Capsicum, tomatoes: the new gold on Kenyan farms
While some are growing the crops in open fields, majority are cultivating them in greenhouses. The two crops have become the new money-maker for Kenyans farmers, particularly the youth.
Capsicum and tomatoes are both fast-maturing, taking about three months on the farm before one starts harvesting money.
The short maturity period fits wells with wishes of the youth, who have no patience to grow and wait for crops like maize to mature in about seven months. And the fact that the two crops need small pieces of land to grow and have a ready market in urban areas has made them quite popular.
Many farmers are thus abandoning cultivating vegetables like sukuma wiki (collard green) and cabbages, which were once the money-maker.
In the capital Nairobi, dozens of trucks deliver tonnes of the produce to vegetable markets every day, with each capsicum going for an average of 0.07 U.S. dollars for wholesale price and 0.11 dollars for retail.
Similarly, tomatoes, like capsicum, are all-season crops that have a huge market in Nairobi. Currently, a bunch of three tomatoes is going for between 0.17 dollars to 0.28 dollars.
“Capsicum and tomatoes are the new gold on Kenyan farms,” noted western Kenya-based agricultural extension officer Bernard Moina. “We are encouraging farmers to grow the crops but most of those who are doing it are the youth on small pieces of land. The large- scale farmers, for instance, in Trans Nzoia have stuck to maize.”
Moina observed that the two crops are easier to grow, tend and harvest. But it is not all a rosy affair as the crops, particularly, tomatoes are prone to diseases.
Tomatoes, according to the ministry of agriculture, are the third most important vegetable in the country in terms of tonnage produced. Last year, Kenya’s total production stood at 494,036.5 tonnes with a value of 158 million dollars. The varieties grown in Kenya include money-marker, hot set, super marmande and ponderosa.
Source: coastweek.com