Market & Field
Commodity prices, fertiliser and pest pressure in Kenya, from market data and sensor readings rather than press releases.
Storing maize without losing a third of it
Maize prices in East Africa climb 25 to 40 percent in the six to eight months after harvest, yet the median Kenyan farmer has sold everything by month five. Here is what each storage choice costs, and what it protects.
How to spot fake fertiliser and seed before you pay
Officers recovered 250 bags of suspected counterfeit fertiliser in one Kakamega operation, some stamped 'Not for Sale' beside empty sacks used for repackaging. The fraud is refilling genuine bags, so the seal proves less than it looks like it proves.
What the fertiliser subsidy actually gets you this season
The subsidy is a discount on six named products, capped per farmer and moving through depots on a schedule that has slipped before. In 2022 DAP fell from Ksh 6,500 to Ksh 3,500 a bag, but only for those who reached stock in time.
Farm gate, market or aggregator: where the money goes
The quoted price per kilo is the least useful number in the decision. In Narok, wheat fell from 15 bags an acre to three, yet the gate price rose only about 30 percent, from Sh2,700 to Sh3,500 a bag.
Your own soil and leaf readings show pest risk building before any forecast does
A survey of 4,272 Kenyan farmers who received 8.8 million SMS forecasts found the messages mostly helped with planting date. But a tomato wilt disease turns destructive as soil nears 27C, and only a probe in your ground shows that.
Count your pests first, then decide whether a spray is worth it
Maryland's guide sprays cabbage once 20 percent of plants carry caterpillars; no such table exists for Kenyan kale. What transfers is the structure - a named pest, a countable unit, a number, a crop stage - and a notebook you start this season.
How long manure keeps feeding your soil after you stop applying it
A report on compost made by bugs says orders are outrunning supply, but no multi-year trial backs it. The Embu goat manure trial does have the numbers, including a nine-year decline under mineral-only feeding.
Is the cheaper fertiliser in the next county worth the trip?
Global prices moved a 50 kg bag from 20 dollars to 48 in a year, so the local gap is only part of the story. What the ground under your crop can do with the bag decides the rest.
Short rains input planning: go by soil moisture, not the first shower
Rain totals across eight of our stations ran from 0.0 to 157.6 mm in the same three weeks, and probe readings from 18 to 92 percent of scale. Buying inputs early fixes availability, not timing.
Which maize seed to buy this season in Kenya
Kenya is importing 25 million bags of maize to cover a shortfall. That number says nothing about which variety sits in the sack at your local agro-dealer. This piece follows that decision from the national number down to a single block, with the figure that governs each link.
Fertiliser timing: why the calendar date is the wrong reason to top-dress
Extension sheets tell farmers to top-dress six weeks after planting. The trial data says the soil under the crop matters more than the date on the sheet.
How much water maize needs at each growth stage
Every irrigation pamphlet has a table of maize water needs in millimetres per stage. The method behind those numbers does not produce a fixed table, it produces a moving target that depends on your county, your planting date, and the week's weather.