Agricultural Mechanization Research Institute

The Institute contributes development of appropriate agricultural mechanization
technologies for improvement of efficiency and in farming.

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The Agricultural Mechanisation Research Institute (AMRI) is one of the 16 research institutes managed by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO). It was established in November 2015. The basic function of AMRI is to develop and disseminate appropriate agricultural mechanisation technologies in collaboration with stakeholders to contribute to sustainable improvement on the livelihoods of beneficiaries by increasing agricultural productivity, post-harvest value of crops and livestock products, and conserving the environment. The Institute has 34 research scientists, 25 technical staff and 96 support staff, and is equipped to carry out client-oriented agricultural research.

Location

The Institute is located at Katumani in Machakos County (1º 35’S and 37º 14’E), 80 km Southeast of Nairobi, and 9 km south of Machakos town, along the Machakos-Wote Road, at an altitude of 1600 m.

Climate

The Institute experience a semi-arid tropical climate described as agroecological zone (AEZ) IV, with a bimodal pattern of rainfall. The long rains fall between March and May with a peak in April, while the short rains begin in mid-October, peak in November and tamper off towards mid-December (Table 1). The average seasonal rainfall for long rains is 272 mm while that for short rains is 382 mm, thus giving a total annual rainfall of 655 mm. Both the seasonal and the annual rainfall totals exhibit wide variation. The mean maximum temperature is 24.7°C while the mean minimum temperature is 13.7°C.

Table 1. Long-term rainfall (mm) characteristics at KALRO Katumani
Parameter Long rains Short rains Annual
Month March-June October-January
Mean 272 382 655
Minimum 63 155 –
Maximum 473 1034 –

 

 

 

Vision

To be a premier and competitive institution of agricultural mechanisation research in Kenya and globally

Mission

To generate and disseminate agricultural mechanisation knowledge, technologies and innovations for increased productivity, commercialisation and competitiveness in crops and livestock value chains in Kenya.

Mandate

The Institute has both the regional and national mandate to carry out research in agricultural mechanization along the livestock and crops value chains for increased productivity, commercialization and competitiveness of the agricultural sector. Although the national mandate for AMRI is agricultural mechanization research, there are other research activities that include crop improvement, natural resource management (NRM), horticulture, crop health, socioeconomic and policy development, pasture agronomy and livestock improvement specifically for arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) in collaboration with the Food Crops Research Institute and other institutes.

The specific objectives for AMRI are to:

  • Develop and promote appropriate machinery and equipment for different agricultural operations
  • Acquire, test and adapt different machinery and equipment for different agricultural operations for different value chains
  • Establish linkages with private sector for the fabrication and supply of appropriate agricultural machinery and equipment
  • Develop appropriate machinery to transport farm produce in farms and to markets/buying centres
  • Develop and promote appropriate post-harvest technologies, renewable energy and farm structures
  • Develop and promote appropriate soil and water management technologies
  • Social and economic impact assessments of agricultural mechanisation, crop and livestock technologies
Centre and sub-Centres

AMRI is a one-Institute Centre, Katumani, which is the headquarters of 4 sub-centres and has numerous experimental sites across its mandate region. The sub-centres are Ithookwe and Masongaleni in Kitui and, Kambi-ya-Mawe and Kiboko in Makueni Counties. The 4 sub-Centres have dilapidated infrastructure except Kiboko, which is housed by CIMMYT and shares some infrastructure with ICRISAT. These sub-centres are used for technology evaluation for crops, forage and mechanisation programmes as well as collaborative research with national and international organisations.

Research Areas

  1. Agricultural Mechanisation Program
  2. Crop Health Program
  3. Root and Tuber Program
  4. Livestock Program
  5. Natural Resource Management Program
  6. Sorghum, Millets and Teff Program
  7. Maize Improvement/Agronomy Program
  8. Grain Legumes Program
  9. Oil and Industrail Crop Program

Other includes

  •  KALRO Seed
  • Aflasafe Modular Plant
  • Horticulture Program
  • Socio-economics and Applied Statistics Program
  • Outreach and Partnership
  • Information and Communication Technology
  • Finance
  • Farm Management
  • Human Resource Development and Management
  • Procurement and Supplies Services

Core Functions

  1. Research and Development:
  • Farm machinery
  • Farm power and energy
  • Irrigation and water management
  • Agro processing and handling
  • Adaptive research and technology transfer
  • Crop Development
  1. Capacity Building:
  • On-farm trials and demonstrations
  • Field and open days in collaboration with agricultural sector stakeholders
  • Workshops, meetings and barazas
  • Pamphlets and brochures
  • KALRO website
  • Print and electronic media
  • Mobile Apps
  1. Policy Support:
  • Socio-economics and applied statistics

