Hydroponics, easy way to

grow fodder, veges

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 24 2017
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A Kitengela farmer waters his barley crop that he grows through hydroponics. The
technology offers a valid alternative to growing crops, presenting agricultural opportunities
even in places where soil is scarce or is not agriculturally productive. FILE | NATION
MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

Although history suggests it has been applied to varying extents in parts of the world since the
olden times, hydroponics farming is a fairly new practice in Kenya.
Technology gives farmers greater control over the growing conditions of crops.
The method promotes greater efficiency in nutrient consumption by the crops, leading to higher
yields in shorter periods when compared to traditional methods farming.
 Plants grown this way have a balanced supply of air, water and nutrients. This ensures they reach
full genetic potential in terms of growth rate and productivity.
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By GITONGA MARETE
More by this Author
Hydroponics is a method of growing crops in water rather than on soil. In this
technique, plant growth and productivity is controlled by the type and amount of
nutrients added to the water.

Although history suggests it has been applied to varying extents in parts of the
world since the olden times, hydroponics farming is a fairly new practice in
Kenya.

The technique credited for greater efficiency is an exciting new way to increase
animal fodder and thus dairy production, especially during this dry season.

Besides growing fodder, the technology enables farmers to achieve predictable

yields for vegetables. With this system, the farmer is unaffected by seasons,
adverse weather conditions or climate change, which have all given rise to severe
food insecurity in Africa.

According to Hydroponics Kenya founder Peter Chege, the technology offers a

valid alternative to growing crops, presenting agricultural opportunities even in
places where soil is scarce or is not agriculturally productive.

Using soil may be inefficient as plants waste a lot of energy to search for the
nutrients from the soil, resulting in delayed maturity, said Chege.

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He added that hydroponics system allows fodder and vegetable crops to grow
faster.
The method promotes greater efficiency in nutrient consumption by the crops,
leading to higher yields in shorter periods when compared to traditional methods
farming.

NUTRITIOUS FODDER

Fodder yields from a hydroponics farm is said to be highly nutritious and can
replace conventional grains in feeding livestock.

The high nutrition value of the fodder improves livestock health.

By using this technique, one can grow fodder in just seven days as opposed to 12
weeks, and vegetables 30 per cent faster than the ones grown on soil.

Plants grown this way have a balanced supply of air, water and nutrients. This
ensures they reach full genetic potential in terms of growth rate and productivity.

Hydroponics give farmers greater control over the growing conditions of crops.
As such, production can be timed more effectively to satisfy market demands.

Since the plants are more robust, they are more resistant to pests and diseases.

The water used in hydroponics must be controlled. Crop Nutrition Laboratory

Services Ltd (CROPNUTS), is among various labs offering testing services and
gives guidance on water use efficiency for hydroponics farmers.

Some 26km from Nyeri Town in Giakanja Village, Mukurweini Sub-County, there
is the White Den Farm.

The farm hosts over 500 mature Kuroiler chickens and 160 rabbits of New
Zealand White, California White, Angora, Chinchilla, Ear lopes and the
Dutch breed that owner George Gitahi describes as his lifeline.

The Seeds of Gold team finds Gitahi and his two farmworkers mixing various
ingredients of chicken feeds in a homemade machine he has installed at the farm
to help him cut the cost of feeding his birds.
SEVEN DAYS

The ingredients comprise maize germ, whole maize, soya beans, canola and
sunflower seeds and fish and bone meal, which he mixes with coccodiostat, a
drug used to prevent and treat chicken intestinal parasites.

Making my own feeds has enabled me to earn a good profit from this business. It
has cut my cost of production by between 30 to 40 per cent. I only buy a bag of
the feeds in raw form and mix them at home, says Gitahi, an electrical engineer
at Tata Chemicals in Magadi, noting that his 500 chickens consume up to 60kg a
day.

With a 30kg bag of commercial feeds going for Sh2,300, the farmer says he had
no option but to make feeds.

But thats not all. He has installed a hydroponics system where he grows wheat
that he feeds his chickens and rabbits, lowering his costs further.

