I saw this on KTN Farmers TV. I was really impressed. I have been tuning to the channel again and again to see if I can get a chance to rewatch that episode again but I have not been lucky.
Local, ie Kenyan, researchers in corroboration with farmers in Ukambani, have had a terrific breakthrough in their endeavour to find ways of controlling weevils in stored grains without the use of pesticides! Their studies have proved that if farmers put their produce in a certain type of gunny bag, I cannot remember which, immediately after harvest, and still observe other usual protective storage practices, the grains can stay in the stores for up to six months after harvest without being attacked by weevils. I guess that would be wonderful and long time enough for the farmers to have found good markets and burgain for their produce right in time for the preparations for the next season’s harvest, don’t agree?
Now, you might tempted to dismiss that fete, but you ought to know that getting rid of the use of pesticides is wonderful news anywhere in the world. But zaidi is the encouraging knowledge that our people are able to and busy doing studies that may come out with solutions that are likely to have positive impact on and improve Kenyan citizenry lives and livelihoods. If we had scholars doing Kenyan, or East African themed studies…!
io si poa. fresh maize will always stay in stores as they sell us old maize without wevils. maize should be sold immediately its dry, watu wakule vitu fresh ya previous season. sa ii ukienda soko utapata mbaazi za 5 seasons ago ndo zinauzwa, za last season ziko store. io kuweka chakula store six months na inawekwa dawa ndo inaleta magonjwa hayaeleweki. mahindi ikiwa ready wakamba wauzie watu wa north eastern. kama ukambani hakuna mahindi wakamba waendee mahindi kitale, hapana weka chakula kwa store over 6 months
The bags have been around for a while. Used them for the last 2 years. After the maize is dried, you put them in the gunny bag that has a lining in them. It remains weevil free for up to one year.
The point is… hatulali. Vijana hawalali. For too long we have been relying on researches and studies done by others, especially Americans. And when they do these studies its like they do them for themselves. Even the reports that come after the studies, the language and all, they are mostly American!
The point is that bags have been around for years. But they didn’t keep the weevils away because either they weren’t the proper ones or they were not used in the proper way. So farmers thought the solution was in pesticides.
no. They have been in use properly and do keep pests away. They have been extensively covered by kikuyu stations in the past. Maybe they were just not extensively disseminated