The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization
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George Gatheca in his four-acre farm of avocados in Subukia Valley, Nakuru County. PHOTO: WILLIES MWANIKI.
George Gatheca residing in Subukia Valley, Nakuru County has gained popularity in the region due to his zeal in avocado farming. The area traditionally is maize, and beans zone, but Gatheca took a calculated risk to a different path, by venturing in avocados farming specializing with Hass and few Fuerte varieties.
“When I started the process, many criticized my move, and some termed me as a lazy person since traditionally our region is a maize zone and thus ditching maize made me receive a lot of criticism, but I kept focus.”
Despite criticism, he soldiered on with a lot of determination hoping the project would yield good results. He ventured in avocado farming back in 2005 after learning from a friend about the profitable market of the grafted avocados. He took a step and bought forty Fuertes and planted them where 26 survived and 14 dried.
In the following year, he learned about the Hass avocado and planted forty seedlings too as he also beat up the fourteen Fuertes that have not survived in the previous year. He gradually continued with the process for several years until he filled his four acres of land with grafted avocados.
“Currently, I have one hundred and eighty-nine mature avocado trees, I53 Hass, and 36 Fuertes.” He intercrops the avocados with vegetables such as kales and beans in a bid to diversify his agribusiness. As you approach his home at a distance, the four-acres forest of avocado fruit trees captures the attention of the eye, and you can resist looking at the farm.
Gatheca told us the reason why he has more Hass avocado trees is because of the excellent market price as compared to Fuertes. “Hass is more marketable and very profitable as compared to Fuerte, for example; currently I am selling one Hass fruit at twelve shillings and Fuerte at eight shillings.” He adds that he is in the process of replacing Fuertes with Hass for profit reasons. “I am replacing the Fuertes gradually with Hass, and I want to remain with only Hass avocado trees, as I told you earlier Hass is more profitable and I want to be on the favorable side.”
After several years of avocado agribusiness, Mr. Gatheca mastered the secrets leading to better yield as he narrates. “The most important thing in avocado farming is feeding the tree well to ensure high yields. For example, a well-fed tree may produce up to 1,200 fruits per year as compared to the one that is not fed, which produces an average of 600 fruits annually.”
He adds that the farmer must make the right decision to benefit. “One acre of land requires two kilos of folia with high Zinc and Boron content that goes for around sh1400. That little amount makes a great impact per acre, and the farmer must make a good choice.”
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The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization
with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper print operations,
television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The Standard Group
is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in
matters of national and international interest.
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