To grow the feeds using the hydroponic system, he sterilises the seeds, cleans
them in water and, thereafter, puts them in the trays. The grains sprout after five
to seven days and they are ready as feeds.

He mainly feeds his rabbits hay and vegetables that he grows on his farm, besides
commercial pellets and the hydroponics wheat.

For mature chickens, he feeds them on the mash he makes from maize germ,
whole maize, soya beans, canola, sunflower and coccodiostat, among others, in
the morning and evening.

The chickens are also offered hydroponics wheat once a day.

Chicks, on the other hand, are fed on commercial mash for seven weeks before
they are weaned on the homemade feeds. The hay and vegetables must be dried
before being fed to rabbits to reduce chances of them contracting bloat and
mucoid enteropathy, says Gitahi.

He uses chicken manure, rabbit droppings and urine to grow tree tomato crops
that occupy part of his half-acre farm.
A good rabbit pen should be made to be self-cleaning such that the droppings and
the urine do not stay in the hatch, to curb diseases, he advises.

VACCINATION

But having a good hatch does not mean a farmer compromises on hygiene. I
disinfect and sterilise the rabbit and the poultry pens using bleaching solutions.

Doris Wambui, an agricultural officer at the Wambugu Farm Agricultural

Training Centre in Nyeri, says pens should be sterilised after every two weeks,
especially if the floor is cemented, besides the normal cleaning.

Pens with laying chicken should be sterilised more often, she advises, adding
that the bleaching solutions should be used to clean all poultry and rabbit feeding
and water troughs as well as one should spray the roofs of the structures to kill
parasites.

He vaccinates his poultry against Gumboro, Newcastle, fowl pox and fowl
typhoid. The chickens are also dewormed regularly.

On the other hand, rabbits are vaccinated after every two weeks against mucoid
enteropathy and bloat diseases.

The diseases are caused by poor hygiene in rabbit structures and by giving them
succulent foliage. I vaccinate because I cannot be 100 per cent sure of hygiene in
the pens. Vaccinating the rabbits prevents the diseases.

Gitahi went into poultry and rabbit farming in 2011, investing into the project a
Sh300,000 loan he took from a dairy cooperative society in Nyeri. He had been
practising dairy farming for about two years, keeping six Friesian cows.

However, due to challenges in getting feeds, his farm was small and the cost of
milk was plummeting. That is when he decided to switch to chickens and rabbits
after selling the cows in 2011, two years after venturing into the business.

He sells eggs in Nyeri and Nairobi at Sh20 while day-old chicks that he hatches
sell for Sh120, month-olds for Sh250 and three-month-olds for Sh450.
 On the other hand, he sells the rabbits to Rabbit Republic at four months, when
they weigh between 3.5kg and 4kg, at Sh400 per kilo.

Feedback: Hydroponics
should not replace pasture
MONDAY AUGUST 8 2016
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Hydroponics grass. FILE PHOTO | DENNISH OCHIENG | NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

Rabbit contracting companies are out to help farmers in this sector grow. They offer support
mainly in terms of initial foundation stock, rabbit management trainings and marketing.
One such company that specializes in rabbits and works in liaison with the Livestock Production
department is Rabbit Breeders Association of Kenya (Rabak).
Dairy goats do well in many parts of Kiambu including Kikuyu with a readily available market
in the form of a goat milk processing plant located a stones throw away at Wangige township.
 Hybrid rams are available though it may be difficult to ascertain breed constitution ratios largely
due to unstructured sheep breeding systems commonplace with most private farms.
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HYDROPONICS HAY
I would wish to get clear and simple information on how to make
hydroponics hay.

I have an interest in sheep rearing and would wish to feed them on the
above.

Available seeds are sorghum and wheat. Kindly assist.

Sang

Apart from being a rather expensive means of fodder production, hydroponics

fodder contains very high moisture content (more than 90 per cent) meaning that
dry matter content is less than 10 per cent. Making hay out of such fodder will
require thorough wilting.

