Research
I've worked with...
My Research
I developed five new sweet potato varieties through a farmer-participatory project sponsored by AGRA. Three of these varieties are orange-fleshed, rich in vitamin A, iron, and zinc, while the other two are improved yellow and white-fleshed varieties. These released varieties—Kenspot 1, Kenspot 2, Kenspot 3, Kenspot 4, and Kenspot 5—have gained widespread popularity and are now available nationwide.
I identified and characterized banana streak virus isolates in Kenya through a project sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation Grant. This initiative allowed us to benchmark the country’s most and least disease-affected regions. As a result, my team and I identified six virus isolates affecting bananas, developed methods for their detection, and produced clean planting materials using tissue culture techniques.
Was a co-principal investigator on diagnostics of cassava viruses. In that period, I collaborated with Mikocheni – Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, Malawi and Rwanda on the project.
As the head of the Biotechnology Section at KALRO-Njoro, I oversaw and coordinated all activities and staff within our biotechnology labs, which included plant virus diagnostics, marker-assisted selection, and tissue culture. I also led multi-disciplinary research projects, provided advisory services, and managed budgeting and resource allocation. I worked with KENAS to visit and evaluate molecular labs for ISO certification during this time.
Demonstrated and trained scientists, students, SACCOs, and small-scale farmers on cultivating sweet potato and banana varieties for higher yields and improved resistance to pests and diseases.
Provided consultancy services in virus indexing for ornamental plants in collaboration with flower firms and tissue culture labs across Kenya.
Supervised MSc. and PhD students from various Kenyan universities, guiding their research and academic development.
Assisted in strengthening the office responsible for genetic resource conservation and intellectual property management.
Coordinated multi-disciplinary research projects and offered advisory services.
Managed resource budgeting, allocation, and utilization for research initiatives.
Best Farming Practices
For Sweet Potato and Banana
Use Clean Seed
Use healthy, clean disease-free planting materials for planting
Clean and quality planting material of a suitable variety planted early in the rainy season can affect the final yield.
Early Land Preparation
Good practice is to dig planting ridges or mounds two to three weeks before planting so any weeds that emerge are sprayed before planting
Keep the field and surrounding areas clean of vegetation and rubbish to help reduce rodent populations
Crop rotation
Sweet-potato is a good first and last crop in the rotation. As the first crop, it leaves the soil easy to prepare for the next crop.
As the last crop, the sweet potato can add nutrients to your soil.
Tillage management
The tillage operations, defined as mechanical manipulation of soil, are performed to achieve the desired seedbed to provide optimum environment for seed/ vine germination and plant growth
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