Crop Rotation and Alternatives to Wheat
In Kenya, a lot of wheat is grown. Is this simply because wheat is what we grew last year, and the year before and the year before that? Maybe we grow wheat because we love chapati and need baking flour. However, improvements in other crops have provided some options that we may need to examine.
Canola has received increased attention lately. It would seem to be an ideal crop to use in a rotation scenario with wheat. It has the same growing season as wheat, and we can use the same equipment for planting and harvesting. Canola is a broadleaf, so it provides the opportunity to clean up some grassy weeds that are difficult to control in a continuous wheat production system.
Canola also has a deep taproot to loosen and mellow the soil. In the past, problems with canola included winterkill and a lack of marketing points/options. Varieties have now been bred with improved hardiness. In addition, more buyers will receive canola than in the past.
Sesame is a relatively new and unknown crop. Like canola, it can be planted and harvested with the same equipment that we use for wheat. Plant breeding has also provided some better adapted varieties. Sesame is a summer annual crop that seems to tolerate hot, dry weather very well. As sesame acreages grow, the number of buyers handling it will also increase. Cotton was once a high input crop requiring multiple pesticide sprays to control insects and weeds. Now, with boll weevil eradication, cotton could once again be a desirable crop.
Many farmers are interested in growing corn or soybeans. I would not typically recommend these crops west of I-35 without irrigation. If irrigation is available, these may be options. Another option similar to soybeans is dry or edible beans such as black-eyed peas, cow peas or snap beans.
Grain sorghum is a crop that is often overlooked. If value is given to the grain production and the forage that can be baled after grain harvest, it can be a profitable crop. It may even provide income from lease hunting for dove after harvesting the grain crop.
Sunflowers share many of the same advantages as other rotation crops. They are a broadleaf crop, which provides different herbicide options than wheat alone. They also have a deep taproot and are an oil seed, which may be used for feed or biofuel. The potential for lease income from bird hunters also exists with a sunflower crop. Benefits of rotational cropping include breaking weed, disease and insect pest cycles; diversification to spread risk; different root systems to loosen compaction; possible nitrogen benefit from including a legume; and increased yields from the “rotation effect,” even if the rotation does not include legumes. Including a summer annual that is not double-cropped also provides time between wheat harvest one year and planting the following spring, thus building up or banking soil moisture. Take some time to evaluate your operation and determine if a crop rotation would benefit you.
East Africa Closer to Ending Maize Disease
East Africa is inching closer to eradicating Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) with a variety of seeds that can tolerate and resist the disease undergoing national performance trials in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to be ready for planting in 2018.
Scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre in conjunction with the Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organisation have several promising inbred lines and pre-commercial hybrids with resistance to MLN in Naivasha, Kenya.
“Our vision of replacing a large set of commercial MLNsusceptible varieties with MLN-resistant hybrids is well on track. In three or four years, we hope to have at least 20 to 25 MLN-resistant hybrids released, scaled up and delivered to farmers in East Africa with the help of our seed company partners,” stated B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Programme and the CGIAR Research Programme Maize.
They hope that using molecular marker assisted breeding, the more than 25 elite inbred lines that are susceptible to MLN but are parental lines of several prominent commercial maize hybrids in sub-Saharan Africa, will combat the lethal disease.
Farmers in the region have since 2011 been seeing massive losses caused by MLN with Kenya incurring a loss of Ksh4.1 billion ($41 million) in 2014 alone, as the disease wiped out crops across the country.
Scientists have recommended several measures to curb the transmission of the virus, which is spread over long distances by beetles, thrips and leaf hoppers, especially windy conditions.
Crop rotation and diversification into other crops are some of the solutions being proposed to reduce losses but farmers are reluctant to change, arguing that other crops are not as lucrative as maize.
The disease causes an estimated 30-100 per cent crop loss in farmers’ fields, depending on the severity of the attack, and is also threatening to affect regional trade.
The disease presents itself as severe chlorosis, which is yellowing of leaves, vein banding and mottling of the leaves and cobs which lead to premature drying of the crop , even if the plant appears to have no disease or symptoms.
In addition, there is a failure to tassel (sterility) in male plants as there is no pollen shed on grains. Necrosis and leaf redding may also be observed in some plants. Maize is the main staple food for several millions of families in East Africa, with Uganda being the only East African country that produces more maize than it consumes.
Uganda produces about 2.7 million tonnes of maize a year against a demand of 1.5 million tonnes. The surplus is sold to South Sudan, Tanzania and Kenya.
In matters of seeds and grains, he is unquestionably an authority, and he commands the respect of his peers, colleagues and competitors alike. His understanding of the business has been gained through his commitment to give the best service to his country. Captain (Rtd) Gichanga Karanja, himself a respected business manager with an entrepreneurial leaning could not have been more resourceful than serving the sector he loves most, the seed sector as their chairman. Mr. Masila Kanyingi, Editor Cereal Magazine had a 30 minutes tete-a-tete with him.
It is the position of The Seed Traders Association of Kenya (STAK) that the livelihood of Kenyan farmers, the health of our economy, food security, and the size of our foreign reserves depend upon the success of the partnership between research, policy, and regulatory entities in public and private sectors.