The importance of coffee production in the world economy cannot be ruled out due to its contribution in the developing countries in areas such as creation of employment and rise in foreign exchange. Most of the coffee producing countries in the world have come up with strategies to increase their quantity and improve the quality of their produce. In Kenya, the government have also come with numerous policies to support coffee production at the farm level but production of coffee in Kenya has since 1989 crop year been declining. There has been emergence of other enterprises that are profitable than coffee production such as real estate and dairy sector in most of the coffee-growing zones, but there are many farmers who have been determined to maintain coffee production. Despite the efforts made by the government to maximise coffee production in terms of quality and quantity, production has shown a downward trend, with some farmers completely doing away with production This study was aimed at assessing the factors that affect optimization of coffee production in Chuka sub-County, Tharaka-Nithi County. Proportional stratified random sampling was used to select a sample of 153 respondents from a population of 7,428 small-scale coffee farmers from ten cooperatives in the sub-County. The findings of the study indicated that access to extension, access to research and management of coffee cooperative were essential in coffee production with a mean agreement of 58.33%. The research established that access to extension (5%) and management of cooperatives (5%) were statistically significant while access to research at (5%) was statistically insignificant. Similarly, access to extension services increased optimization by 91%, poor management of coffee cooperatives reduced production by 45.1%, while access to research increased coffee production by 51%. Therefore, it is important to ensure farmers access extension services, research and there is improved management of coffee cooperatives.

Lack of sprouted seed potato tubers at planting is a major drawbacks for potato production in Kenya as most potato varieties remain dormant longer than three weeks while the window of planting is two weeks. To develop strategies that can enhance earlier sprouting a study was done to determine the effects of application of gibberellic acid (GA) and benzylaminopurine (BA) either Original Research Article

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Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are a major problem in French bean production within the smallholder farming systems. Control of root-knot using synthetic nematicides is not viable due to environmental concerns relating to their toxic residues. There is need to develop alternative control options that will promote soil health and reduce parasitic nematode densities. A study was conducted to determine the efficacy of Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss), Tithonia (Tithonia diversifolia) and Tephrosia (Tephrosia purpurea) leaf extracts in management of root-knot. Controlled lath house and field trials were conducted where the treatments were extracts from Neem, Tithonia and Tephrosia at different concentration levels of 25 ml/L, 50 ml/L and 100 ml/L). Vydate (Oxamyl 10%) a synthetic nematicide served as a standard positive control while treatments with no extracts application and no nematode application served as negative controls. The treatments in the lath house were arranged in completely randomized design while the field trials were arranged in randomized complete block design. Fench beans were planted on nematode infested soils and data on root galling indices and yield components was collected. Data collected was subjected to analysis of variance and significantly different means separated using Tukey’s Studentized Range Test at P=0.05. The extracts evaluated reduced root galling with their efficacy being similar to that of Vydate® (Oxamyl 10%) which was used as a positive control. Neem extracts treatments had the lowest mean galling index of the extracts, followed by Tithonia. Root-knot nematode galling indices were highest in the untreated control at 10 both in trial I and trial II. Treatment trials from Neem and Tithonia at concentration levels of 100 ml/L resulted in highest yield of French beans while yield from the untreated plants were the lowest. The results indicate extracts can be adopted to suppress root-knot nematodes.