Agritech News UpdateIssue 13 SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2017 VOLUME 11

Upcoming Events 2017•

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SHOWS /EXHIBITIONS EDITION

JKUAT Open Day : September 8 (JKUAT Juja Main Campus)

The Central Kenya ASK Show: September 13 – 16 (Nyeri Kabiruini Grounds)

Nairobi International Trade Fair: October 2– 8 (Jamhuri Park)

Tech Expo : November 9 – 10 (JKUAT Main Campus)

The Scientific Conference: November 16 – 17 (JKUAT Main Campus)

Setting Trends in Higher Education, Research and Innovation

Breadfruit, a staple crop grown in the Pacific Islands, billed to offer a ready answer to food insecurity in

tropical regions such as Kenya, has finally made entry into Kenya and Eastern Africa courtesy of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.

The crop, a tree of economic value, grows better on hot and wet weather and is capable of producing about 900kg of fruits per tree. It produces fruits two years after planting and thrice annually after it starts production.

Breadfruit is a primary component of traditional agro-forestry systems in the Pacific where numerous varieties are

New Crop with Potential to End Hunger in the Tropics Introduced

grown. In Africa, the crop, which reaches optimum maturity in five years after it starts production, is only grown in the West African countries of; Benin, Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria.

The crop is a tool for economic development that makes farming profitable for farmers, lowers the cost of healthy food and stimulates the local economy with local food production.According to Josh Schneider of the Global Breadfruit in the United States of America, the crop is gluten – free and can be consumed at all stages of development, ripe as a fruit or mature as a vegetable, where it can replace conventional starches.

Vice Chancellor Prof. Mabel Imbuga pledged her support to the Global Breadfruit project. She said JKUAT was privileged to be the entry point for the plant in the East and Central Africa region from where other countries could acquire tissue culture clones from.

Breadfruit was first domesticated in the western Pacific and spread by humans throughout the region over the past 3,000 – 4,000 years.

Over the past three years, the focus has been on the potential of edible insect species to address the global

challenge of food security and nutrition. However, for most people entomophagy (eating insects) is an incongruous perception. To tackle that perception, JKUAT PhD student in Food Science and Technology, Carolyne Koech, carried out her study on the efficacy of cricket based food on nutritional status and gut health of preschool children in Uasin Gishu County.

For the past six months, Koech provided over 120 nursery pupils with three kinds of porridge meals. One contained Millet

Crickets Delicacy Fostering Food Securityand Maize, the other included Millet, Maize and Milk, while the final porridge meal contained Millet, Maize and Cricket. “Cricket has been incorporated in cakes and biscuit and adding it to porridge seemed like a noble idea to tackle the issue of malnutrition in children,” said Koech.

At the beginning of her study, Koech said convincing parents to let their children take porridge that contained crickets was not a walk in the park. “Even after telling them that crickets have high protein content compared to soyabean and beef which are among the common conventional sources of proteins, some parents were adamant that

-Continued on page 4

Acclimatization of breadfruit seedlings in the greenhouse at JKUAT.

By Hindzano Ngonyo

By Stephen Wakhu

2 Agritech News Update | July - August 2016

Consistent with the theme of this year’s shows: Enhancing Technology in Agriculture

and Industry for Food Security and National Growth at Nairobi International Trade Fair, running between October 3, and 9, some of the new technologies and innovations the University’s researchers and exhibitors showcasing include:

Capillary Wick Based Landless Gardens

A simple irrigation kit designed to increase horticulture food production in urban areas. Uses little amount of water and can be produced to the size of a kitchen table

Syne Gas

This is a versatile technology that utilizes the rice husks abundant in the rice growing areas such as Mwea and Ahero. It seeks to address the menace of rice husk management in rice growing areas by converting the rice husks into useful energy resources–syngas for cooking. The current plant is appropriate for medium size use in institutions such as schools, prisons and kitchens.

The technologies developed under the biomass and wind energy themes jointly developed by JKUAT and Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under the JICA BRIGHT Project at the Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology

Real time Power Billing

This is an innovation that is designed to compute the number of units consumed by charge per unit and provides the total amount payable in real time using the GSM structure. The alert system saves the consumer the hefty penalties charged by KPLC for power reconnection particularly when the power has been disconnected from the electric pole. It gives power consumers the convenience to enjoy the services without constantly worrying about disconnection because the automatic alert system will remind the consumer about the pending bills and act accordingly

Cutting Edge Innovations in Agriculture, Food Security and National GrowthNew JKUAT Papaya Seedlings

Ongoing studies aimed at producing quality varieties of papaya through modern methods of invitrol - culture. The idea is geared towards addressing the growing demand for papaya among small scale farmers. Researchers are also making progress which will make it easier for farmers to identify the sex of the seedlings, which has remained a major challenge to increased papaya production. Papaya seeds have also been used to develop antifungal soap and lotions as part of value addition strategy

system controls the required amount of water required by the crops.

The system is labour cost effective and saves on energy since it controls the water pump only when water content of the crop goes down with the help of sensors which manage water content

Automatic Irrigation Management System

This is a new technology that uses wet soil sensors to ensure farmers irrigate

without the fear of using more water than required by the crops which more often leads to crop diseases such as root decay, associated with over watering.

The Irrigation Manager system is a solution designed to water the crops when the soil water content falls to a level that is below that required for the crop’s survival and healthy growth.