 

  1. ACIAR Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
  2. AGRA Alliance for Green Revolution for Africa
  3. ASARECA Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa
  4. ATDC Agricultural Technology Development Centre
  5. Bill and Melinda Gates
  6. Foundation
  7. CBOs Community Based Organizations
  8. CIAT Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical
  9. CIP
  10. CIMMYT Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento del Maiz y del Trigo
  11. County Governments
  12. Egerton University
  13. EU European Union
  14. FARA Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
  15. Farmers
  16. IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency
  17. ICIPE International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology
  18. ICRISAT International Crops  Research Institute for Semi-Arid and Tropics
  19. IDRC – International Development Research Centre
  20. IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development
  21. JKUAT Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
  22. KAFACI Kenya-Africa Food and Agriculture Cooperative Initiative
  23. KALRO Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation
  24. Kenyatta University
  25. KEPHIS Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services
  26. McKnight Foundation
  27. MoA Ministry of Agriculture
  28. PABRA Pan Africa Bean Research Alliance
  29. PCPB Pest Control Products Board
  30. Sida Swedish International Development Cooperation
  31. Syngenta Foundation
  32. UoN Nairobi university
  33. USAID United States Agency for International Development
  34. Mexican Embassy
  35. World Bank

The Research Institute has made significant contributions to Kenya’s agricultural sector, including:

Mechanization

  • Comparative evaluation of manual and motorized sorghum threshing
  • Development and evaluation of cassava washing, peeling, chipping, grating machines and value added products to enhance production and marketing in Busia and Kisumu Counties
  • Identification labour intensive operations and development of strategy for mechanization technology promotion of along the sorghum value chain in Busia and Siaya Counties
  • Sustainable agricultural mechanization, investment opportunities, capacity building and framework for sharing knowledge and experience in Kenya

 Crop health

  • Research on alternative carriers for Aflasafe
  • Field efficacy trials of Aflasafe KE01 for extension of use of label in groundnuts and sorghum
  • Aflatoxin analysis at the Regional Laboratory for Mycotoxin Research
  • Aflasafe application, monitoring sporulation and collecting samples for aflatoxin analysis in groundnuts in Tharaka Nithi County

Sorghum

  • Development of high yielding and bird escaping sorghum varieties for food and commercialization
  • Development of Teff (Eragrostis Tef (Zucc.) varieties for cultivation in Kenya

Maize

  • Efficacy of proven 40 on growth and productivity of maize

Grain legume

  • Evaluation of mungbean introductions for adaptability in yield performance in Eastern Kenya
  • Development of demand driven farmer and market acceptable green gram varieties with tolerance to bacteria blight
  • Production and maintenance of early generation seed and promotion of improved pigeon pea varieties
  • Improving cowpea productivity and utilization for enhanced food and nutrition security in Eastern Kenya (ICoFONSEC)

Groundnuts

  • Development and validation of technologies, innovations and management practices of oil crops such as Castor, sunflower, safflower, camelina, crambe, groundnuts, canola, carinata, soy bean.
  • Show casing in demo plots, Agricultural Show
  • Release of 3 castor varieties. That is, Nuu 70, KC24, KC15 and safflower variety ( kensaf 101)

Root and tuber

  • Developed and released KC-SWEET PURPLE a purple fleshed sweet potato variety. . It is widely adapted to arid and semi-arid areas that constitute 80% of the Kenyan area. Highly yielding with potential maximum root yield of 25t/ha. The food processing industry sector has interest to use the variety as a healthy food additive and potential source of natural food colorant due to its high levels of anthocyanin
  • Established a sweet potato early generations seeds (EGS) production unit currently producing EGS of KC- Sweet purple, Irene, Ken spot 1 and Drex. This unit ensures availability of clean, certified and timely sweet potato planting materials to farmers; thus increasing production, market participation and value addition of the sweet potato value chain.
  • Established a cassava early generations seeds mother block. The seed mother block will ensure availability of clean, certified and timely available cassava planting materials to farmers leading to increased production, market participation and value addition of cassava value chain.

Aflasafe

  • Aflasafe is an innovative biocontrol product developed to combat the persistent problem of aflatoxin contamination in food and feed crops, particularly maize, groundnuts, and sorghum, in Kenya. Aflatoxins, produced by the Aspergillus species of fungi, pose severe health risks, including liver cancer, immune suppression, and even death. The manufacturing of Aflasafe in Kenya is undertaken by KALRO at the AMRI Katumani facility, with distribution managed by Koppert Biological Systems, while IITA provides technical backstopping. The product has been instrumental in reducing aflatoxin levels, thereby contributing to food safety and security as outlined in Kenya’s Vision 2030.

