Introduction
Agricultural resources are considered to be one of the
most important renewable and dynamic natural resources
(World Food Programme and Ministry of Disaster Management
& Relief 2005). Comprehensive, reliable and
timely information on agricultural resources is very much
necessary for a country like Kenya, where agriculture is
the mainstay of our national economy. But it is being
pressurized by high population growth, emergence of new
diseases due to climate change and natural hazards like
flood, drought and soil erosion. In particular the rice production
in Kenya does not meet the food demands for
rapidly growing population. Rice farmers in Kenya’s Mwea
region are continuing to count losses due to Rice Blast
disease. The farmers have been complaining about the disease,
which has wiped out almost half of their crop. The
disease is still threatening to drastically reduce harvests.
An acre of land under rice usually produces on average 25
bags of rice, but this may reduce to 10 bags (Africa Agriculture
2008). Rice blast disease destroyed 5600 hectares
(13 840 acres) of rice in Central Province, which produces
the bulk of Kenya’s rice. This is equivalent to 10 to 20