A Murang’a farmers’ coffee cooperative society has leveraged on agricultural extension services and this has seen a tremendous increase in productivity.
As a result, the Marumi coffee cooperative society’s cherry fetched a high price at the coffee auction last year, making it the best-paying coffee society in Murang’a County at a rate of Sh 92 per Kilogramme.
Kenya News Agency visited the cooperative in Kigumo to find out what measures and practices the society has put in place to ensure increased production that has transformed the lives of their 1500 members/farmers.
It is 10am, Friday and the entire area is a beehive of activities.
In one tent, a group of about 30 farmers keenly listens to an agronomist spew knowledge on the best coffee practices.
Another group is in the cooperative’s coffee plantation learning how and when to correctly prune their coffee bushes.
Yet another group is queuing at the store area to purchase farm inputs for their coffee.
“Today, we are training a group of 30 farmers who will become lead trainers to other farmers and each already has 30 farmers in their fold. “
So we train them and facilitate them to go train other farmers; our aim is to increase production while also producing quality cherries, says the Cooperatives Chairperson Peter Kamau Mwangi.
He notes when they decided to revolutionize the sector and overhaul the previous year’s cherry production, they brought on board experts and majored in extension services and it has paid off.
“Our production last year was 900,000 kgs compared to the 300,000 kgs in the previous years,” he says, adding that, “This year all indications, going by how our members are nurturing their coffee, are that we will be able to harvest up to 1. 5M kgs.”
They are also aiming at increasing the production of one bush from 3 kg to 4.5 kg.
Notably, the management has managed to involve other experts and product manufacturers to continuously train and offer extension services to the farmers.
They have also helped members easily access and source products and inputs to boost coffee productivity.
“In 2023, we introduced to our farmers’ foliar liquid fertilisers from Seed Pro Africa Ltd designed for foliar application, providing essential nutrients directly to the coffee leaves.
This, they attest, increased the bushes leaf activity, improved water intake and encouraged root growth, thus improving the productivity and health of the bushes.
He notes that they encouraged the farmers to apply the foliar fertiliser during the dry months and alternate with other fertiliser during the rainy season and thus helped in nutrient absorption.
The revolution has also seen more members and young people alike motivated to venture into coffee farming.
“Even our dormant members are now encouraged and are seeking advice on how to revive their coffee farming.”
One of the farmers, Simon Kamau Gacheru opines that for many years he tried to increase his production in vain and was at the verge of cutting down his 250 coffee bushes
“In 2023, the society invited us for a farmers’ education day where we met agronomists who taught us about soil sampling and other practices, “he says.
Further, they introduced to us foliar liquid fertiliser, which I had never used on my bushes and I gave it a try after carrying out soil sampling.
He says that in the subsequent harvests he managed to get 3500 kgs from the previous year’s 1500 kgs, and all indications show that this year he will garner more than 4500 kgs
Seed Pro Africa Ltd CEO Lamech Victorious emphasises on the need for farmers to focus on the soil and the nutrients available before using any product on the soil.
He says they have collaborated with the cooperative society to support farmers in carrying out soil sampling before recommending the fertiliser or inputs to add to the soil.
“We focus on the soil because if the soil is lacking one nutrient, it is an exercise in futility to keep adding fertiliser that has a different nutrient, “he says, adding that,
“An empowered farmer is a rich farmer and quality cherry equals to high prices and empowered societies. “
Lamech urges farmers to take advantage of extension services and trainings being offered so as to get a high return on their investment.
“With technology, we can do things differently and revolutionize the coffee sector, empower our people and create employment for millions of our youths, “he states.
By Florence Kinyua
