78-year-old Daniel Kirai grows the Tommy Atkins, Kent and Van Dyke mango varieties in his 5-acre mango farm. He chose these varieties as they are high yielding as opposed to traditional varieties which produce far less fruit.
Standing at 5 foot 8 inches Daniel Kirai surveys his five-acre mango farm with obvious satisfaction of the fruits of his labour. The mangoes which produce on average 400,000 fruits yearly earn him an average Sh500,000 annually which has enabled him take care of his family and educate his four children to university level.
Mr Kirai, 78, sub-divided his 10-acre farm at Gaitu in Central Imenti, Meru, and planted 500 mango trees in five acres to emphasize his commitment to growing mangoes. He grows the Tommy Atkins, Kent and Van Dyke varieties.
These relatively new varieties were introduced as they are high yielding as opposed to the traditional varieties which produced far less fruits.
Dealing with enemies of mango trees
He started this venture in 1989 with 100 trees and planted the rest of the trees by 1995, though he has had to replace branches that broke through grafting. “A branch can carry up to 200 mangoes so when one breaks from the weight of mangoes I have to replace it. I have erected beacons to support some of the branches to minimise breaking,” he said.
The weevil and fruit fly are the greatest enemies of mango trees but he has employed modern methods of baiting and trapping the flies. After losing large volumes of the fruit in his plantation, he had to look for a lasting solution which he found in plastic traps which attract the fruit fly.
“The scent on the trap which is placed on the tree is very attractive. It has the scent of a female insect and the male flies are powerfully drawn to it,” he says as he shows us how the bait is effective against the pests.
With one tree producing an average 1,000 mangoes even the invasion by mango weevil and fruit fly cannot significantly jeopardise chances of good income. “Even if I lose up to a quarter of mangoes to the mango weevil or fruit fly it does not significantly affect income. I can get up to 800 mangoes from one tree which I sell at Sh5 each,” Kirai said.
A mango processing plant
The farmer laments that brokers pick the biggest of the mangoes and buy them at Sh5 a piece, and as low as Sh2 for the smaller ones.
The brokers then sell at between Sh30 and Sh50, raking in a tidy sum. “But sometimes I take the mangoes to Meru town and sell at Sh10,” he said.
Kirai said he was in the process of procuring a shop in Nairobi from where he can supply the large volumes of mangoes he harvests yearly.
He and a group of mango farmers are mulling the idea of starting a processing plant to cash in on value addition. “It will require us to increase production,” he said.
Conditions for juicy mangoes
Kirai said the farm is thriving because the area experiences moderate climate and soils which are suitable for growth of the juicy fruits.
Kirai said the tree seedlings should be placed perfectly straight in a 3 feet by 2 feet hole which is filled with top soil and livestock manure. “The trees should be at least seven metres apart considering that the trees grow large. Good spacing allows the trees to grow fully, without affecting other trees and crops around them.
He has a large herd of goats from where he got sufficient manure for the young seedlings, which he prefers to fertilisers.
For water, he relies on rain. “I and other farmers here rely on rainfall which is sufficient,” Kirai said, but the farm has a borehole that produces large volumes of water, just in case.
Harvesting mangoes
He has also invested in harvesting tools for workers because it would be a difficult task to pick the fruits in 500 trees by hand.
Fruits are picked when they are mature but not ripe, when colour starts to change from green.
The harvesters have a capacity to hold up to six mangoes from all points of the tree. “They are sufficiently padded to ensure the mangoes are not in the least bruised. The mangoes are plucked from the tree and arranged in containers,” he said.
Value Addition
His next goal is to pursue value addition with juice and jam among products that can be derived from mangoes.
He encourages the youth to embrace farming saying it is a profitable venture. “Even if you have 20 trees that you take good care of you are able to earn good money. The good thing is that once a tree is mature you can bank on it to produce fruits for very many years,” said the farmer.
Kirai says the near complete construction of the Mati road which connects Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu Counties is a blessing to him and other farmers.
The road shortens the time of travel from Nairobi to Meru by at least one hour. It will reduce to lower transportation costs as he plans to open a major outlet in Nairobi.
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