By Business Daily
Back in 2008, Simon Ntubiri, a farmer in Riiji village, Katheri East in Meru County, grew arrowroots, coffee and passion fruits conventionally; using synthetic fertilizers.
For Mr. Ntubiri, as for many other farmers, fertilizer application was the surest way to bumper harvest.
And he was right. But as time went by, Mr. Ntubiri’s relentless investment in synthetic fertilizers bore little fruit as the farms became too acidic and crop productivity began plummeting.
Disturbed by the dwindling productivity, the farmer made a decisive move in 2012 to start applying agricultural lime, crop wastes and animal manure to neutralize the acidity and enrich the soil.
About six years ago, his work was further simplified when a local farmers’ self-help group known as Imenti Community Based Organization (ICOBO) —which specializes in adding value to vegetables and fruits for export —began making organic fertilizers from banana and potato peels.
The farmers’ group, which buys bananas, arrowroots and sweet potatoes from local smallholder farmers in the county realized that rather than dispose of the peels from the commodities, they could process them into something useful.
Once the bananas, arrowroots, and potatoes arrive at the facility for processing, they are washed and peeled. These are then dried using solar energy inside a greenhouse made of polythene bags and wooden poles. Read more>>
