Introduction of New Rice Farming Methods

Rice farmers in Ahero Irrigation Scheme will from now start using the new method of planting rice where they will be saving on water. The farmers have for a very long period of time been irrigating their planting fields into floody pools where they grow seedlings that are later transferred to farm bunches.

The cost of water used in Ahero irrigation scheme every year tends to be so high, standing at Sh.18 million. This is due to the traditional method used in panting of rice, together with other expenses like high production rates, the whole farming process until harvesting time ends up consuming a lot of funds from the farmers.

This was the reason that pushed the National Irrigation Board (NIB) in partnership with AgSri to join hands and carried out a research, where they came up the SRI method that will be used by rice farmers in the country for them to be in a position to save on water, labor costs and seeds and also, increase on their production.

The flooding method of farming has been used in the country for a very long period of time, and apart from it being costly, the farmers never get back their expected returns at the end of the season due to great loses that they experience.

It was disclosed recently that for rice to yield well, it only needs moist soils and not the flooded soils that is used by most farmers. This is because seeds are lost in the flooded water and also the transplanting process tends to waste a lot of seedlings which are not ready for transplanting.

Fertilizer and pesticides also tends to be a headache to the farmers as they are very expensive. Some of the farmers are not in a position to afford the cost of fertilizer that is suitable for their crops. Most of them are also not well enlightened on the best pesticides to use in protecting their crops from diseases.

The introduction of the new farming method comes as a relief to most of these farmers. The methods will be of great help to them since it helps in reducing the amount of water used by almost 40 per cent.

The advantage of the SRI method is that seeds will be taking a shorter period of time for it to be ready to be transplanted. Earlier on, it used to take 21 days but using the new methods, it will only be taking 12 days. The seeds will also be placed on raised seedbeds that are slightly wet, not the flooded fields. The moist seedbeds are said to help in the growth of the plant and also promoting diversity of aerobic soil organisms.

Article by Vera Shawiza.