A new variety of sorghum that cannot be destroyed by birds has been developed in Kenya

Sorghum farmers in Makueni County have had to cancel their contract with brewers following destruction caused by birds on their crop. Brewers normally prefer Gadam variety for processing of Keg. However, this variety is liked by birds and they end up eating everything that growers have planted, subjecting them to losses. Wilson Lati, a farmer in Makueni says they were contracted by East African Breweries in 2018 to grow sorghum but abandoned it two years later because of birds. “We suffered huge losses because of birds and that is why most of us abandoned the crop though we had been contracted to grow white sorghum used for manufacturing Keg,” said Mr Lati. However, Egerton University has now developed a variety that is not liked by birds and has seen some of the farmers who had abandoned the crop start farming again. Bernard Biwott, a seed specialist at Egerton, says farmers should embrace the new variety. “Gadam is liked by birds and they are susceptible to pests. We have ...