Rice farmers in Kisumu County have recorded higher returns following the introduction of improved efficiency in farming practices.
Farmers from the Kopondo B Rice Irrigation scheme in the Kibos area have hailed their leaders for introducing and embracing the upgraded combined harvester which has hastened the harvesting process.
Vincent Owuor a rice grower says, “We used to cut rice with knives and this would bring so much wastage especially if the rice was dry. The manual hand beating rice against an object made rice scatter causing wastage.”
Instead of the five sacks, they used to get through manual harvesting now they get at least 8 sacks because there is no wastage.
The improved combined harvester owned by Agrized Company harvests the rice and collects it in one place where they are packed in sacks by loaders and taken to their destination.
“We rejected the combined harvester at first because women and the youth complained it would bring unemployment but when we discovered it came with many advantages to farmers we embraced the idea”, Owuor added.
Eliud Otieno chairperson of the irrigation scheme says the upgraded combined harvester has saved farmers from labour costs. The first time they used the harvester they were charged Sh.6000 per acre but due to fuel increment, they are being charged Sh.7000 per acre.
“We saw the harvester working in other schemes and approached them to also come harvest for us and now we are working with two combined harvesters in our scheme”, concluded Otieno.
Lincoln Onono Field Manager at the Agrized Company says the combined harvester works best in flooded places. The depth of the farm should not be deep or muddy. “In case it gets stuck, it’s dragged by another harvester since the machines are weighty,” added Onono.
The combined harvester carries an average of 10 sacks of 50Kgs.
Paul Waondo a loader says carrying rice out of the farm has been made easier since the harvester collects the rice in one place. They used to carry the sacks from different places, which was time consuming however, the price of loading has reduced since there is less work.
By Fridah Achieng
