By David Ndegwa
I was lucky to visit an avocado farmer and probably the only serious avocado farmer in the whole Kieni East sub-county in Nyeri County, with approximately 140 mature trees and 180 young trees about one year old.
I candidly discussed with the farmer as he took me down the memory lane journey on how he started and the challenges he faced.
Back in around 2016 or thereabout, the County Government of Nyeri issued farmers with free avocado seedlings and the program was being spearheaded by our renowned coffee analyst Sir Henry Kinyua who was the Agriculture CEC at the time.
The farmer got 10 seedlings which he planted just like any other tree normally leaving a small basin at the base. Unfortunately, he lost all the seedlings because he didn’t know that in black cotton soil, avocado seedlings should not be planted normally. This happened to almost all other farmers who got the seedlings and planted them in black cotton soil.
Naromoru area and many parts of Kieni East have predominantly black cotton soil which by any standards is good soil endowed with good soil fertility with only two disadvantages. It gets waterlogged during rains and develops serious cracks when it dries.
Avocado trees are not tolerant to waterlogging and poor drainage and that explains why the fruits are not common in Kieni East and many parts of Laikipia County.
I listened keenly as the Farmer narrated to me how through determination, resilience and the zeal of not giving up, he kept replacing dried seedlings until he managed to have the 140 trees that survived to maturity.
His success was rewarded when he sold his first fruits last year at Kshs 90 per kilogram
This was a good price considering that the fruits were picked from his homestead. Using the money he got and armed with new planting skills of planting in moulds, he planted another 180 trees which will come into production within the next two years.
Avocados are green gold and there is no reason why Kieni farmers should shy away from growing them. I have come up with land draining and avocado growing techniques which are a sure bet against tree drying. A single tree that is properly fed and 6 years of age produces between 500 to 800 fruits per year and on average 5 fruits makes a kilo. You can do the maths.
Just imagine the kind of transformation that would take place if every household in Kieni, planted 10 fruit trees.
Avocado is healthy food to humanity and its oil is in big demand worldwide. It is not possible to saturate the world market and if it ever gets saturated, it will still be beneficial to improve our forest cover (pun intended).
For those with land measuring 4 acres and above with a good source of water or the ability to dig a borehole, I am running an avocado planning, budgeting and implementation plan that will transform your land. I will link you with the market and fruit management will be taken care of. This project is similar to turning your farm into an ATM (yes, I know what is in your mind)
The author is an agronomist and a leading agriculture expert.
