High Altitude Ley Agronomy in Kenya

Abstract

The high altitude farming areas of Kenya total about 700,000 acres exclusive of main forest blocks, and they lie between about 8,0()()ft. and 9,200 ft. above sea level with a few farms reaching to 10,000 ft. Historically these areas are generally recognized as having had no large resident indigenous population other than the Wanderobo on the forests and the so called "Seriqua" whose pit dwellings remain as evidence of a tribe now extinct in Kenya. The pastoral Masai did, however, graze over much of this high altitude country. European settlement started at the beginning of the century and crops grown included cereals, flax and essential oils, the last two now being seldom grown. Sown pastures are a comparatively recent innovation although a few farmers tried them on a small scale between the two world wars, without, so far as can be gathered, much success. During the last war and immediately afterwards the only ley grass in use in the high country was Kenya Bromus (Bramus IInialaides), and to a small extentWimmera ryegrass (Lalium rigidum). The former is a biennial which has now become very stem my, probably because of the lack of any re-selection in it, and is seldom used; the latter re-seeded itself so abundantly that It encroached into arable land with such vigour that cereal production could have been threatened. Although the importation of Wimmeraryegrass was prohibited on this account, the great increase in livestock numbers since the war, and the trend towards mixed farming, warrants a new assessment of this species, since stock are now available to eat it and possibly keep it under control.