Beware, dreaded El Nino rains will bring floods of plant diseases

A farmer shows the destruction of his banana plantation by floods at the Tana Delta following days of heavy rains.

NAIROBI: To a farmer, rain is generally a welcome blessing. Wet weather and plants are usually a match made in heaven. However, sometimes there can be too much of a good thing. Problems caused by heavy rains in different regions of the country may soon start to show up in the farms with the much anticipated El Nino rains.

The next few months will present unique challenges to farmers due to overabundance of rain. These include the treatable problems like leaf spot, yellowing leaves due to Nitrogen deficiency and more serious ones such as root rot and stem blight.