CIAT releases new varieties of steamed beans.

CIAT releases new varieties of steamed beans. Consumers and bean traders will soon be spending about 100 minutes less in cooking the delicacy with the 12 newly released varieties from the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, CIAT. The precooked beans are subjected to steam before packaging for sale. The beans are ready for consumption in about 15 minutes. After harvesting, the beans are subjected to boiling water that is releasing steam. The boiling water does not get into contact with the beans otherwise they will cook. The steam precooks the beans before packaging for the market. The traditional beans take about two hours to cook. This duration becomes prohibitive for low class families who cannot afford the fuel to sustain the continued cooking. CIAT says within the 15 minutes, consumers will require fuel of about Sh47 for one kilo of the beans.Various companies across Africa have been engaged to produce the seeds for the farmers. CIAT says about 10,000 farmers are already growing the varieties across the continent. After harvesting, the farmers are expected to deliver the beans to factories for processing and packaging. Snack beans are also been developed alongside the precooked varieties. The beans only require salting and they are ready for consumption. The programme of supporting the farmers is being rolled out in sub-Saharan Africa countries.source

Supplementary fish feeds offer farmers more financial return than commercial feeds.

Supplementary fish feeds offer farmers more financial return than commercial feeds. A new study and fish expert has shown that Supplementary fish feeds offer farmers more financial return than commercial feeds. Farmers rearing fish with homemade feeds may make more profits by than their commercial feeds counterparts despite the higher crude protein content in the latter. Kenya Prisons officer Jared Mokaya, who manages the Nakuru correctional facility farm, said commercial feeds offer a vigorous and heavier yield, but the at the end, the net financial gain is lower than supplements production. His sentiments have been supported by a research that shows that there is an average of 0.23 benefit cost from three Nile tilapia set-ups where the growth and economic performances were tested. In the study, reversed sex Nile tilapias were raised in four rice-fish ecosystems for 120 days. The traditional feed had 21 per cent crude proteins (CP), while the formulated one had 26 per cent CP. Commercial had 30 per cent CP while nothing was added to the last set up, which acted as the control. “The highest benefit-cost ratio of 2.15 was in the control, followed by formulated feed (1.90). But in the case of numerical net return, it was the opposite. The commercial feeds had the lowest profit margin ratio of 1.67m,” the research published on the Journal of Applied Aquaculture reads. The report adds that the cost of commercial feeds is more than that of supplementary feed.For farmers to make more profits, the research says that fish grown in rice fields will give more profits if farmers use homemade feeds. Food and Agricultural Organisation, FAO, recommends that farmers rear fish in flooded fields with rice. The waste from fish are nitrogen for the rice. The rice consumes the ammonia in the body waste while the fish also release carbon dioxide for photosynthesis in the crop. source

Benefits of raising fish in rice fields.

Benefits of raising fish in rice fields. A Chinese study has confirmed the findings of Kenya's Yala Swamp rice farmers, with evidence that cultivating rice and fish together stops disease, ups yields, and cuts the need for both fertilizers and pesticides. The Yala Swamp farmers, near Lake Victoria, have for decades grown fish and rice in the same flooded paddy fields, and have discovered they never require fertilizers to grow their rice, which is also rarely attacked by common rice diseases such as rice sheath blast responsible for some 40 per cent of rice losses in the country. A six-year long study conducted in China found that when fish were introduced into flooded paddy fields, farmers were able to grow the same amount of grain as in conventional rice monocultures, but with more than two-thirds less pesticide and a quarter less fertiliser. Farmers could therefore make large savings on fertilisers and pesticides, which typically represent 60–70 per cent of the total cost of rice production. Scientists now say the rice-fish technique is good for both the fish and the rice. Safely hidden from birds, the fish thrive in the dense rice plants, while they in turn provide a source of fertilizer with their droppings, eat insect pests and help to circulate oxygen around the rice field. Farmers also claim that keeping fish in rice fields can increase rice yields by up to 10% – plus they have the additional supplies of fish. source

Soil steaming cuts tomato losses.

