For many years now, Kenyan farmers in Nyanza and Western Provinces have suffered from the parasitic weed commonly known as Striga as it destroys their cereal crops, particularly maize. Striga has invaded approximately 200,000 hectares of Kenyan cropland resulting in losses of about KSh 800 million each year. It is also the major contributor of food insecurity among thousands of households in west Kenya as it causes yield losses of this major staple food crop. To fight the threat of Striga, farmers in Kenya will soon have a new maize hybrid Ua Kayongo that is coated with StrigawayTM herbicide that kills Striga.

This revolutionary maize technology literally kills the germinating Striga seeds as they attempt to infect the maize plants. Among scientists, this technology is known as Imazapyr Resistance-maize (IR-maize) or the Clearfield system. It is based upon a naturally occurring herbicide resistance by maize that was first identified by researchers at BASF, a supplier of agro-chemicals, and was later incorporated into Kenyan maize varieties by African plant breeders at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, (KARI). Currently, three seed companies, Kenya Seed, Lagrotech and Western Seed are producing the new hybrid maize for field testing during the upcoming cropping season (long rains 2005) and are expected to commercialize their seed during the following season (short rains 2005-2006). Recently, representatives of the three seed companies met and agreed to market this new maize hybrid under the common commercial name Ua Kayongo H1 (Striga killer).

The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) was recently established to assist African farmers access appropriate technologies. One of its identified priorities is the introduction of IR-maize technology to the farming communities of west Kenya. To achieve this goal, AATF is in partnership with CIMMYT, KARI, and BASF and seeks further collaboration of NGOs (We RATE - SACRED-Africa, SCODP, FORMAT), seed companies and their distribution network and stockists (Kenya Seed, Lagrotech, Western Seed), international organizations such as TSBF-CIAT and others in disseminating the IR-maize technology to fight Striga. This partnership will establish extensive field demonstrations and conduct numerous field days to promote Ua Kayongo H1 throughout Nyanza and Western Provinces during the next three cropping seasons. We RATE is an alliance of NGOs, farmer associations and research organizations that establishes different recommended technologies and facilitates farmer adaption to these technologies and their incorporation into smallholder practice.

Ua Kayongo H1 is planted and managed in the same way that farmers currently grow their maize. However, as is recommended with all commercially available maize seed coated with insecticide and fungicide, farmers should wash their hands after handling Ua Kayongo. They should also not handle other seeds before they wash off the StrigawayTM herbicide as this may affect germination of the other crops. Ua Kayongo can be intercropped with legumes, but the two must not be planted in the same hole, as the StrigawayTM herbicide is likely to affect the legume seed. For long-term control of Striga, Ua Kayongo should be combined with other Striga management technologies, such as the Push-Pull system, or MBILI planted with groundnut, golden gram, soyabean or lablab. One recently identified advantage of using Ua Kayongo is that the first weeding is less tedious due to the reduced number of weeds near the young maize seedling.

During the upcoming long rains 2005, the partnership to fight Striga will showcase this technology through numerous Ua Kayongo demonstration plots in Striga-infested areas and conduct farmer-managed trials to demonstrate the efficacy of the technology in farmers' fields. The partners will also distribute Ua Kayongo to over 16,000 households and conduct several farmer field days and other activities including a traveling workshop in June 2005.

For more information on the partnership to fight Striga, please contact:

African Agricultural Technology Foundation
P.O. Box 30709, Nairobi 00100, Kenya.
Email: aatf@aatf-africa.org

You can also contact:

CIMMYT: cimmyt-kenya@cgiar.org
Dascot Ltd: dascot@nbi.ispkenya.com