Onion net bags and watchdog eagles are assuring smallholder sunflower farmers of 100 percent harvests who previously shared half their seeds with birds.
After having almost half of his sunflowers snacked on by birds in 2023 Wycliffe Namano protected his sunflowers by clothing their heads in grocery nets and flying a 100-shilling toy eagle over his field. The Mumias farmer got an impressive 850-kilogram harvest from his acre farm in June 2024 with almost every seedling he put in fully maturing.
Birds are the major pests for Kenya’s sunflower growers, with a flock of sparrows or finches capable of clearing an entire field in days.
Mesh bags, unlike paper bags, allow light to still hit sunflower heads which enables sunflower seeds to fully grow. They have the added benefit of also protecting sunflowers from small rodent pests. Paper bags can also become moist causing mold buildup and rotting.
“Mesh bags go right on the sunflower head once it starts facing down. This will happen once it starts carrying seeds, which attract birds to farms, and after they are pollinated to avoid bees and other pollinators struggling to reach the flower, ” Wycliffe explained.
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These bags which are given for free by shopkeepers who use them to pack onions and tomatoes are also cheap when bought wholesale. A 250-meter roll mesh net, which can provide enough cover for an acre for example costs Sh2,000.
Toy eagles are usually sold by hawkers and ‘malimali’ shops. They are tied to a long string and ‘fly’ over shambas. They are a common occurrence for anyone traveling on roads that traverse Narok, Nakuru, Kajiado, and Timau– Kenya’s wheat heartlands.
For the Mumias farmer, covering his sunflowers was a half-day two-man job which he did with a labourer hired for Sh250.
However, Statice Wainaina who grows sunflowers on a smaller plot in Limuru and uses them to make decorative centerpieces said that sometimes cleverer birds learn how to navigate past the mesh nets and reach the seeds to feast on them.
He uses a 50-meter tall, five-meter wide used shade net which he bought for Sh3,000 to cover his sunflowers.
“I fasten the net on poles with the help of barbed wire and it ensures not a single bird can land on them,” he said.
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Source: farmbizafrica.com
