Napier grass diseases a threat to Kenya’s dairy sector

Kenya’s dairy industry is facing a major threat due to the outbreak of stunt and smut diseases affecting napier grass in Central and Western provinces.

The dairy industry is the largest in East Africa producing annually about 85 to 90 million litres of milk equivalent per capita based primarily on well established market oriented smallholder system.

According to Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), stunt and smut diseases infestation of the grass is rapidly spreading posing a major challenge to growth of the industry.