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Project
Objectives
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To evaluate NERICA varieties in a
participatory way both by on-station and on farm experiments
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To avail good performing NERICA to
the farming community in the shortest time possible through rapid seed
multiplication
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To identify
attributes that influence farmer decision towards testing and adopting
rain fed rice varieties
Background
Rice is the third
most important cereal crop in Kenya, after maize and wheat. It forms an
important diet for a large proportion of our urban dwellers; and it is
gaining popularity among those living in the rural areas. Indeed,
consumption of rice in Kenya has risen dramatically over the last
fifteen years or so; it is now estimated to stand at 120,000 metric tons
per annum. However, rice production over the last three years, has been
far below Kenya’s domestic consumption requirements, ranging between
45,000 to 50,000 metric tons per year. To meet consumption requirements
70,000 to 800,000 metric tones of rice are imported into Kenya annually.
Despite the
existing potential for increasing national rice production as a result
of the presence of abundant favorable ecologies, Kenya imports about two
thirds of its rice requirements. Rice demand has historically been met
through local production, imports and food aid in Kenya. In the
1960-70s, Kenya was almost self-sufficient in rice, producing almost all
of its needs. Rice cultivation in Kenya started with Arab and Indian
Immigrants into the East African Coastal strip. Early rice cultivation
was limited to swampland, floodplains and river valleys in Kenyan
Coastal and lake Victoria Basin regions. However, it was not until 1907
that the government started promotion of rice production and
dissemination in the country. The government furthermore instituted a
campaign to promote rice production under rain-fed conditions (upland
and lowland) in the traditional growing areas due to increased demand of
rice through the 1979 – 1983 development plans.
Throughout the
years, rice consumption has continued to rise making it one of the main
food crops among many Kenyan households. Urbanization and changing food
preferences have increased the consumption of rice in both urban and
rural households. This makes rice a major source of carbohydrates for
the relatively poor farmers. The major factors that have contributed to
the static production of rice in Kenya include drought, poor marketing
systems, low yields, poor husbandry practices and disease, pest as well
as bird damage. Other constraints include inadequate research and poor
sectoral funding, lack of credit for small scale farmers, high cost of
rice production, weeds, inadequate land preparation and inadequate use
of farm inputs, especially fertilizers. Rice production has also been
constrained by low rates of expansion of the area under production and
post harvest losses. Future increase in rice production will continue
to rely mainly on improved yields (new varieties), increased area under
rice production and reduction of field and post harvest losses. Yields
of local varieties are also low and the technologies for production do
not favor realization of expected high yields. There is also need to
improve the management of farmer associations involved in milling of
paddy and rain-fed rice and marketing of the milled rice, as wrangling
in this sector has led to almost a total collapse of the industry. Other
problems that have been affecting the rice sub-sector in Kenya include;
drought, poor marketing systems, low yields poor husbandry practices and
pest and disease infestation.
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