Smart farms

: 28 May 2019; Hits: 65411

How to grow and earn millions with passion fruits

Most farmers are embracing high horticultural value crops such as passion fruits and avocados ditching crops with unreliable market such as maize, sugarcane and beans.

According to Simon Kirima, the Operations Manager at Kerys Kool Fresh, an exporter of passion fruits, one hectare of land can yield 15 to 20 tonnes of the produce enough to earn farmers up to one million shillings compared to maize which earns between Sh35,000 to Sh60,000 per acre.

“If a farmer sells a kilo of passion at Sh70 for instance, he/she will earn 1.05m from one ha with a yield of 15 tonnes even though the price varies according to demand,” said Kirima.

Passion fruit farming starts with an establishment of an orchard which ensures a strong crop stand that withstands environmental stress.

The crop does well in regions with rainfall of over 1200mm well distributed throughout the year. Irrigation is recommended in areas with rainfall levels below 1200mm.

In Kenya the crop is grown in Thika, Nyamira, Kisii, Nyeri, Kakamega, Murang’a and Nyeri among other regions.

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The soil

Before cultivating, examine the soil for type, texture, depth, chemical analysis, nutrient and nematode levels. Light to heavy sandy loams of medium texture with good drainage are most suitable. Passion fruits do well in a pH range of 5.5 – 6.5.

“Soil testing costs Sh1500 per sample, in this we test the nutritional analysis, pH, organic carbon matter and the results are normally out in two days,” said Nick Onyango, an officer at SoilCares Ltd, a company that monitors and analyses soil fertility.

Land preparation

Land preparation is done two to three months before planting with hard pan within 80cm being broken.

Planting

At planting, make holes measuring 45cm wide and 45cm deep spaced at 1.8m between plants and two meters between rows.

Manure

Apply at least 10kg of well rotten manure to the plants and mix with the soil

Phophates

Apply 125g or triple super phosphate (TSP) or diammonium phosphate (DAP) per hole. One bag of DAP costs between Sh2500 to Sh3,000 in the market.

Top dressing

Two weeks after planting, apply calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) at the rate of 125g per plant.

Weeding

Regularly weed the plants to remove unwanted plants which may act as hosts for diseases such as mosaic viruses. It also minimizes nutrient competition among plants.

Supporting structure

Since passion fruit is a climber, the plant needs support. In this, dig holes to a depth of 50cm with a spacing of six meters apart along the passion seedling rows. Use poles with a height of 2.7m long.

Pruning

Pruning in passion fruits is done to remove overgrown growth and keep the vines under control. It encourages new growth through removal of weak and dead part. This eases pest and disease management.

Exports

According to the National Farmers Service, the demand for the fruit in the local and international market is still unmet.

Kenya exports the fruit to Brazil, Colombia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Holland, France, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Germany and Belgium.

Passion fruits are very rich in Vitamins A and C and carotene making it an important health food. The fruit is also used for commercial juice processing.

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Friday, 29 January 2021 [quote=Carol]Am caro from uasingishu,am interested in passion farming.wea will I...

Tuesday, 26 January 2021 Am caro from uasingishu,am interested in passion farming.wea will I get the seed...

Monday, 11 January 2021 [quote=Kisemei Makau]All in all how can we get ready market after farming[/quote...

Thursday, 07 January 2021 All in all how can we get ready market after farming

Monday, 09 November 2020 [quote=Hi Patrcik, thank you for reac]i am inspired farmer located in kericho co...

: 28 May 2019; Hits: 12367

Urban farmer scaling up his income by organic strawberry farming

William Kibe strawberry farmer William Kibe planting strawberry runners. He grows Chandler variety from which he harvests fruits to sell and runners for propagation. Photo courtesy.

Strawberry farmer at Uthiru, a settlement along Waiyaki Way on the northwest side of the city centre of Nairobi is earning up to Sh4,500 a week from organic strawberry farming after leaving poultry farming which was prone to theft.

William Kibe who is a 2012 Information Technology graduate from Africa Nazarene University used to keep chicken while schooling. However, due to lack of close supervision, his chicken was always being stolen and by the time he was graduating he had just remained with some few to sell off.

“After graduating I sold all the remaining chicken and realized about Sh20,000. This the capital I would use to begin strawberry farming which I after some online research I realized will be feasible within my small piece of plot,” said William.

Before venturing into production, he moved around just to find out what other farmers were doing in comparison to market demand. This is what influenced his decision to go organic since most farmers in the area were using fertilisers and chemicals to grow the crop against consumers’ preference for organically produced fruits.

He then decided to invest the Sh20,000 in the production by buying seeds of Chandler strawberry variety at Sh8,000 while the rest of the money went into labour and buying manure from livestock farmers in the area.

