The rains are here. The ground is wet. The drops are pounding the earth like there is no tomorrow. But as they say, with the rains, people have something to eat, if not now, for the future.
Coming after a prolonged dry season that had sent chills down the spines of millions of farmers around the country, the current rains signal a busy season of preparing the farms and burying the seeds into the ground.
With the rains, what can you plant in Bungoma County? Bungoma is synonymous with Ugali. This means, most of the farmers in this county plant maize, mostly on a small scale for food. With the short rains, farmers are burying seeds in the soil.
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At least 47 crops are suitable in Bungoma. Many have been made to believe that only three crops can do well here; maize, beans, and sweet potatoes but did you know that Miraa/Khat does so well in Bungoma?
Planting miraa anywhere within Bungoma County is unheard of.
Types of miraa that farmers in Bungoma can plant:
- Makata
- Matangoma
- Nyeusi
- Shurba
- Giza
- Kangeta
- Alele
- Lombolio
- Mbogua
- Ngoba
- Kathelwa
- Gathanga
Here is the full list of 47 crops that are suitable for this place:
Cereals
- Maize
- Sorghum
- Wheat
- Beans
Flowers
- Alstroemeria
- Carthamus
- Easter lilies
- Gladiolus
- Gypsophila
- Lavender
- Leather leaf fern
- Moby dick
Fruits
- Avocado
- Mangoes
- Pawpaw
- Pears
Horticulture
- Bananas
- Cabbages
- French Beans
- Mushroom
- Passion Fruits
- Pumpkin
- Strawberry
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Indigenous vegetables
- Jute Mallow
- Nightshade
- Slender leaf/mitoo
- Terere
Industrial Crops
- Coffee
- Miraa
- Tea
Legumes
- Climbing beans
- Runner/Lima beans
- Runner/Lima/Butter beans
Medicinal and Aromatic
- Basil
- Garlic
Roots and Tubers
- Potato
- Sweet Potato
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But even as you plant, know how to read the signs. The Kenya Meteorological Department has indicated that the short rains might just be that; short rains. They are not here to stay for long.