Presentation made by Kariuki, F. W., Maina, J. G., Wanjogu, R. K., Ndogoni, J. N. and Gathaara, V at the Biennial Conference, 2012.

1. Participatory Development and Validation of
culture models of integrating fish
polyculture-livestock into irrigated ricefields
to enhance competitiveness of rice farming
in Kenya
Kariuki, F. W., Maina, J. G., Wanjogu, R. K., Ndogoni, J. N. and
Gathaara, V.
A paper presented during the Third Regional Universities
Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture Biennial
Conference
24-28 September, 2012;
Entebbe, Uganda

2. Introduction
• Evidence suggests that there is little
new land to put under the plough in
sub-Saharan Africa (McCalla, 1994).
• This means that the large increase in
food production and household
income needed, have to be achieved
through an increase in biomass
produced per unit land and per unit
water.

3. • Irrigated agriculture is the largest
user of the world’s water accounting
for about 70% of total water
withdrawals worldwide (Seckler et
al., 1998) with rice growing being the
heaviest consumer of water (IRRI,
1998).
• Irrigated rice is a heavy consumer of
water using 5,000 liters of water to
produce 1 kilogram of rice (IRRI,
1998).

4. • As less water will be available for
agriculture in future due to
increasing water demands (Guerra et
al,. 1998), the potential for
expanding the irrigated area is
increasingly becoming limited (Dong
et al., 2001).

5. • The available amount of water for
irrigation, however, is increasingly
getting scarce worldwide (Guerra et al.,
1998).
• Climate change associated decline in
water resources will also add a new
dimension to food security challenges.
• Since many irrigation systems are highly
inefficient, strategies aimed at increasing
water use efficiency and improve
productivity in rice irrigation systems
needs to be explored.

6. • Problem of low water use efficiency
in rice irrigation can be addressed
through efficient and effective
utilization of the available water
resources to provide food and
nutritional security.
• The future of rice production and
stable prices in forthcoming decades
depends on developing and adopting
strategies and practices that will use
water efficiently .

7. • Also, the concern especially due GHG
emissions in ricefields
• Only about half of the fertilizer applied is
typically used by the plants
• The rest seeping into the ground,
becoming a primary contributor to water
pollution, or is emitted into the air as
nitrous oxide, a GHG nearly 300 times as
potent as carbon dioxide.
• Also under intensive rice monoculture
management, rising fertilizer prices are

8. Rationale for the research
• Rice is the 3 rd most important staple
food in Kenya after maize and wheat
& forms part of the larger diet for
urban population
Fish as a food is gaining importance
in the attainment of food and
nutritional security
• With the population increasing,
demand for both rice and fish is
constantly rising

9. • BUT rice yields are declining & currently stand at
an average of less than 2 tons/ha against an
average of 5.5 tons/ha.
•

12. Rice straws contain:
• 36kg N/ha
• 4.5kg P/ha
• 112kg K/ha
• Also farmers have about 40% of
rice to market

13. • AND Fish production from capture
fisheries has also been declining &
aquaculture is the only sustainable
way of meeting this demand
• In Mwea Irrigation Scheme (MIS)
which produces 80% of rice in
Kenya, farmers practice mixed
farming that involve rice cultivation
combined with other farming
activities

14. BUT these activities are
undertaken independently

15. • This extensive type of farming is unsuitable for the
small-scale and because the carrying capacities of
the land and water are not being fully utilized, the
individual farming activities do not utilize water,
land and labour efficiently.
• As a result the returns that accrue from the
different forms of farming practiced by the farmer
are generally low & rice farmers are abandoning
rice cultivation and shifting to growing other crops
on rice fields.
• Farming in Mwea has not translated into economic
prosperity and the area is ranked as one of the
poorest areas in Central Province of Kenya (CBS,
2005).

16. Main Objective:
To develop and validate IAA technologies that increase
the productivity of water, land and associated resources
while contributing to sustainable rice and fish production.
Specific Objectives
• assess the suitability of rice varieties/ cultivars grown
in Mwea for rice-fish culture.
• develop and pilot test integrated agriculture
polyculture farming systems and investigate their
performance at different polyculture combinations.
• determine/assess if fish polyculture integrated into
locally planted disease resistant rice varieties can be
an effective IPM strategy

17. Hypotheses
HO: Rice varieties/cultivars grown in
Mwea are suitable for rice-fish culture.
HO: Existing types of monoculture
farming systems in Mwea can be
integrated into profitable systems
Research Approach
The study uses a participatory research
approach and guided by a situation
analysis through PCA to identify and begin
to address constraints to the uptake of in
rice-fish farming in Mwea.

18. Modified plots to accommodate fish and rice

21. Outcomes
Sustainable livelihoods, food
and nutritional security
Employment
Environmental conservation:
Adoption of IIA technologies will
contribute to sustainable natural
resources utilization.

22. Acknowledgement
Study is supported by RUFORUM
funding.
•

23. Thank You