MST-Department of Agricultural Resources Management (ARM)

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Browsing MST-Department of Agricultural Resources Management (ARM) by Subject "Crop Farming"

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    Assessing the Status of Crop Farming and Strategies Used to Scaleup Yields for Enhanced Food Security in Turkana County, Kenya
    (Kenyatta University, 2020) Mutai, Philip
    Despite being a culture-centred livelihood activity, pastoralism alone has not guaranteed food and nutrition security for households in Turkana, Kenya. The frequency of droughts and their negative impact on livestock production in the County translate into reduced purchasing power of the pastoral households; causing perennial food insecurity and consequent human indignity. As a growing response to this perennial situation, rain-fed crop production has been introduced in the County at subsistence level. Most pastoralists however still tend to shy away from crop farming largely due to cultural factors and not their technical feasibility. This study assessed the current status of crop farming and analyzed factors limiting diversification to crop farming. Further it appraised measures towards increased adoption of viable crop production systems within households in five locations purposively selected from two Sub-counties of Turkana Central and Loima. A cross-sectional descriptive survey design targeting 357 respondents was used in this study. In addition data was collected from a few key respondents from sub-County Agricultural Extension Offices. Primary data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. On farm experimentation on crop performance under different treatments (drip & bucket irrigation methods) was done in order to demonstrate the potential inherent in crop farming under appropriate crop and land husbandry practices. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Experimental data was subjected to analysis of variance. Results showed that an increasing number of pastoralists are now venturing into crop farming for survival purposes; of which seventy three percent (73%) of the respondents were agro-pastoralists. With a change in attitude away from cultural pastoralism, this percentage can increase with more deliberate and targeted extension service at the County level. Annual average yield of maize in Turkana County was twelve 90kg-bags per acre, while its annual cost of production was Ksh 12,600/acre and the annual revenue was Ksh 32,400/acre. The annual average yield of sorghum in the County was relatively the same as that of maize, and its annual cost of production was Ksh 6,800/acre, while the annual revenue was Ksh 43,200/acre. The study concluded that there is potential and opportunity to improve crop farming under proper land and crop husbandry practices including water use efficiency in Turkana County. Currently, there is a shift from pastoralism to agro-pastoralism. However, this shift is still slow and adoption levels low leading to poor crop yields. The main challenges that constrain crop farming include general lack of knowledge in crop farming and low adoption levels of modern agricultural practices such as use of manure and fertilizer. The study established that drip irrigation had good crop yields, though not used due to high initial costs. Where irrigation is being used, increasing salinity problem was noted. On farm trials with spinach (Spinacia oleracea) as the test crop demonstrated the superiority of water use efficiency under drip irrigation than under bucket method of irrigation. The use of inorganic fertilizers is not common in Turkana County because of the combined reasons of costs and knowledge on fertilizer use under water scarcity conditions. Some farmers use farmyard manure, which readily available from the large herds and flocks kept, but the level of use is low. The study recommended a more deliberate and targeted extension service to introduce improved crop agriculture which can be integrated with the cultural way of life of pastoralists which would ensure improved livelihoods and food security