INVITATION FOR TRAINING ON WATER MELON FARMING

VENUE:     ABBEY HOTEL ALONG GARBERONE STREET OFF LUTHULI STREET
DATE:         DECEMBER 6TH 2014.

FARMVEST KENYA looks forward to having you for the TRAINING ON WATER MELON FARMING, which will be held on 6 DECEMBER 2014, at ABBEY HOTEL, along GARBERONE STREET off LUTHULI STREET, Nairobi, from 9AM TO 12NOON.

The topics covered in the training include:

1. Planting and farm layout
2. Husbandry
3. Harvesting and post-harvest handling
4. Pests and Diseases Control
5. Varieties suitable for growing in Kenya
6. Capital investment &Returns
7. Handling profits and losses
8. Marketing and market survey
9. Farming Records and accounts
10. Farm labour management
11. Farm visit

We purpose to bring together over one hundred (100) participants across Kenya. This will include;

individual participants, young professionals, seasoned farmers, NGOs, and other stakeholders.

The participation fee is Ksh. 12,000 (3 Days), which includes planned farm visits, Free consultancy for the
first season, tea break and certificates OR Ksh. 2,000 (for 1 day training ) to include tea break and
certificates.

Pay M-pesa to Stephen Muigai 0720 428 568 OR Murasi Mulupi 0707 170 000. Confirm attendance to
facilitate planning.

The objective of FARMVEST KENYA is to have a day of intensive training on WATERMELON FARMING that will focus on Agronomic techniques, Staff management, Agribusiness Development, Entrepreneurial Skills. Certificates will be awarded to the participants.

What we offer to Our Clients

1. We offer Consultancy on Agribusiness
2. We provide Comprehensive individual Farm planning
3. We offer Professional Farm Management Services
4. We source land for hire for our clients
5. We offer farm management software

Our products
We sell the following detailed farming e-manuals

1. Watermelon Farming Manual
2. Greenhouse Tomatoes Farming Manual
3. Bulb Onions Farming Manual
4. Passion fruit Farming Manual
5. Strawberry Farming manual
6. Capsicum Farming Manual
7. Tissue Culture Bananas
8. Cassava and Sweet Farming manual
9. Poultry Farming Manual
10. Bee Farming Manual

  FARMVEST KENYA LIMITED,

                                                                    Defining Agribusiness

The yet to be discovered “gold”

Bee keeping in Kenya is poised for greatness. Kenya, especially the western part of Kenya has many species of bees that have foe many years been exploited, though partially, by the locals. Recently, there have been discoveries of stingless bee species in western Kenya that are being tried for commercial purposes. The stingless bees are synonymous with holes in the ground. In other parts of the world, these bees are famous for their high quality honey, with medicinal traits to cure baldness and reduce impotence. You can source these bees from the National bee station at Lenana, Nairobi and the Baraka Agricultural College, Molo (these are the place known to me, there could be others.)

Why Bee Farming

With the increasing land fragmentation and growth of urban centers coupled with depleting forests, there is need for quick adoption of stingless bees by farmers countrywide in order to salvage this crucial industry and earn more from the potential returns from bee farming. The main challenge experienced in bee farming today is living with defensive bees on small farms that characterize the modern rural Kenya. Such an endeavor could risk other enterprises in the farm like livestock, poultry, and even human life. With proper policies, the vast Kenyan dry lands can be utilized to enhance bee keeping. Bee keeping is quite easy, requiring little land area, and minimum time for care (compared to crops and livestock). Bee farming requires minimal labour (harvesting and inspection), which are undertaken over a stretch of time.

Agriculture is diverse and does not only refer to crop farming. For those who cannot do crop farming for one reason or another, this is an area for you. All you need is the right information and willingness to do it. You can have do bee keeping on rented land and transfer them to another location once the lease period is over. Besides, with permission from the right authorities, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Kenya Forest Services (KFS), you can venture your business in forest areas of Kenya.