In addition, sheep are ruminant animals that require considerable amounts of

crude fibre for effective rumen function. This type of fodder production is usually
an option suited for critically land limited farmers and even then hydroponic
fodder should not fully replace conventional pasture and concentrate feed
rations.

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Kimitei K. Ronald, Department of Animal Sciences - Egerton University

***

RABBIT FINANCING
I need to keep rabbits for commercial purposes.

Are there any institutions that do financing?

Freddie

Rabbit industry is enjoying a boost due to growing demand for rabbit meat
because of consumer awareness and preference to white meat.

To begin with, please consider your production objectives rearing for meat or
breeding, source of feeds and market. If you decide on rabbits for meat purposes,
go the medium-sized rabbit breeds like California White, New Zealand White and
Chinchilla since they are early maturing, have higher meat-to-bones ratio,
possess good mothering instincts and have high prolificacy.

Rabbit contracting companies are out to help farmers in this sector grow. They
offer support mainly in terms of initial foundation stock, rabbit management
trainings and marketing. Since you want to go commercial, it is important that
you guarantee these support services to remain stable in the industry.

New Zealand White and Chinchilla rabbits are early maturing, have higher meat-to-bones ratio
and possess good mothering instincts. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Thereafter, you can expand your business to value addition in both rearing and
marketing. One such company that specializes in rabbits and works in liaison
with the Livestock Production department is Rabbit Breeders Association of
Kenya (Rabak), email them on sungurarabak@gmail.com

Felix Akatch Opinya, Department of Animal Science, Egerton University

***

RAM REARING
I wish to start dairy farming and ram rearing.

I have rented a one acre piece of land at the foot of Mt Kenya. Kindly
advise if I really have to start with hybrid cows or I can source
indigenous ones? Secondly, what major diseases can affect my cows
and for the rams do we have hybrid rams?

Third, is there a genuine and reliable market for rabbit meat without
middlemen or was it a big hype like quail eggs?

I have been doing rabbit farming for three years now and all the
rabbit companies I have been working with have become conmen. I
am now stuck with good quality breeds but no reliable market.

Jack

When starting a dairy enterprise, it is always prudent to establish the foundation

stock from using locally available stock that can be upgraded through use of
artificial insemination.

Such animals are better adapted to the local conditions and may pose lesser risks
at a crucial time when you are still learning about the best management
strategies.

The stock can either be indigenous or hybrid cows depending on the available
resource outlay. Ensure that your animals are regularly de-wormed and dipped or
sprayed with acaricide apart from vaccinating against endemic diseases in your
region with the advice of your local veterinary office.
Hybrid rams are available though it may be difficult to ascertain breed
constitution ratios largely due to unstructured sheep breeding systems
commonplace with most private farms.

Markets for rabbit meat exists in urban and peri-urban supermarkets. However
such markets requires one to sign supply contracts beforehand which in most
cases fail due to the inability by many farmers to sustain regular rabbit meat
supply.

The solution to this lies in adopting a smart breeding strategy that guarantees a
steady supply of meat. Kindly visit National Rabbit Breeding and Training Centre
in Ngong to get direction of existing market channels and better management
strategies

Kimitei K. Ronald, Department of Animal Sciences Egerton University

***

MILK GOATS
I am interested in venturing into goat farming for milk production in
Kikuyu, Kiambu County and separately for meat in Malindi, Kilifii
County. None of the ventures have been started yet.

1. Where can I get information?

2. Where can I get a graduate ready for employment for the Malindi
farm which I wish to undertake goat and beef farming as well as dairy
farming?

Mutua
A goats handler milks a dairy goat in Kangema, Murang'a. FILE PHOTO | BRIAN OKINDA |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
Dairy goats do well in many parts of Kiambu including Kikuyu with a readily
available market in the form of a goat milk processing plant located a stones
throw away at Wangige township.

Contact the directorate of research and extension at Egerton University to get

information both on establishing a successful dairy goat enterprise as well as
recruiting competent graduates to manage your farms.

Kimitei K. Ronald, Department of Animal Sciences - Egerton University