Charles Muriithi, a farmer in Eastern Kenya, has been farming for over three decades. In his fifteen acre farm, Muriithi plants a variety of crops ranging from maize, beans, cowpeas, mangoes, and potatoes among others. For two decades, he hired casual laborers to weed his farm. It was not until 1996 that he realized how expensive it was.
“I sat down towards the end of 1996 and calculated my weeding expenses and found out that they were too high. I would pay a casual labor Ksh. 150 per day,” he says. Other than that, he was expected to provide lunch, and the 10am and 4pm tea. In day, a casual laborer would therefore be paid Ksh. 250.
It took five or more people to weed an acre of land. That meant spending Ksh. 1,250 per day. Clearing 15 acres would take up to ten days. He would spend on average Ksh. 20,000. By the time the entire farm was weeded, weeds had already started growing where it was weeded first and that meant investing more in the weeding exercise. In one growing season, he could spend on average Ksh. 50,000 on weeding alone.
This prompted him to search for an alternative. In 1998, a friend of his introduced him to the chemical Gramoxone. Since then, he has not looked back. A liter of Gramoxone which costs Ksh. 2,000 can spray an acre of land or more. Two people take at most 4 days to spray the 15 acre piece of land. By paying them Ksh. 250 a day, and spending Ksh.2,000 on Gramoxone per acre, Muriithi spends at most Ksh. 32,000.
Muriithi now saves up to Ksh.18,000 per season, he spends fewer days spraying his farm and also the laborers do not have to be disfigured due to back breaking hand weeding. More so, he does not have to spray the chemical more than once in one season.
Francis Kariuki, another farmer has an experience to share too. He says, “Gramoxone is so effective and time saving. Initially, I would hire casual laborers to assist me in weeding my five acre piece of land. But today I do not need them anymore. I spray the chemical all alone.”
But how many farmers know how much time, energy and money they can save by adopting modern technologies? Some farmers jump to a conclusion that chemicals are expensive without taking time to calculate what it costs when one fails to use efficient methods. Others shy away and believe traditional methods are the best since that’s what they have been brought up practicing while some blame the government for their poor yields. It is time farmers faced reality and adopted modern technologies if at all they have to make profit from their farms.
In the past, there have been cases where farmers are against modern technologies. In Kenya last year, for example, tea plucking machines were introduced in the tea farming area of Western Kenya. How was the reception? There was a major outcry that people were going to lose jobs hence the need to do away with the machines.
Agriculture graduates should help farmers in modifying their traditional approaches so as to increase their produce since they are exposed to new technologies. However, they should do it for profit.
By Purity Njeru
Ms. Njeru is an African Executive staff writer
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