Cowpea

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L) crop,  dominates the Kenyan market with 37% after common beans (44%).  It is the second most consumed leguminous crop in Kenya. The crop is mainly grown in the arid and Semi-arid Lands (ASALs) for consumption and trade in local and export markets. Cowpea serves a wide variety of purposes, particularly benefiting millions of women and children in Africa as a cost-effective source of protein (25-32% in grains) and micronutrients. It is consumed in the form of grains as well as leafy vegetables while the haulms are equally important as livestock feed. 

New varieties

In recent years KALRO- cowpea improvement program have developed and released seven (7) new improved varieties with unique genetic traits. Some of these traits include early maturing, dual purpose traits for both grain and vegetable, Alectra vogelii tolerant coupled with high yielding properties.                            

  1. KALTEX 7 variety: This variety was released in 2023. It’s a reddish color and a very early maturing variety (70 – 80 days). Has very long pods with yield potential of 1.8 – 2.00 t ha–                    
  2. KALTEX14    Variety: Was released in 2023 and it’s a purple-reddish variety, Very early maturing variety (70 – 80 days) and highly preferred by farmers. Has  yield potential of 1.8 – 2.00 t ha         
  3.  Kunde Faulu:- Was released in 2019. Its White grained variety, a dual purpose variety for both grain and leafy vegetables.  Has heavy biomass which is a good attribute for livestock feed.  Has high yielding potential of 1.5 – 1.8  t ha-1       
  4. Kunde Tumaini Variety: This variety was released in 2017. It’s a Large Grained variety, deep brown color; early flowering 40 – 45 days; Dual purpose in nature, with 16.5 g per 100 seed weight. Has high yielding potential of 1.5 – 2.2 t ha-1    
  5.  Kunde Soko variety: This variety was released in 2017. It’s a large grained variety and creamy brown in color. Has an average of 15.0 g per 100 seeds weight. It has a yield  potential of  1.4 – 1.9 t ha-1         
  6.  Kunde Tamu Variety:  was released in 2023. It’s Creamy brown in color;  Alectra parasitic weed tolerant line with  high yield potential of  1.5 – 2.0 t ha-1 
  7.    Kat-Kunde Variety           : This variety was released in 2017. Creamy brown in color and weighs 15.0 g per 100 seeds weight, Alectra parasitic weed tolerant line with yield potential of  1.4 – 1.9 t ha-1

Early generation Seed Production

Through the Climate Smart Agricultural Productivity Project (CS APP) under the AgriFI Development Programme funded by EU, cowpea early generation seed production of these new varieties was produced for mass production of certified seeds and commercialization by  KALRO seed  unit and other seed companies for adoption by farmers.  

Horticulture

  2022 2023  
  Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Total seedlings
Bananas 182 87 365 1121 1413 398 83 214 843 1046 880 98 6730
Pawpaw 51 165 248 162 439 243 176 152 1163 957 866 47 4669
Citrus W/Naval 20 70 73 223 247 52 11 19 187 165 58 17 1142
Citrus Pixie 24 88 165 163 332 99 49 77 145 98 53 43 1336
Passion 33 42 55 152 82 137 45 68 155 173 241 56 1239
Mangoes 20 78 172 141 148 33 23 6 177 34 39 22 893
Avocado 176 218 190 492 286 126 66 12 214 426 361 86 2653
Tree tomato 0 0 5 46 138 251 38 0 58 4 0 0 540
Ornamental 0 0 0 16 5 4 12 0 22 12 8 4 83
Pomegranate 0 0 0 16 11 6 0 0 43 11 151 6 244
TOTAL                          
  1. Training and demonstrations
  2. Seed and seedlings advisory services
  3. Seed Multiplication, Packaging and Distribution
  4. Hospitality and conferencing services
  5. Students Industrial Attachments
  6. Aflatoxin Testing at Katumani Regional LAB
  7. Manufacturing and distribution of Aflasafe KE01
  8. Training and capacity-building programs for stakeholders on Aflatoxin.
  9. Regional Aflasafe KE01 product demonstrations and exhibitions

Contact Information

KALRO-AMRI Katumani
P.O. Box 340-90100 Machakos, Kenya
Mobile +254-710 906 600
Machakos-Wote Road
Email: director.amri@kalro.org;
www.kalro.org

Location

The Institute is located at Katumani in Machakos County (1º 35’S and 37º 14’E), 80 km Southeast of Nairobi, and 9 km south of Machakos town, along the Machakos-Wote Road, at an altitude of 1600 m.