Off-season vegetable production technology featured in Kapihan sa DMMMSU (2024)

FAQs

What technology is used in off-season cropping in Kenya? ›

Vegetables can be cultivated in off-season, with the induction of an artificial technique like greenhouse technology, in which temperature and moisture is controlled for specific growth of vegetables. Hot beds and cold frames are used by gardeners for propagating vegetables, flowers and ornamentals.

Off-seasons vegetable offers the higher prices to the farmers. Consumers may have the fresh vegetable even in the off-seasons. Farmeres can get the employment round the year. Farmers can increase their knowledge so that they can adopt the vegetable cultivation in the commercial scale.

Off-season vegetable farming refers to the production of vegetables before or after their normal season of cultivation.

Kenya imports 95% of its total edible oil requirements. However, many oil-seeds such as sunflower, simsim, soya beans, rapeseed, coconut, castor and groundnuts can be grown and processed locally.

Adopting sustainable agriculture practices such as conservation tillage, organic farming, crop rotation, agroforestry, and water management can enhance soil health, improve crop yields, and promote the conservation of natural resources.

According to the Department of Customs (DoC), India and China are the first and second largest import source countries, respectively, for vegetable supply to Nepal. Tomato, onion, garlic, cauliflower, cabbage, carrot, green peas, squash and asparagus were among the main imported vegetables.

Nepalese vegetable seeds sector has been facing issues such as low level of knowledge and capacity at the farm level, dependency on middlemen for trading of product, inadequate market supports, weak input relationships, and limited learning and innovation at local level [17].

Cultivation of crops like tomato, summer squash, melons, capsicum are very difficult in open field during winter month under north Indian condition due to prevalence of cold wind. In such situation these crops are grown in low tunnels/ row cover. The structure protects the crop from wind damage.

Get a head start on your garden by growing seedlings indoors during the winter. You can use disposable containers from around the house like butter containers to plant your seeds, and then you can simply throw the old containers away once you replant your plants outside in spring.

Typically, produce sold in season is more cost-effective because it is the freshest and is not being grown against the elements. Conditions such as climate, soil quality, and sunlight all determine the rate plants will grow and their yield.

What vegetables are always in season? ›

The Kenya Climate Change Action Plan (2013–2017) recognises critical CSA practices such as agroforestry, conservation tillage, the limited use of fire in agricultural areas, cultivation of drought-tolerant crops, water harvesting, and integrated soil fertility management, among others.

Precision agriculture uses technologies such as GPS or automation to make farms more efficient. For example, farmers can use auto-steering equipment to precisely plant a field, and activity monitors can help dairy farmers collect data about their cows' health.

The broad objective of the Kenya CSA Strategy (KCSAS) is to adapt to climate change, build resilience of agricultural systems while minimizing emissions for enhanced food and nutritional security and improved livelihoods.

Although there are now thousands of large farms, ranches, and plantations, the majority of the farms are smaller than five acres (two hectares). Tea and fresh flowers are the key foreign-exchange earners. Sisal, cotton, and fruits and vegetables also are important cash crops.