KCDMS, Makueni Drum for Conservative Agriculture

At least 4,000 makueni farmers will benefit from free deep tillage services, ahead of the short rains in a bid to increase agricultural productivity and profitability.

 

USAID funded Feed the Future Kenya Crops and Dairy Market Systems Activity (KCDMS) in conjunction with the county government of Makueni will engage 30 Tractor service providers to offer free deep tillage services among farmers.

Deep tillage popularly known as conservative agriculture is a climate adoption methodology where farmers are encouraged to use chisel plough/sub soiler instead of the convectional disc plough.

 

This offer will run for one month before the short rains commence in October and it acts as an incentive to farmers to adopt these practices by providing them with cost-effective solutions that can significantly improve soil health and crop yield.

 

Makueni County Agriculture and Irrigation Chief Officer Daniel Ndolo and KCDMS Senior Technical Advisor  Brenda Aluda on Monday flagged off a 2-day deep tillage campaign to sensitize farmers on conservative agriculture.

Aluda noted that over the last seasons farmers in the region have been reaping low farm produce as a result of drought that had hit the area due to climate change. 

 

“The reason why we are focusing today on soil and water conservation measures is because Makueni, Kitui and Taita Taveta have experienced drought due to climate change in the past two seasons and with insufficient water farmers have been reaping little farm produce,” said Aluda.

 

Ndolo on his part called on farmers to take advantage of the free deep tillage services and adopt conservative Agriculture for increased yield and food security at the household level.