After oranges went bad, local chief now enjoys juicy mangoes

Chemogoch sub location assistant chief Lawrence Cheburet inspecting his mangoes at his mango farm in Lomanira Village, Baringo County on April 17, 2015. [PHOTO/KIPSANG JOSEPH/STANDARD]

Kenyan farmers have been waiting for rains but many fear anticipated losses following climate variability more so in arid and semi-arid areas.

Baringo County is among regions that have reported failure in crop production that has seen the Ministry of Agriculture encourage production of mangoes as a climate mitigation strategy.

Laurence Chebunet, who is Chemogoch Sub Location assistant chief leads residents of Lomanira village, in embracing mangoes farming.

The more than 200 trees on his three-acre farm has tommy, apple, kent and ngowe varieties which also beautify the area in the arid region.

Chebunet ventured into mangoes farming in 2007 after experiencing total failure of orange fruits due to infection of pests and diseases that were expensive to control.

“This is an arid and semi-arid region were rainfalls are not predictable,” Chebunet tells Smart Harvest at his farm.

“I used to plant maize, beans and waited for rains that never occurred, I later ventured my three acres into oranges that disappointed me a lot,” he adds.

He says he was inspired into mangoes production by prosperous farmers in Embu during a farmer’s field tour conducted by National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Program (Nalep) under ministry of Agriculture in 2005.

Interest group

“It was a big challenge seeing farmers in parts of Embu, an area that experience shortage of rains do better than my people back home. I vowed to embrace mangoes and encourage many to did the same,” he says.

The father of two established the project with only 40 seedlings of apple, ngowe, kent and tommy varieties that he purchased from Kenya Agricultural Livestock Organisation (Kalro) in Marigat Sub County at Sh100 per seedling.

To ensure other residents embraced the farming, the administrator mobilised over 200 farmers into a common interest group known as Equator Pioneer Self Help group that decided to practice mango production.

The group purchased a 90kg sack of ripe mango fruits at Wakulima market in Nakuru town and later, distributed them to school going children to eat. They later dried the seeds and planted them in a nursery bed for easier access by local farmers.

To improve quality and production of mangoes, the farmer grafts his trees with local varieties to fit high market demand. He attended a grafting course at Eldama Ravine Farmers Training College.

“Mango farming can only be enhanced with proper farming practices. I attended a two-week production course and after the training, I grafted around 200 seedlings in a nursery and trained other members,” he says.

Each grafted seedling at the group nursery is sold at Sh120 to willing farmers that has reported better yields production as compared to local variety under low cost production.

Chebunet’s trees matured after three years. He recorded an average of 6 bags of 90 kilograms in the first harvest that he sold locally at Sh15 per each fruit.

“I only earned Sh4,000 from the first harvest but money wasn’t an issue, it was a joy seeing the fruits produce highly in an arid area. This made me increase the number of trees,” says the farmer.

However for better yield production, weeding is necessary but digging close to the tree is discouraged as it damages roots and cause diseases. Spraying to prevent pest and diseases is mandatory for better fruit production.

Stephen Rotich another farmer with 93 mature mango trees and over 200 newly planted joined the venture after experiencing a total loss of maize crop for several years.

Management practices

“Last year, I planted maize on my three acre farm but the crop dried before maturity due to lack of rains. I decided to totally drop the crop and adapt mangoes and I have no regrets,” says Rotich.

“I used to have local variety mangoes that I used to consume with my family but after several trainings, I was encouraged to venture into mango production as an agri-business,” he says.

First harvest was not good he only got Sh4,000 after selling the fruits locally. In the second harvest, he earned an average of Sh60,000, after selling the produce to a grocery operator in Nairobi. This encouraged him to plant more trees.

Ezekiel Chepkwony, Mogotio Sub County agricultural officer states that under good management practices, a tree produces 400 to 600 fruits per year.

“Mango production is being taken as an initiative to climate mitigation because other crops fail,” states Chepkwony.