- For ages, farmers in Uasin Gishu County have been known for large-scale maize farming.
- Parachichi Centre decided to venture into avocado farming to diversify the farmers.
- As the lead avocado producer in Uasin Gishu, Parachichi Centre currently has 40,000 mature trees at the orchard covering approximately 200 acres of land.
Agricultural diversification has been a topic of discussion in the recent years as farmers seek alternative ways to boost their productivity and income.
For a very long time, farmers in Uasin Gishu County have been known for large-scale maize farming.
Some of the reasons that have made Uasin Gishu farmers thrive in agriculture are the availability of large farms, favorable climatic conditions, and good, fertile soils.
However, a major shift from maize farming is now evident, with more farmers embracing avocado farming.
Why avocados?
Richard Bowen, a farmer, says that he was motivated by Micah Cheserem, the Founder of Parachichi Centre, to plant avocados.
He decided to start with a few trees.
With time he noted that he was getting more income despite planting only 45 avocado trees.
“If you compare maize and avocado, avocado is cheaper because the cost of production is lower. Just little management is needed,” he said.
According to him, he would rather buy maize and increase the acres under avocado because he has seen how profitable it is.
Parachichi Centre
Located 3 km from Marura Centre, along Eldoret-Iten road, Parachichi Center was started in 2017 with an aim to provide farmers with avocado seedlings and avocado farming skills and information.
Parachichi Centre decided to venture into avocado farming because they wanted to diversify the farmers.
According to Andrew Tubei, the General Manager of Parachichi Centre, the company is certified to produce quality seedlings and has an annual capacity to grow up to 200,000 seedlings.
He adds that their target is to produce 500,000 seedlings every year.
Farmers from the county trust Parachichi Centre as purchasing seedlings by the roadside is risky because one might not get the variety they wanted, leading to losses.
At the moment, farmers are purchasing one seedling at KSh300.
The center has employed agronomists, grafters, plant propagators, and other specialists.
Varieties cultivated
Parachichi Center focuses on two varieties of avocado plants; Hass and Fuerte.
The two are leading in popularity as commercial varieties in the world, Hass being the leading, followed by Fuerte.
Farmers are encouraged to plant more Hass avocadoes because it has high market demand.
Fuerte avocados should be planted in small numbers to help in pollination.
The difference between the two varieties is that Hass avocados are more battery and meaty in texture while Fuerte are less creamy because they are more watery.
In addition, Fuerte avocados are sweeter and fruitier.
The nursery
The center grows its own seedlings. They started the avocado seedling nursery two years ago.
They have invested in five shade nets that are used to prepare the seedlings until maturity.
Twenty experts are employed to work on the seedling shades. The work requires sufficient flexibility, and their tasks vary from building shade nets to grafting the seedlings.
“Knowing the foundation of the seedlings is very important,” explained Timothy Melly, the officer in charge of procurement at the center.
He adds that they prefer to grow their own seedlings because they can be sure they will have the best crops.
Planting the seedlings
The preparation of seedlings begins with the mixing of the red soil, Diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer, and pumice.
Pumice, called pumicite in the dust or powdered form, is a light-colored volcanic rock made up of highly vesicular, rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals.
The company sources it from Naivasha because it is unavailable in Uasin Gishu.
When the soil mixture is ready, it is put into bags and the seeds are planted. The seeds are then left to grow for three to four months.
When the plant reaches a height of about 40 cm, the stem is cut, ready for grafting.
They source, from their orchard, the scion to be used in grafting. A scion is a piece of vegetative or plant material used to graft with, from the tree that produces the fruit you want.
The grafted seedlings are then sold to the local farmers on both large and small scale.
“We mostly encourage farmers to take seedlings that are about eight months old to one year because it will only take 18 months in the farm before they can see the first fruits,” said Melly.
There are approximately 400,000 seedlings at the shades. Currently, 50,000 of them are ready to be planted.
At the orchard
As the lead avocado producer in Uasin Gishu, Parachichi Centre currently has 40,000 trees at the orchard covering approximately 200 acres of land.
The center provides training to farmers who come to purchase seedlings on how to plant them on their farms.
They have also hired extension officers who visit the farms of the local farmers regularly to ensure that they are implementing good practices in their orchards.
Different from before, rains are no longer a reliable source of water in the county due to climate change. Farmers are encouraged to invest in alternative sources of water.
“As a region, we have a problem of climate change. The rains have been erratic, causing longer dry seasons.
Therefore, we are encouraging our farmers to have an alternative, reliable source of water so as to water their crops during the dry spell,” Edward Sawe, County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Agriculture in Uasin Gishu, says.
Since avocado is a low-maintenance crop, what the farmer needs is any manure.
This can be either compost or the ones bought at agrovets, which are usually fertilizers.
Once the crops are matured, they must be pruned not to become too tall.
Harvesting the fruits
Harvesting happens two to four times per year. This is because only the large and mature ones are harvested first, then those not qualifying for the market are plucked in the next season.
According to Tubei, General Manager at Parachichi Centre, harvesting the avocados is a very crucial stage because it determines the quality of the produce in the market.
He advises farmers to ensure that the fruits mature before being harvested to reduce rotting on one side of the fruit.
He further adds that once the fruits have been harvested, they should not be dropped on the ground. Farmers should use crates to hold the produce and carry them gently from direct sunlight to a shade.
With a good foundation, Melly, the Procurement Officer at Parachichi Centre, notes that a farmer can harvest about 500 to 1000 fruits from one tree.
The more the years go by, the more the production rate expands.
“Sometimes the buyers come over to the farm to check and advise if the fruits are ready to be harvested,” Melly added.
So far, the centre has harvested the fruits six times.
Role of government
The government provides subsidized seeds to the farmers. Selected farmers also benefit from free seedlings.
According to Sawe, they have set up a selection committee who do prequalification of farmers to undergo training before issuing them with seedlings.
Since the start of the program, the government has issued over 200,000 seedlings.
The government is also partnering with Sustainable Urban Economic Development to look for investors to help in the development of pack houses so that farmers do not experience post-harvest losses.
Current market
All the produce from Parachichi Centre is currently taken to Nairobi, where the exporters grade them for export. The produce is transported to the international market by both air and water.
Most of the avocados from Uasin Gishu are majorly for export. A kilo of the fruit goes for KSh100 to 120.
Major challenges experienced
According to Sawe, one of the major challenges farmers face is access to quality seedlings.
They have been closing the gap by ensuring they provide farmers with quality seeds all through.
There is also a challenge posed by climate change, forcing farmers to look for alternative sources of water to water their crops.
Poor handling of the fruits leads to poor quality, causing farmers to have losses.
Pests and diseases such as root rot causes damage to both seedlings and avocado trees.
In addition, farmers lack adequate information on avocado production.
Future plans
The center anticipates having a cold room and a processing plant that will produce avocado oil in the near future.
They also want to ensure that farmers have access to a wide market for their produce.
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Bowen, a farmer, advises other farmers that if they want more income, they should try avocado farming.
He acknowledges that it may be difficult to drop maize farming but urges them to start small and keep advancing.
