Myths, half-truths and lies every farmer should know

Directors of Tassels Dairy Farm Susan Muturi (left), Former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka(centre) and her husband Muturi Njoroge at their Ruiru Farm during the interview. on 13th June 2015. PICTURE BY GOVEDI ASUTSA

Business ventures are not always what they appear at face value. And agriculture is no exception. The underpinning factors, we have found from farmers, are the same: myths, half-truths and lies.

They disarm farmers’ preparation; increasing susceptibility to failure. Established and upcoming farmers previously covered in Smart Harvest were interviewed to shed light on some of the fallacies they held about farming.

One is born a farmer

By all manner of definition Peter Wambugu is a successful farmer. His one acre apple farm in Nyeri is a gold mine in its own right. Close scrutiny reveals that no aspect of Wambugu’s love for his job exactly depicts a natural born farmer.

“I had not even set forth into growing apples, per se,” says Wambugu, “to a large extent it was trial and error in the first years of planting. Almost five years passed before I began making profits.”

Wambugu was already 40 when an Israeli acquaintance brought him seedlings to try out. “I started out with grafting 100 trees on a one-acre piece of land. Growing apples in Kenya was relatively new at the time but I kept on trying and learning from my mistakes,” he offers.

Fifteen years later, Wambugu is in love with apple farming.

As he puts it, “I bumped into apple farming and now it is what I do.”

He believes many can be successful in any kind of farming as long as they possess patience and grit – by learning from mistakes.

Farming requires academic qualifications

As far as Muturi Njoroge and his wife Susan are concerned, passion maybe the difference between growing in one’s farming and failing at it. The couple holds no academic qualifications commensurate to farming of any kind.

“My wife is a counsellor by profession. I hold a Form four certificate. None of us attended an institution of higher learning to sit for courses in dairy farming yet people look at our venture as among the most successful in the country,” Muturi says.

Before going solo, Muturi was a farm boy taking care of his boss’ cows. The animals produced lots of milk with him in charge. However, Embu, where the farm is located, seemed not to have demand for milk that would have made dairy farming as lucrative.

Muturi asked for permission to transport the milk to Nairobi, an idea that proved quite rewarding.

But he would be fired for being too good at his work. With savings amounting to Sh90,000, he moved to Ngong and started off with seven cows.

Destiny would have it that he married a woman who also had considerable interest in cattle.

Today, the couple has 32 dairy farms scattered all over Kenya.

The main farm in Ruiru has state-of-the-art equipment and holds over 600 animals.

“It is only now that we are thinking about going to school to study,” Muturi says, “just as a formality. In any case university students come here for attachment and lessons.”

Farming is limited to crops and farm animals

Jeff Anthony owns a gym and is a fitness fanatic. Driven by the need to eat healthy, he decided to go into farming. It was neither crop nor dairy related. He looked beyond cows and maize.

“Initially it was just for me but then over a period of time I realised it was a good enough venture to hold onto and expand,” he says.

Anthony is a mushroom farmer. The decision to go into rearing mushrooms was informed by the fungi’s exceptional nutritional qualities.

“I was fascinated by the facts,” he says, adding, “Mushrooms are richer in protein content compared to fish, chicken and many meats. They also have large amounts of oxidants; improve immunity and detoxifies the body.”

The good news about his choice was that all he needed was a small mud house for the venture. Mushrooms grow in columns which need little space – for a small scale farmer – compared to crops or even animals.

Machines can replace human labour fully

As farm manager of 1,000 acres of farm land Dickson Chege of Thiba Farm in Embu understands every aspect of farm work. At Thiba, which belongs to Catholic diocese of Embu, Chege is – among other things – in charge of overseeing work within the farm. Typically, work ranges from land preparation to harvesting. The dairy section also needs farm hands to feed animals and milk them too.

In the decades past farming has become more mechanical. Today, machines can do just about everything: planting, tilling, application of fertiliser and pesticides, and even harvesting. As such, large scale farming has sought the efficiency of machines, drawing many to believe that machines can be enough in successfully holding a farm.

“At any given moment 30 per cent of farm work will need manual labour,” Chege says.

“Tractors and other mechanical equipment are essential in farming. This however should never be mistaken for total efficiency. A farm still needs human workforce – a good number for that matter.

You should not expect a good harvest just by employing the use mechanical equipment,” says Chege. Machines, opines Chege, are effective but only humans can reason when faced with farm challenges.

Farming is as easy as ABCD

Crops grow almost naturally. As long as the soil is fertile and there is enough rain plants will grow, right? Wrong.

In the few years that Tabitha Omuga has cultivated Roselle plant, experience has taught her that beside the human drive that aims at making profit, there are plenty of other factors that determine a farmer’s success.

“You may have very good seeds and could have prepared fairly well. But if your crop is something like Roselle, then you ought to be worried very much about the weather. If there is too much rain then you stand ripping almost nothing from all the hard work. Roselle grows best in dry weather,” says Omuga.

Muturi Njoroge on the other hand prefers wet weather.

“Dairy farming rises and falls with the weather. Drought means less milk production,” he says.

As for Chege, agriculture may not entirely need university bred intellectuals. However, if one is serious with farming, they ought to have basic and superficial understanding of the factors that affect agriculture.

If you are forever aloof in the farm, Dickson suggests that you would be better off in a different career. A farmer should be keen to understand simple things as weather patterns and have the patience to learn.