Maize production status and yield limiting factors of Kenya

Maize as the main food crop in Kenya, is very important for reducing hunger and ensuring the country's food security. This paper introduced the present situation of maize production from cultivation, planting distribution and change of maize yields from 1961 to 2014. According to the natural planting environments and the local agricultural technique, the limiting factors of maize production were analyzed. Water limitation, fertilizer shortage and poor quality of maize seeds were the main factors limited the yield increasing of maize. Base on the analysis results of the relationship of maize yields with water and fertilizer inputs, this paper gave some advices for increasing maize yield in Kenya. First, the drainage and rain-harvesting technology cooperated with irrigation technique should be implemented to regulate and redistribute precipitation in maize growing season. The second was increasing fertilizer application amount, especially the use of phosphate fertilizer, to ensure the health growth of maize. The third was straw returning technology to improve soil structure. This study provided a reference for rain water utilization, fertilization and tillage techniques to get high yield in the rainfed maize planting area of Kenya.