•Western Kenya Schemes manager Kennedy Ouma said the desiltation within Ahero irrigation scheme and West Kano Scheme targets to prevent flash floods in rice farms.
•Ouma said the authority has procured an excavator to undertake maintenance of the drainage system.
Image: MAURICE ALAL
The National Irrigation Authority has started desilting canals and collector drains in the flood-prone rice irrigation schemes in preparation for the expected El Niño rains.
Western Kenya Schemes manager Kennedy Ouma said the desiltation exercise in Ahero irrigation scheme and West Kano scheme is aimed at preventing flash floods in rice farms.
“We are prepared in terms of desilting of canals and drainage systems at the schemes so that in case there is flood they can easily evacuate water,” he said.
Ouma said the authority has procured an excavator to undertake maintenance of the drainage system.
Additionally, an excavator has also been procured to desilt collector drain and link canal to prevent farmers from incurring losses during flooding.
“We don’t want farmers to lose their crops in case of floods,” the manager said.
Currently, there are about 8,000 acres in Ahero, West Kano and expansion areas under production.
“Unless we put up mitigation measures, farmers may lose their crops in case of heavy rains and that is why we are preparing through addressing the challenges of drainages,” Ouma said.
Apart from desiltation, the manager said NIA is in the process of procuring a new outlet pump at West Kano Irrigation scheme for evacuation of water during floods.
Ouma said the authority has put various interventions in place towards enhanced rice production in line with the bottom up transformative agenda for the realisation of food security.
“We are doing proper maintenance of the drainage system in the schemes which are prone to flooding during heavy rains, to prevent crops being swept away,” he said.
The farmers, he said, are also encouraged to undertake double crop in their farms immediately after harvesting rice to plant a new variety for increased production.
In the WSK, there are 16,000 acres which have been put under rice production. Ahero Irrigation Scheme has 2,200 acres under rice, West Kano Irrigation has 2,300 acres and South West Kano with 4,500 acres under rice farming, and the remaining acres from other expansion areas.
“So if we are able to double crop it will be 32,000 acres that would be under rice production. This would be able to push our rice production to 80,000 metric tonnes per year,” Ouma said.
Currently, farmers are anticipated to produce 39,000 metric tonnes from the 16,000 acres within Ahero irrigation scheme, West Kano irrigation and other expansion schemes this season. This translates to over Sh1 billion.
In case farmers do double crop, Ouma said they would be able to realise between 75,000 to 80,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice.
In the previous planting season, farmers realised about 32,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice due to invasion of quelea birds.
“We are hoping that the measures we have put in place through collaboration with the county government and department of crop protection to control the birds will increase production this season,” Ouma said.
He said farmers were being sensitised on the new technology that would help them improve rice production.
From the areas which have been harvested in this season, farmers have recorded between 2.8 tonnes to 3 tonnes per acre compared to 2.2 tonnes to 2.5 tonnes per acre last season, which is a significant increase in production.
West Kano irrigation scheme farmers’ chairman Jared Odoyo lauded the desiltation of the canals, saying it will prevent farmers from incurring losses.