The wide range bee products

For a long time, bee have been associated with wax and honey only, however creative farmers have come to appreciate the wide range of commercially viable products one can have from bee farming. The melon farms I have been doing have greatly been enhanced by bee pollination from adjacent bee farms hence improving fruiting and crop yields. Bees also provide propolis (alternative for bee wax in the hive), royal jelly (used for lave and queen nutrition in the hive), and bee venom (used for treatment of Arthritis). Farmers also sell bee colonies, package bees, queen bee, bee brood and bee colonies. This is happening in Kenya. A single hive is capable of yielding between 11 and 27 kilograms (2-3 times a year), which can fetch between 2,200 KES and 5,400 KES at a cost of between 150 KES and 200 KES.

Food for thought!

Some insights into Watermelon farming (pictorials)

It has been a while since I last published. This is because of the many engagements with farmers that took all of my time (am not complaining). Besides, it was not easy to find reliable internet to effect these posting, so if you are able to read, thank God, it worked.

I want to take you through the insights of farming Watermelon and propagation of Onions. I will do this through pictures. Lets move along!

Water Melon Plantation

A happy Farmer

Water melon Crop nearing flowering

This is the ideal shape for water melon fruits.

When planted in Barrows(holes) as opposed to furrows, management becomes easy. They are easily watered, scouted for diseases and fertilized.

Water melon has female and male flowers on the same strand. There is one female flower in every five male flowers, which end up developing fruits.

Leaf depicting signs of Watermelon Mosaic Virus (WMV).

WMV is serious and spreads really fast. when you witness such characteristics in your crops, uproot the affected crop and burn (total destruction). It is also good to quarantine the particular barrows affected by WMV.

Controlling Melon fly. This is the most important pest in Water melon and if not controlled from the onset of fruition, the farmer may end up with fruits that will not be acceptable in the market. The male flies are attracted and trapped here, leaving the female population unable to lay eggs which is normally done inside the fruits.

A male flower

A female flower, which eventually bears fruits.

Yet to mature melon fruit. This will weigh slightly above 10 kgs.

This is the effect of Melon fly. This fruit was injured while still small, resulting to its deformity upon maturity. Such a fruit doesn't fetch much in the market if at all it attracts any market.

Well prepared field for melon propagation

Flood irrigation. The water is directed into sunken beds, furrows or burrows and floods them.

Onion under propagation. These are sunken beds. raised beds are equally good provided water is in plenty.

A reliable river can support meaningful agriculture.

Farming, like every other business requires serious planning

Like every other business venture, Farming requires a lot of planning. Every prudent farmer will plan for every season, event, crop market, calamity, technology, and changing trends. Modern Agriculture has positioned itself at the center of economic growth, with the shift from farming for subsistence to agribusiness, complete with heavy mechanization and technology. With the current security situation in Kenya and the region at large, traditional foreign exchange earners like tourism have taken to the third place behind Horticulture, Coffee, and Tea. Increasingly, agriculture has attracted financial institutions, which include banks and insurance companies with specific products for farmers, highlighting the relevance of this sector to the economy.

Unlike in the previous years when commercial agriculture was a preserve of large farms, ranches and international corporations, today, smallholder farmers, working under cooperative societies or individually have made, massive gains in crop and animal husbandry in the Country. The economies of Kiambu, Nandi, parts of Nakuru and Kajiado counties are the best examples that have seen tremendous development in smallholder farmers. Characterized by high population density, land fragmentation, and development of real estate, these counties have had their farmers shift from traditional farming practices and crops. Many small-scale farmers in the country have adopted quick maturing high value crops that dominate foreign markets, especially the European retail market and this has seen a rise in the need to mechanization and adoption of technology in growing crops and rearing animals. Besides, hygiene standards, agrochemical minimum residue levels on products and freshness of products have made it necessary for farmers to equip themselves with necessary skills in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and equipment to meet market standards. The competition from other Counties in Africa, Asia and Europe have made farmers revisit their farming practices.

Considering these factors, it is important that modern day farmers be quite informed in market intelligence, high quality seeds, usage of less hazardous fertilizers to the soil and water environment around the farm, mild chemical usage, and high quality of portable and drinking water in their farms while growing and handling farm products for the high-end markets. Moreover, the knowledge of crop requirements for crops of choice is paramount for effective production.

Farmers should therefore invest time and resources in trainings for selves and staff for good agricultural practices, and seek latest information on the market trends for crops of choice. Farmers should also seek the best financial intelligence on means to finance their businesses and proof their farms against natural and man-made calamities that might jeopardize production. This means a good insurance policy.