Smart farms

: 11 February 2022; Hits: 4030

Indigenous vegetables provides Narok farmer with steady income

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Farming can be a profitable and fulfilling activity for anyone with a commitment to pursue it as a career. For Florence Bonareri of Kilgoris, Narok County, farming has been her main source of livelihood. Income from growing and selling vegetables has enabled her to afford utility bills, educate her children and invest in diverse projects.

“I started planting indigenous vegetables in 1998, it has enabled me educate my children and earn some income, as I participate in uplifting my country’s economy” says Florence. She grows indigenous vegetables commonly referred to as “saga & managu” in the local Kenyan dialects. She transports the vegetables from her farm in Usinoni village to Muthurwa market in Nairobi.

She started serious indigenous vegetable business seven years ago and over the years she has scaled up the planting and selling of saga, managu and terere. Recently she diversified into tomato production and relies heavily on rains to water her crops.

“My challenge is that during the wet season the price of the vegetables drop to as low as Ksh. 300 per sack as the demand is low and the supply is high” says Bonareri. However during the dry season period her vegetables fetch a high of up to Ksh. 2,000 per sack. She thus prefers planting and selling her vegetables during the dry season as the market is open and not flooded. There are few vegetables and that means she gets to sell her vegetables at good prices enabling her to sustain the business.

Florence packs her vegetables for easy selling. A pack of saga fetches her Ksh. 100 while a pack of managu goes for Ksh. 150. On the other hand, when the market is flooded, the prices drop to Ksh. 30. “When prices drop, it is hard to make any returns as we still have to pay for transport, cess, as well as the workers who work on packing the vegetables” says Florence.

She has however learned to find the perfect balance between supply and demand for the right price that her customers are ready to pay. With the help of Equity bank, the farmer applied for an emergency loan of 20,000 shillings when her tomatoes got infested. She used the loan money to buy insecticides to spray the tomatoes.

Florence has used proceeds from the indigenous vegetable business to diversify into indigenous poultry farming that just like the indigenous vegetables are on demand at the moment.

Farming has really been a successful story despite a few challenges she has faced. From her small venture, she has grown and established her own home all depending on farming as she has never worked elsewhere to get me. Her first born son who was in nursery school when she started the business is now at the Kenya Medical Training College studying clinical medicine. She also has twin boys who are both in form three and have all benefited from the farm proceeds.

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: 10 February 2022; Hits: 3965

Double digging irrigation multiplies vegetable yield

Nyamongo

Nyamira farmer doubles vegetable yields with double digging irrigation system

Charles Oloo, a vegetable farmer in Nyamira County earns Sh7500 a week up from Sh3000 from harvesting five bags of cabbage, a factor he attributes to the double dug drip irrigation.

“Double dug drip irrigation involves digging trenches to conserve water, adding manure, maize straws, wheat straws, finger straws and banana leaves, as vegetables require a lot of manure for enhanced production. This method increases soil drainage and aeration and helps hold water more hence helping him harvest vegetables all year round,” said Charles.

“I abandoned normal vegetable growing on flat land when I realized incurred losses due to inadequate rains as my crops dried earning me zero shillings after heavy investment.”

Charles embraced the double dug drip irrigation in 2016 on his quarter acre farm. Initially he used to harvest two bags per week but since he adopted the method he now harvests five bags per week.

In September the same year, he bought two sachets of seedlings from Nyamusi agro vet at a cost of Sh120 each. He first put the seeds on the nursery bed before transplanting them. On the farm, he dug trenches two feet deep and two feet wide then removed top soil one foot and put it aside, he then dug the remaining one feet subsoil and placed it aside.

He used maize stalks, wimbi straws, banana leaves and dry grass from his farm in the drench to one foot high. He then added tythonia plant leaves and compacted properly. He mixed the top soil mixed with 10 bags of well decomposed animal manure until it reached the brim. On the raised bed he made well calculated drills which he transplanted his spinach and kales.

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Charles was also fortunate to receive a 2000 litre water tanks in March this year from the World Vision. With the help of his children, he dug a dam liner with a capacity of 70,000 liters to harvest run off water from rains for use on the farm and storing on the tank for use during the dry season.

“The challenge I am facing at the moment is that I have not purchased a pump to propel water to the tank so I have to manually add water to the tank before I start irrigation,” said Thomas.

The farmer sells his produce at Kadongo, Sondu market and Misambi secondary school. Each bag of vegetables earns him Sh1500 on a good season. The business has enabled Thomas educate his four children comfortably without no worries about their future.

He can be reached on +254 705 646 737

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: 10 February 2022; Hits: 4118

Narok farmer quits maize for more lucrative hay farming

Hay Geoffrey Rono Narok

A Narok County farmer is earning more than Sh500, 000 annually from hay production, after abandoning maize and wheat farming in favour of Boma Rhodes.

The county is known for wheat and maize production. But farmers have consistently faced marketing challenges such as dismal prices, bad roads, exploitation from middlemen and poor storage facilities leading to rotting.

Geoffrey Rono got into hay farming at the start of 2015 after seeing the untapped opportunity in the sector as most farmers in the county focused on wheat and maize production despite the challenges.

He grows Boma Rhodes grass on 112 acres three times in a year. He harvests in three phases per season.

“At wholesale, I sell one bale at Sh200. At retail, I sell the same bale at Sh240 and Sh250. The market price depends on distance between the farm and the selling point,” said Rono.

Each phase of harvest earns him Sh60, 000 translating to Sh180, 000 per season. In a year, the sales total to Sh540, 000 gross earning.

Boma Rhode is famous for its high protein content, which is at 18 per cent. The market remains steady as dairy farmers seek to boost their yields with the grass, which complements commercial feeds.

He says that between 15kg and 18kg of this hay is mixed with other ingredients like animal salt for an average dairy cow per day.

“This grass is best for the cows when both fresh and dry. When dry, enough water should be served to the cow for best results in milk production,” said Rono.

At the beginning, he bought the seeds from the Kenya Seed Company Ltd shop at Sh800. Rono cleared the land with an herbicide, then hired a tractor services to make furrows.

“I used Sh5,000 to buy five litres of herbicide before hiring a tractor at Sh10, 000 to dig furrows for seed sowing,” said Rono.

His first harvest was after five months, but the subsequent ones were after 90 days.

For the more than one year he has been in this agribusiness, he has learnt that the seeds from his harvest can be reused to give similar results.

It takes about four years for the harvests to start reducing. This being the second year of production, he is at the peak of maximised harvesting.

As an aside hustle, he sells selected and graded seeds at Sh600 per kilo.

The grass is soft and excellent herbage. According to Kenya seed Company, Boma Rhode is drought tolerant and it thrives in altitudes of between 1,000m and 2,500m.

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It takes between 90 and 105 days to mature.

Space for storage and competition from cartels cutting ordinary grass resembling Boma Rhodes before selling it to unsuspecting farmers are his main challenges in the agribusiness.

After harvesting, the hay is dried for a week before being tied in bundles by a tractor and stored for sale.

Rono can be reached on +254723688101

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