Introduction
Green gram is a drought tolerant crop and a central income generating agro-enterprise in semi- arid Kenya ranking second after indigenous chicken.
Implemetation Details
Green gram is a drought tolerant crop and a central income generating agro-enterprise in semi- arid Kenya ranking second after indigenous chicken.
On-farm yield is <1 t//ha. Low production is attributed to absence of improved varieties.
Insufficient farmers’ knowledge of crop management options is also a major limitation. High post-harvest losses of up to 70 -100% arising from poor storage facilities makes farmers lose their crops’ full value thus forcing them to sell the grain at a very low price. Use of non-chemical control means of pest control if explored will minimize environmental hazards and cost of pesticides.
Lack of farmers’ access to markets discourages them from engaging in green gram production. Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), through Participatory Variety Selection approach with farmers has developed and released three early maturing (70-75 days), large seeded with
>20% yield advantage over the local varieties. However, farmer engagement was only conducted in few traditional green gram growing zones, thus need for large scale dissemination. With CS APP, efforts will be made to move the new varieties to other traditional and emerging production areas. Efforts will also be made to create linkages with green gram traders and exporters.
