Economy & Politics Farmers told to embrace hardy pulsesTraders select green maize for resale at the Karuri Market in Kiambu. Ahead of the planting season, director of crops in the Ministry of Agriculture Johnson Irungu says farmers should embrace pulses such as beans and plant maize varieties that take shorter to mature. Dr Irungu has advised growers to start planting this week as the weatherman forecasts that rain will start in the last week of March. “We are also advising them to start planting now so that when the rains come, they find the crop already in the soil,” he said. He said seed companies have come up with maize varieties such as DH2 and DH4 that take a shorter time to mature and can perform well with limited rain.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 21, 2017 19:07 UTC