A farmer milking his animals using the milking machine.[Photo/ Daily Nation.]
The Kenya milk processors are urging dairy farmers to embrace fodder preservation as the rains continue to pound hard in various parts of Rift Valley.
Data from the Brookside dairy, which controls close to half of raw milk from Rift Valley, has shown an increased milk production by 15 per cent since the onset of rains in June.
Previously, the industrial regulator Kenya Dairy board, said that the milk production at the beginning of the year dropped by 29 per cent across the country attributing the drop to the prolonged drought.
The processors have now cautioned the farmers of the unpredictable rains advising them to learn from drought that hit the country between January to May by saving the feeds for the next season.
“We are cautioning our farmers that these rains are unpredictable and they need to do a lot of fodder preservation,” said Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC) Managing Director Nixon Sigey.
Sigey added that they have send extension officers to train the farmers on the fodder preservation through their co-operative societies.
The industrial stakeholders have however pointed on the farmers depedance on rain-fed production to be the key challenge hindering the realization of the milk production sector's full potential.
Brookside have noted Olenguruone, Keringet, Molo and Dundori as the areas with significant increased milk production.