Soil steaming cuts tomato losses. After a two-season sustained decline in the greenhouse tomato produce, Nathan Mala is recovering in yields after steaming the soil to kill pathogens like bacteria wilt. The Kiambu County farmer steamed the soil to kill the bacterial wilt before packing it into 400 polythene bags for his 8m by 30m greenhouse in Nyambari. The soil was also mixed with farm yard manure, but he used folia and other granular fertilizers to boost the nutrients content. The farmer spent more than Sh10,000 in 2015 in controlling soil borne diseases such as fusarium wilt, bacterial wilt and other pathogens, which cause death of the tomatoes before flowering. He repeatedly filled a 200kg capacity drum with soil and 20 litres of water before heating it in an open fire. Every day, the farmer filled 20 polythene bags with the treated soil until he reached 400. In preventing recontamination of the soil he covered the floor with a polythene liner. Although he did not have an instrument of confirming if the heat had killed the pathogens, the drying or limited steam from the soil was a sign of certainty. The door path into the greenhouse had a disinfectant, jik, for cleaning the feet before entry. For effective control of the pathogens he germinated the seedlings in a soilless culture, which is a rich nutrient medium. The seedlings are clean and the roots are least disturbed during transplanting, which enables fast establishment and a vibrant growth vigour. more

Common Food Additive Promotes Colon Cancer in Mice.

Common Food Additive Promotes Colon Cancer in Mice. Colon cancer is on the rise in younger people according to New York Times , with a sharp increase in people in their 20s and 30s. What's causing the spike? One finding suggests a super common food additive found in thousands of foods could be a 'new' colon cancer trigger. A popular food additive used in everything from dill pickles to ice cream is now linked to colon cancer.Emulsifiers are added to most processed foods to improve food texture and extend shelf life. But it also throws off healthy levels of intestinal bacteria, triggering chronic, low-level inflammation that promotes colorectal cancer, according to a new study. For this study, researchers focused on two of the most commonly used emulsifiers called polysorbate 80 and carboxymethylcellulose. They fed mice doses comparable to the cumulative amounts people would eat daily in processed foods. Consuming emulsifiers drastically changed the species composition of the gut microbiota in a manner that made it more pro-inflammatory, creating a niche favoring cancer induction and development, researchers pointed out. Alterations in bacterial species resulted in bacteria expressing more flagellin and lipopolysaccharide, which activate pro-inflammatory gene expression by the immune system. more

Weight-related deaths can affect non-obese too.

Weight-related deaths can affect non-obese too. A new global study suggests you dont you don't have to be diagnosed as obese to be at risk of dying from illnesses related to excess weight. The study found more than 2 billion children and adults suffered from health problems linked to being overweight,as the 4 million deaths attributed to being overweight in 2015, nearly 40% were not considered clinically obese. The common diseases are include type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers ,although an increasing percentage had a body mass index (BMI) of less than 30, the threshold for obesity. The paper, published in the the New England Journal of Medicine, said the findings highlighted "a growing and disturbing global public health crisis". "People who shrug off weight gain do so at their own risk - risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and other life-threatening conditions," said Dr Christopher Murray, author of the study and director of the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. more

University students turns to agribusiness.

University students turns to agribusiness. This is the story of 4 agri-preneurs, all who are under 30, who give insights into their ventures and how they strike a balance between the lecture halls and running their fast-growing side hustles. Dickson Otieno Okello, 29 and Dickson Otieno Ouma, 27,started the business started in 2015 has grown tremendously and is valued at more than Sh1 million. The two students started Agri-Fresh Supplies, a fruit juice company, and Prima Gallus, a poultry extension services outfit. Agri-Fresh Supplies deals in fresh mango, avocado, passion fruit, pineapple and orange juices alongside banana and apples. The shop located at the university processes juice under the brand name Smoothies, which sells like hot cake. They buy yoghurt from the university and use it blend our juice, a unique mixture that has become popular with students, teaching and non-teaching staff, noting they also makes plain juices. A bottle of a 250ml of juice sells at Sh40 and in a good day, they make up to Sh12,000 from the shop that opens six days a week. There are occasions when sales drop to Sh6,000 per day especially during the dry season when getting milk is a challenge. Ouma and Okello who still are the co-founders of Prima Gallus which specialises in chicken farming, feed their chicken at Egerton University, Njoro. Prima Gallus, the poultry extension services business, was started in 2016 and focuses on the entire value chain. They train farmers on various aspects of poultry farming and offer extension services. The business that employs four people is incubated at Egerton University’s Centre of Excellence for Livestock Innovation and Business (CoELIB). According to him, farmers want to get into poultry farming because it is less intensive and there is quick cash flow.“It is this gap we are now exploiting by making use of the skills we learnt at the university,” explained Ouma, adding in a good month, they make Sh50,000 and get clients from up to Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania. Besides extension services, they host clinics for farmers where they charge groups between Sh15,000 – Sh20,000 and train them on how to brand their products, whom to approach to get the correct market prices and funding and how to present and preserve their products to shield them from loses and poultry management aspects. more