Rice farmers in Kisumu County have seen higher returns as a result of improved efficiency in farming practices.
Farmers in the Kibos area’s Kopondo B Rice Irrigation Scheme have praised their leaders for introducing and embracing the upgraded combined harvester, which has sped up the harvesting process.
“We used to cut rice with knives and this would bring so much wastage, especially if the rice was dry,” says Vincent Owuor, a rice grower. “The manual hand beating rice against an object caused rice to scatter, resulting in waste.”
They used to get five sacks from manual harvesting, but now they get at least eight sacks because there is no waste.
Agrized Company’s improved combined harvester harvests rice and collects it in one location, where it is loaded into sacks by loaders and transported to its destination.
According to Eliud Otieno, the irrigation scheme’s chairperson, the upgraded combined harvester has saved farmers money on labor costs. They were charged Sh.6000 per acre the first time they used the harvester, but due to fuel increases, they are now 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.
The combined harvester can carry up to ten 50kg sacks.
