With these seeds, you reap exactly what you sow

Four years ago, Carol Wambui made a decision that his peers felt was crazy. She abandoned her career as a pharmacist to become a horticultural farmer in Narok. She was overwhelmed by the many hours she spent at work, and needed a break. It did not take long before she realised that farming brought with it some uncertainties she was not prepared for.

“There was a season I planted local tomatoes and lost almost Sh1.6 million when the crops were ravaged by disease and they could not be saved,” she says.

Discouraged but determined, she opted to look for a solution. Her search led her to HM Clause, a global seed production company that has a base in Nanyuki. Wambui says she was looking for resilient seeds that would withstand diseases and extreme weather.

“I got a few seed samples from HM Clause and I was fascinated by how much yield I was getting from the crops. There was something different about them,” she says.

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Sebastian Alix, Managing Director at HM Clause says the difference is in the detail of what it takes for them to develop seeds. They took ‘Smart Harvest’ through the process of seed production, and how they breed seeds for export.

The greenhouses where the seeds are bred and processed sit in a 15-hectare piece of land in Nanyuki; chosen due to the region’s altitude.

“We wanted to try seed production in a place that lies in the equator. Other seed companies were at lower altitudes and we thought about doing something different,” says Sebastian.

Before getting into the greenhouse, everyone is expected to wear protective gear that covers their whole body to avoid contaminating the crops. The process is rigorous, including washing shoes in a chemical solution, thoroughly washing hands, wearing hats, gloves, and ensuring that there is no cross contamination.

“There are diseases such as Clavibacter michiganensis (CMM) that can be transported by humans, water and materials in the soil. We have to prevent any incidents because that would wipe out a whole plantation and give low-quality seeds,” says Jennifer Mbugua, the administration and operation manager at HM Clause in Kenya. She says they follow the international Good Seed and Plant Practices (GSPP) that promotes transparent business chain system when growing crops. 

The greenhouses have different varieties of tomatoes and pepper. Every day, there are more than 100 employees caring for the plants. The crops are grown on coco fibre drawn from coconut husks to avoid diseases and pests attracted to soil.

The crops are manually pollinated to ensure only superior crops reproduce. The process of pollination involves the workers extracting pollen from the male crops and putting it into the female in a process called emasculation.

Catherine Matuerandu, Production manager at the firm, says the workers are trained to emasculate the plants to ensure no crop bears more fruits than it should.

“Ideally, a crop is allowed less than eight fruits. They are all tagged to show that they have been pollinated. We ensure that there is no open flower for self-pollination,” she says.

They also have people who do scouting on a daily basis by moving from plant to plant to report on any cases of open flowers, pets, and diseases that could be affecting a plant.

The base has 12 greenhouse units and each unit has 7,500 plants for pepper, and 2,500 plants for tomatoes.

Their breeding seeds are got from France, and regulated by Kephis and the ministry of Agriculture. The French Ambassador in Kenya Mrs Aline Kuster-Menager says the Nanyuki facility run by HM Clause, and its parent company Limagrain is a perfect example of mutually beneficial investment.

“After identifying Nanyuki as a tomato seed production site by the company in 2013, the French embassy supported the establishment of the new subsidiary there and was very proud to participate in the opening of the facility in 2015, which created more than 50 jobs for the locals,” she says.

She adds that French companies and investors are developing business in different sectors, including energy, infrastructure, agriculture, banking, and insurance.

Mr Sebastian says when they first set shop, they got many inquiries from small scale farmers who were facing the reality of climate change and making losses because they did not have seed varieties that would withstand adverse weather. He says they chose to work in Kenya because it already had regulation systems for importation and exportation of seeds. 

“We started creating partnerships with agrovets and other companies to find channels through which we can provide farmers with seeds,” he says.

He dismisses claims and rumours that their crops are genetically modified due to the large size of fruits they produce, and the regulations they have put in place. He says people were not used to getting superior seeds that would survive in different environments and yield great crops. 

He adds that they always test their seeds in different regions to see the variety of crops that would work for them. He says they simulate the environments in their greenhouses to increase chances of survival.

“We do trials with farmers across the country so that they can pick up a variety that works for them,” he says.

After the crops have matured, they are taken to the extraction plant where the pulp is separated from the seeds. The seeds are then dried and packaged for export. They export mostly to Europe, Asia, America, and North Africa.

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