USE OF LOCALLY CONSTITUTED ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE SEEDLING GROWING MEDIA (Eldo-Seedlings Media MixR ) TO RAISE COMMERCIAL SEEDLINGS

Abstract

R Agricultural development in Kenya is key to achieving sustainable social and economic targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Horticulture, a dynamic sub-sector of agriculture avails food such as vegetables and fruits both for local consumption and for exports. This sub-sector is also a key foreign exchange earner for Kenya from cut-flower exports. It provides employment for many and avails raw materials for some industries. Most horticultural crops grown are started as seedlings in a nursery, and later transplanted to their final growing environment.The horticultural crop seedlings are grown using imported planting media namely cocopeat and peatmoss which are obtained from Israel and Malaysia. These propagation media have unique quality which enable seedlings to be transported to farms far away and arrive in good plantable condition. Imported cocopeat and peatmoss, when available, are expensive, reducing profit margins of the seedling propagators and making the seedlings to be expensive for the growers. A study was initiated to constitute and avail an affordable, locally available alternative to cocopeat and peatmoss. The outcome is an excellent alternative referred to as Eldo-Seedlings Media MixR