The watering frequency can be adjusted to suit different crops being managed in the farm as per the requirements. This system checks water wastage because Irrigation Manager

Cutting Edge Innovations in

September – October 2017

Real Time Power Billing

Capillary Wick Based Landless Gardens

Automatic Irrigation Management System Thermal Gasifier Production of Syne Gas

Consistent with the 2017 Agricultural Society Show theme: Promoting Innovations

in Agriculture and Trade, JKUAT is showcasing several new technologies and innovations that have been developed by the University’s researchers and exhibitors:

By Patrick Amunavi

3Setting Trends in Higher Education, Research and Innovation

Multi Juicer Machine

Effective in the extraction of juice/pulp and essential oils from various edible and non- edible fruits, herbs, etc. It is an essential requirement for food and pharmaceutical industry. The high utility machine which increases nutrition and reduction of fruit and vegetable wastage can process herbs,

Cutting Edge Innovations in Agriculture, Food Security and National GrowthDigital Cell Phone Voting System

This is a cellphone voting system that could be adopted for use by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to conduct elections. How does the system work? The system enables a voter to vote remotely from any location using their mobile phone regardless of the type of phone. The voter is registered using their name, Identity Card Number, phone number and is then assigned a unique pass code that will be used to authenticate

Alternative Digital Power Distribution System

A digital power distribution system for power management at the distribution level. The automated system provides an alternative way of accessing power during power failures thus reducing unnecessary power outages. It also helps in load distribution among the three phases of the power line, preventing overloading in any of the phases and consequently reducing distribution losses

Mercury Retort

This equipment has been developed by the Mineral and Materials Petroleum Engineering Department to safely extract gold. Mercury presents a major environmental and safety challenge to human health. Retorts can help prevent breathing the dangerous mercury vapours and acts as a stop-gap to mercury’s toxic effects that attack the nervous system which results in damage over a long period time. Ingestion of little amounts of Mercury everyday accumulates in the body eventually leading to production of toxic symptoms such as hair loss

The University also won: “The Best Engineering Based Institution of Higher Learning,” “The Best Stand Exhibiting Agricultural and/or Earth Moving Equipment” and “The Best Stand in Research Development.”

JKUAT’s technological innovation, agro-processing as well as value addition initiatives paid handsome dividends as the institution was crowned: “The Best Innovation and Invention Stand,” and “The Best Agro–Processing Stand” during the Exhibition that attracted over 100 trade exhibitors.

Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs, Mrs. Sicily Kariuki congratulated the University’s achievements when she toured the JKUAT Stand guided by the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Research, Production and Extension, Prof. Esther Kahangi.

The Cabinet Secretary was impressed by the level of ingenuity and utility technologies and innovations developed by the University researchers and innovators.

JKUAT Does It Again!

Value Added Food Products

An array of sweet sorghum value added food products made from the juice extracted from the sorghum stem. The juice is rich in iron, calcium and potassium

juices enable farmers to maximize on sorghum farming output. Other products are jams, wines and syrups as well as value added juices from pure sorghum juice, and those that are blended with pineapples, oranges and apples

Engineering Workshop Innovations

Latest Engineering innovations designed to enhance value addition initiatives for food security and wealth creation. The innovations include: Multi Grater, Multi Juicer, Macadamia Dehusker, Sorghum Thresher, and Three-in-one Plant Mill

Agriculture and TradeMercury Retort

Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) released nine varieties the African Indigenous

Vegetables in July last year. The licenced vegetables include: Night shade (Managu), Vine spinach (Nderma), Jute mallow (mrenda), and Spider plant (Sagaa).

The new varieties contain high levels of antioxidants; substances that reduces risk of heart diseases, Alzheimer’s, and certain types of cancer.

According to the AIV researchers, besides early maturity and resistance to drought and diseases, the vegetables are also highly nutritious. The quantities of valuable macronutrients such as iron, calcium, vitamins in the vegetables are higher compared to some exotic vegetables.Kenyans are increasingly turning to indigenous vegetables as a way of warding off lifestyle diseases.

Indigenous African Vegetables

4 Agritech News Update | July - August 2016

Agritech News Update

Editorial Team: Hindzano Ngonyo (Editor), Patrick Amunavi (Associate Editor), Ogeke Araka, Cavince Adhere and Stephen Wakhu

P.O. Box 62000 - 00200 City Square, Nairobi, KENYA • Tel: +254-67-5870000/1-5 • Email: corp.comm@jkuat.ac.ke • Website: www.jkuat.ac.ke Discover JKUAT • @DiscoverJKUAT

Farmer practices have been identified as the greatest drivers of the severity and management of bacterial wilt

and root knot nematodes, which pose the

biggest threat to tomato production in high tunnel (popularly known as ‘greenhouses’) tomato farming in Kiambu County.

A survey conducted by JKUAT researchers and collaborators led by Dr. Lucy

Researchers Engage Kiambu Farmers on Tomato Soil Pathogens

Kananu Murungi from the Department of Horticulture, in six sub-counties of Kiambu County (Gatundu North, Gatundu South, Juja, Thika, Ruiru and Kiambu)has established that most farmers lack training on proper practices that reduce the impact of root knot nematodes and bacterial wilt in greenhouse production.

The stakeholders’ forum held recently at KALRO saw representatives from academia, county crops office, research institutions and tomato farmer groups, share critical findings conducted under a study titled: “Manipulating the soil ecosystem for the management of bacterial wilt and root knot nematodes in high tunnel tomato production in Kenya.”

Poor practices within the tomato production value chain such as seedling acquisition, soil testing, irrigation water, fertilization among others were identified as the key determinants of the yield and quality of the tomato produce. The study was funded by the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM).

they did not want their children to take the porridge,” attested Koech.

Dr. John Kinyuru, Koech’s supervisor,

Fostering Food Security and Nutrition- from page 1

acknowledged that the next step was to train the local community on cricket farming for value addition saying that cricket rearing

will be vital towards reduction in food insecurity in the country as a whole.

Koech interacts with the pupils involved in the study Uji time!

JKUAT researchers checking the performance of a Tuta absoluta trap in the research greenhouse.

By Patrick Amunavi