Food security a fundamental priority at COP21

The Paris Climate Change Agreement, for the first time, has recognised food security as a fundamental priority Several countries and states that are lesser developed than others will be given priority, according to the food security agreement. FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva has welcomes this approval, which has recognised the fundamental need of safeguarding food security and ending hunger, in addition to highlighting specific vulnerabilities of food production systems to the varied impact of climate change. The historic climate change summit [...]

Precision planters help farmers curb seed loss and time

By Victor Amadala | Mon 30 Nov, 2015 Most cereal farmers spend waste much time and seed during plating due to poor planting methods, this according to Sygnata, a global cereals breeder. In move to curb this, agricultural equipment companies in Kenya have developed precision planters of diverse sizes and use to accommodate both large and smallholder farmers. Dume Limited, a company assembling agricultural machinery in Kenya has developed a low cost seed maize planter capable of uniformly planting two rows [...]

Kenya to adopt paperless clearing system in fresh produce market, bringing efficiency and foreign currency faster

By Victor Amadala | Wed 18 Nov, 2015 Kenya is currently piloting paperless fresh produce export transactions with the Netherlands, making it the only country in Africa and among nine in the World to use such a system. This move is expected to increase efficiency and help cut operation costs at a time when the country is struggling to seal a wide trade deficit that has sent its economy into jeopardy. This initiative, which is championed nationally by the Kenya Plant [...]

New Holland’s T7.315 tractor wins Agritechnica award

New Holland’s new T7.315 tractor was awarded the ‘Machine of the Year 2016’ title in the L category at the recent Agritechnica 2015 show T7.315 can perform a wide range of field and haulage jobs, from row crop work, baling hay or mowing to hauling manure. (Image source: New Holland) The machine was chosen for the award by a jury of 19 journalists representing leading European agricultural publications, and was rewarded for its technical innovation and the benefits it brings to [...]

Massey Ferguson to launch new tractors for Middle East and Africa

Massey Ferguson is introducing a new range of 50hp to 85hp tractors for select African and Middle East agricultural markets The MF 300 Series tractors boast a spacious operator’s environment equipped with a spring-suspension deluxe seat. The 50hp MF 345 two-wheel-drive (2WD), 75hp MF 375 (2WD) and 85hp MF 385 (2WD and 4WD) are set to be released early next year, while the longer wheelbase 50hp MF 350 (2WD), 60hp MF 355 (2WD) and 60hp MF 360 (2WD) will follow later [...]

Kenyan farmers grow chives to meet growing export demand

Chives, a herb belonging to the onion family, has become the crop of choice for a group of farmers in Kenya’s Nakuru County After reaching maturity in about 45 days, chives are harvested every 20-25 days for up to three years. More than 80 farmers from Bahati constituency of Nakuru County who used to earlier farm maize and beans have switched to growing chives. Forming a group together, and in a partnership with seed company Premier Seeds and Chase Bank, they [...]

Three agri-tech start-ups chosen for business incubation programme

Three African agri-tech start-ups have been chosen to be part of an incubation programme meant to educate them on business know-how and bring up the condition of agriculture Technology and digitisation are needed to improve Africa's agriculture sector. Ampion Venture Bus, a start-up boot camp with 40 participants, along with the German Ministry for International Cooperation and Development (BMZ) will support young African entrepreneurs to build agri-tech start-ups in southern Africa. The participants were from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, France and [...]

Agricultural expansion main factor of Brazil’s deforestation and it’s expanding

The study, prepared by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, or IBGE, says the destruction of Amazon jungles and the savannahs of central Brazil went faster between 2010 and 2012 that in the previous 10 years. While between 2000 and 2010 destructive changes were inflicted on some 7% of Brazilian territory, in the two-year period between 2010-2012 the process was speeded up and about 3.5% of the country's natural vegetation was destroyed. One of the contributors to the study, Eloisa [...]

Wealthy nations expenditure on its farmers far outstrips global food aid

Wealthy nations spend 20 times more on farm subsidies than the US$12 billion they allocate to food aid and support for poor farmers annually, John McArthur, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, the think-tank which led the new research, said. Japan spends 59 times as much supporting its own farmers than on food aid and nutrition support, while countries in the European Union spend 42 times as much and the United States spends 16 times as much, the Brookings [...]

Farmers bank on precision farming to increase food production and get value for their effort.

By Victor Amadala | Thu 05 Nov, 2015 A recent study by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on how to scale up farming practiced in order to maintain the resource base on which farmers depend on termed precision farming as a sustainable way of agricultural production to enable farmers increase production and cut on production cost while taming environmental degradation that has direct effects on agricultural production. The study indicated that farmers can reduce inputs by 30-45 per cent, [...]

REGISTER TODAY AND RECEIVE

15% Off Shipping..


X