Category: Past Featured Articles

By Maurice Koome

Description

Downy mildew is a fungal disease that causes destruction of leaves, stems, and flowers of the infected plant. Downy mildew causal organism is called Peronosporasparsa and as the scientific name indicates, the production of spores is sparse and therefore this disease is difficult to diagnose and control.

Downy mildew (Oomycete fungi) are referred to as a high risk pathogens because of the following factors;

• Oomycetes fungi are able to spread in an explosive manner under favorable conditions.
• Short development cycle (8-10 days under optimum conditions)
• High potential for reproduction (high quantities of spores)
• Wide propagation by water and wind
• Damage is not reversible: The damaged tissues die in general leading quickly to substantial losses at harvest
• High genetic variability: Rapid appearance of strains less sensitive to specifically acting fungicides possible.

Enjoy their Sterling Products and Prompt Service. What is in a name and colour? These are some of the questions that oftentimes strike curious minds.

The main category of China’s flower import is seedball, whose amount of imports reached 91.34 million dollars, accounting for 42.6% of total imports with year-on-year

By GBGE Committee March is the beginning of spring, the most suitable season for admiring the beauty of flowers in Guangzhou. Every March in Guangzhou,

Amiran’s agro- innovations have involved new, science-based products and processes that offer growers reliable methods for increasing productivity. Grizly, Amiran’s new product from Adama is

In an ever increasingly competitive and global business environment, Brexit has hit particularly hard companies operating in the trade and distribution of cut flowers and

Ask any coach and He will tell you that when his fate depends on competitors’ match, the situation is out of control. So, it is with Kenya as our fate will be determined by Tanzania and other EAC Countries. The truth is, we are in a catch 22 situation. This is the time for Kenya to think outside the Box and redeem its flower and export sector.

Faced with the pressures of loss of foreign direct investment, loss of employment , capital movement and the threat that companies will relocate unless provided with concessions to cushion the EU tax regime such as more lax regulations and lower taxes, government must respond by promoting tax incentives to attract and retain investment capital.

Having limited economic options Kenya should move to tax competition as a central part of their sector development strategy to attract and retain the companies in the country.

Why?

A number of growers say the business is no longer a profitable undertaking under the current business cost regime. In case the EPA is not signed, this will require urgent measures to cushion producers against unhealthy competition from countries with less costly systems.

Introduces Next Generation Packaging Solution

Packaging might be the unsung hero of the fresh produce industry. It might not be the sexiest part of the supply chain. It is a sector that might be perceived – wrongly – as a less glamorous component of the supply chain. But without adequate solutions that work up and down the chain, produce will never arrive for presentation at the right quality. However, behind the scene as Mr. Masila Kanyingi found out in a thirty minutes tour of Silpack Industries Ltd, there exists a wealth of innovation and dynamism within freshproduce packaging. Silpack the introducers of SoliQ brand in Kenya has been exploring innovative methods to boost sustainability, increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve packaging as a marketing medium. The newest kid in block from their R&D department is “i pack”, the next generation packaging solution as Mr. Parit Shah, a Director with Silpack Industries Ltd, proudly refers it.

Masila: The flower industry has been yearning for quality packaging solutions; briefly discuss your efforts to quench their thirsty.

Parit: Over the past few years, we have recognised that growers have invested heavily in selection of the right variety and the best production practices for quality production. However, today the bottom line has become more dependent on ensuring quality produce reaches the market in the same quality. To ensure that our customers maintain the same quality throughout the cold chain, Silpack Industries Ltd introduced the SoliQ branded cartons, printed SFKs and other branded packaging products. However, despite this advancement in technology, some customers continued to prefer the traditionally constructed box using relatively weaker paper. This compelled Silpack Industries Ltd R&D department to engage into further innovation to ensure these growers still enjoy a strong box all through the cold chain. The fruits of these efforts are “i pack”, the next generation packaging solution.

Masila: Briefly discuss i pack, the products it covers and how it works.

Tanzania Refuses to Sign EU Trade Pact

Tanzania’s refusal to sign a new trade deal between the East African Community (EAC) and the European Union (EU) has generated anxious reactions. If news reports are to be believed, plans had been made for a signing ceremony to take place during the just-concluded United Nations international conference on trade in Nairobi. In the event, the Kenyan foreign minister said more time would be required to rally all the countries around the trade deal.

While opting out of the joint EU-EAC

Economic Partnership Agreement, Tanzania cited the economic and constitutional uncertainties arising from British voters’ decision to leave the EU. Tanzania argued that, with the exit of its core market from the EU, it had little to gain from the partnership agreement negotiations, and that signing up would harm its “national interest”.

As much as Kenya may feel short-changed by Tanzania’s last-minute decision, it is probably an opportunity to get things right. It is important that the EAC member states take time to reflect afresh on the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations so as to come out with a better deal.

“East African Packaging Industries LTD. are making magic. In one word, they exist for the sake of simplicity. They focus their efforts into taking on all the worries over packaging from their customers, leaving them to concentrate on their core activities. Their contribution to the business mix is brief, crisp, penetrating, perceptible and a creative insight into the minds of consumers. Memorable ideas, images and stories, where less is more and understanding triumphs over information”, I concluded as Mr Nick Barnes took us through the interview. In his narration from one department to the other, one statement kept on recurring, no compromise to quality.