Sesame Farming Benefits BY Tanja Folnovic VALUABLE CROP Sesame is one of the oldest oilseed crop known to mankind for its seeds. The main reason for their popularity is that they have many health-promoting nutrients and elements. The world produces about 3 million tons of sesame seeds every year. Myanmar, India, China, Sudan, and Tanzania […]
Read MoreFarming Ginger For Profit By Louise Brodie Propagation Propagation of ginger is from planting out the rhizomes kept from your previous harvest. Rhizomes for planting can also be bought from suppliers or nurseries. Planting Method The ginger rhizome is broken into smaller pieces and these are used as plant material. The pieces […]
Read MoreBasic Skills for Successful Garlic Farming Growing garlic is an incredibly rewarding experience, but it can also be frustrating. Garlic is a high-value horticultural crop in the onion family. Farmers are getting interested in growing garlic due to its reported high returns and the readily available local market. But wait, have you considered […]
Read MoreKenya: Barley Growing Makes Hundreds of Farmers a Happy Lot Mau Narok in Nakuru County can best be described as a fertile swathe of land where all kinds of crops thrive – from carrots, potatoes and cabbages to tomatoes and onions. While the crops dominate most small farms, barley growing has also taken […]
Read MoreLeslie Ter Morshuizen on Mistakes made by new Fish Farmers There are certain errors that are commonly made by new entrants into the aquaculture industry and I thought it would be useful to highlight these, as a guide to new entrants so that they can avoid these errors, and to remind more experienced farmers […]
Read MoreThe Marula – Africa’s ‘Treasure Tree’ A source of human nutrition in Africa for over 12,000 years, marula fruit is now famous as the source of one of South Africa’s most successful exports, a liqueur known as “Amarula Cream”. But the range of Marula products is increasing and during the last four years, […]
Read MoreRwandan farmers’ cooperative commission maize milling factory to boost value addition RWANDA – Rwanda’s Cooperative Twihangire Umurimo (COTUMU), loosely translated as ‘Create jobs for ourselves’ has launched a Rwf125 million (US$133,000) maize milling plant to address the challenge of post-harvest losses by adding value to their produce. The 1,122 members of COTUMU raised Rwf85million […]
Read MoreEthiopian US$6.3m biscuit and flour processing plant set to commence operations ETHIOPIA – Vita Hydro Agro-Processing Plc, sister company of Belayab Food Production Plc, franchise owner of Pizza Hut and Cold Stone Creamery brands in Ethiopia has constructed a flour and biscuit processing plant worth 210 million Br (US$6.3m). The new plant which rests […]
Read MoreHardy pigeon pea is my moneymaker By PIUS MAUNDU Nestled on the outskirts of Kathonzweni in Makueni County, Paul Mutinda’s pigeon pea farm is eye-catching, thanks to his crop that is ready for harvest. The pigeon pea season in the semi-arid region spans July to August, but Mutinda’s crop is ready and he has […]
Read MoreAmaranth: Vegetable that can change your fortunes By Agnes Aineah Amaranth is a healthy traditional vegetable. ‘Let the rains come, amaranth will come up.’ This saying was common among the Agikuyu, especially during drought and famine. The locals knew amaranth was the first to grow when it rained. It was also the first vegetable to […]
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