“I chose to do Chandler because the variety gives both the fruits for sale and runners from which I propagate the crop hence I do not need to buy seeds from time to time,” said William.

Within two to three years the venture picked up and he decided to lease a quarter acre farm at Kiserian, a town located in Kenya about 21km south-west of Nairobi from where he would make his production site while the Uthiru farm remains training and runners multiplication site.

However, after about three years of production at Kiserian, William has faced constant water problem and he has slowly vacated the farm to make his Uthiru base both his production and training site.

“I have in the past faced with shortage of water for irrigation and this was pushing my production high. To resolve this I have dug a 100ft borehole which provides me with constant water supply besides adopting growing bags that help me utilize the small space well and limit my water usage.”

Today, his production per week can go up to 30kg. He sells a kilo at Sh150 while a punnet goes at Sh235 each translating to about Sh4,500 per week. His key markets are individual consumers who place their orders weekly.

He grows the crop organically by use of livestock manure and refrains from chemicals application which may affect his market.

William is also training between three and five youth every Saturday every week who also turn into producers.

“The youth I train are willing individuals with passion for farming. The youth are drawn from learning institutions and youth groups within the area,” said William.

William can be reached on +254723701237

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: 23 May 2019; Hits: 13498

Why getting it right in breeding is a great success in commercial rabbit farming

Giant Flemish buck One of the California white doe rabbit at Felix Maina's Forest Lane Rabbit Breeders's farm In Embu County. He keeps the breed for breeding purposes. Photo, Zablon Oyugi.

There are three major issues to consider when one wants to rear rabbits for commercial purposes. These include building them nice cages where they live, feeding them well and proper breeding.

However, according to Alex Maina, an Embu County rabbit farmer and breeder for four years now, breeding is key to the animals and if not done well a farmer can lose the entire flock due occurrences of inbreeding besides recording low meat to bone ratio, a factor which is key in marketing the animals.

“I remember when I started rabbit farming in August 2015. I used Sh50,000 to buy 10 rabbits from a farm in Kikuyu but due to lack of knowledge in breeding by November the same year all of them had died except some two which survived inbreeding cases among them,” said Maina.

If it were not for the passion the farmer had grown up with since his childhood, he was to abandon the venture due to the disappointments that resulted from the huge loss.

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A year later two Kenyan friends who were in Belgium paid him a visit in a company of some Belgians. They had heard what happened and came to bring him pure breeds to start him off again. The breeds were two doe and one buck Giant Flemish.

In addition, they advised him on how to avoid inbreeding especially when the flock increase when a high number of such cases are reported as most farmers do not keep their animals’ breeding records.

He also started attending farmers’ pieces of training and doing a lot of online research to avoid such a mistake.

“It is during these pieces of training and my research when I realised that most farmers in the country keep rabbits mostly to sell them for meat and not many were investing in breeding which was costing them a lot,” said Maina.

To him, this was a chance to start a good business in rabbit farming. Therefore, with the help of his friends in Belgium and after naming his farm as Forest Lane Rabbit Breeders he began importing various pure breeds such as California white, Newzealand white, Checkered giant and Giant Flemish from the country.

He also keeps Kenyan dutch, a breed which he says is famous among many Kenyan farmers.

BREEDING

Breeding can be done between different breeds to get high-quality crossbreeds or same breeds to get a pure breed.

Maina rears his breeds generally for breeding purposes including crossbreeding for various farmers seeking such services anywhere in the country.

“For farmers who bring their does for service by any of my pure or crossbreed bucks, I charge Sh300 per doe serviced. However, the does brought to my farm have to be quarantined for diseases such as mange, a ring warm disease that is rampant among rabbits,” said Maina.

“Besides we recommend does that weigh six kilos and above because I have giant bucks which can break their delicate backbones during mating if they (does) are underweight.”

The farm also sells both pure and crossbreed two months old bucks at Sh1,000, three months old at Sh1,500 and four and above months old which are already mature for breeding at Sh2,000.

According to Maina, most buyers who by the rabbits for meat look for the quality and the weight for better returns. He recommends California white and Newzealand white for the best in tasty meat while a cross between Checkered giant and California white gives both tasty meat and high meat to bone ratio.

Training and market linkages

Maina also offers free training on rabbit rearing for his loyal customers while for one-off buyers he trains at Sh500 each.

“I do not want what happened to me to happen to any other rabbit farmer. That is why even after training, I still keep in touch with the farmers just in case of consultations which I offer freely,” he said.

He also connects farmers to possible buyers who pay Sh500 a kilo of rabbit meat. This is to ensure that the farmers are not stranded with their mature animals.

Maina can be reached on +254 704 124499/+245758383888

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