slaughtering, milking, production of manure

15. Growing Livestock (2)  Types of livestock in Kenya  Cattle  80% of livestock, 90% of market production  Sheep/Goats  Pigs  Poultry  Camel

16. Use of Fertilizers  Goal  to increase crop yield and soil fertility  Crops need 16 essential nutrients for growth  A mixture of organic and inorganic methods  higher yield

17. Use of Fertilizers (2)  Organic  Introducing livestock waste, compost, crop residue, waste to crops  Can be easily done in eco-village  In-organic  Commercially produced  Contain nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium  Need higher amount of energy to produce

18. Additional Questions  Irrigation Management  Pest Control  Community Assessment  What method of pesticide control do you use, if any?  What skills are needed to maintain these methods of pest control  Livestock  Community assessment  Estimation of how much livestock is needed per unit of population in the village  How does climate effect livestock?  Fertilizers  When is the best time to apply fertilizers?  How often are fertilizers applied?  Community Assessment  What types of commercial fertilizers are used?