You will reap the benefits of tomatoes, when time is ripe

We are greeted by a breath-taking picturesque scene of a healthy and blossoming nine-acre tomato crop in the semi-arid Mathathari area of Evurore ward, Mbeere North in Embu County. 

Eustace Mugo is a beneficiary of Kiambindu Community Irrigation Water Project, financed by The Upper Tana Natural Resources Management Project (UTaNRMP) to upgrade from use of canals and open furrows to a piped system. Courtesy of irrigation, the project area is highly productive in yielding tomatoes, water melons, green maize, onions, butternuts among others.

Tomato sales

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Anticipating to harvest over 1,000 wooden crates of tomatoes, you would think Mugo is smiling all the way to the bank, but that is not the case, at least not this season. A glut in supply of tomatoes has spoiled Mugo’s broth and he is uncertain if he will recover his cost of production. “The price of a wooden crate of tomatoes is Sh1,000 at the moment, a drop from the Sh8,000 the crate was selling at in February this year. The price is discouraging, but a farmer should never lose hope,” he says.

Last year April was one of his best seasons when he made a fortune. From the four-acre crop of tomatoes he had planted, he made sales of over Sh5 million. He averages his production expenses for an acre of tomatoes at between Sh150,000 and Sh200,000.

Starting out

Mugo has been farming since 2013 and is poised to scale higher heights in horticulture, owing to hard work and ploughing profit back to business. The 39-year-old father of two traces his journey to farming to dropping out of school just a month after he joined Form One due to lack of school fees.

His first employment was in a horticulture farm where he gained some knowledge on agribusiness and was envious that farming could be that profitable.

Even after he quit the job and hustled his way in Nairobi, first as a banana and eggs hawker between 2002 and 2006, then a meat transporter using a bicycle and later as a meat supplier up to 2012, farming still occupied his mind. “I saved religiously and bought an acre of land back in the village armed with Sh100,000 capital for farming,” he narrates.

His first crop of watermelon saw him incurred a loss but that did not dampen his spirit. He leased land from his neighbours and farmed three acres of watermelon at production cost of about Sh200,000. “I made Sh400,000 in sales and realized that farming is profitable. Imagine making a profit of Sh200,000 whereas I had taken several years to raise Sh100,000,” he poses.

Irrigation

Encouraged, Mugo proceeded to register as a member of Kiambindu water project. “The project supplies plentiful of water to support any type of farming. I, however, constructed a huge dam as a reservoir in case water levels in the river drop or pipes break down. Water from the reservoir first goes through filtration to remove impurities that could damage the drips,” explains Mugo.

He prefers drip irrigation because it employs precise water use and minimises wastage. He spent about half a million to construct the reservoir, that has a capacity of about 330,000litres. 

Mugo reveals that the stored water saved his crops early this year when water levels in River Thuci dropped.

Apart from tomatoes, he also has four acres of water melons. 

Adequate water supply, the sandy soils and the strong sun in the area supports the fruits to grow into big sizes, succulent and tasty.

He has bought 15 acres of land, a canter lorry, is currently constructing a modern stone house and done countless other developments that he avers “many civil servants can achieve only through their lumpsome pension”.

It is not all fairy tale as Mugo says profitable farming requires a lot of determination, resilience, planning and sound management.

Seed propagation

Mugo outsources seeds germination to Plantech Kenya Limited in Naivasha who charge Sh1.7 per seedling. He collects the seedling in trays when they’ve grown to two inches, transports them to the farm and transplants them.

An acre takes about 5,000 seedlings, and has currently planted Zara and Terminator tomato varieties, which thrive in the area.

An acre of tomatoes requires three tonnes of manure which he buys from people in the locality who keep livestock. He buys a canter which carries 5.6 tonnes of manure at Sh5,000. He also applies fertiliser.

He employs at least 20 people every day but during harvesting he needs up to 70 people.

Challenges

Mugo is considering venturing into value addition but is reluctant due to lack of knowhow and competition from existing tomato sauce and jam brands.

“Farming has potential to create very many jobs but farmers are struggling due to high cost of inputs and erratic markets. The government can assist us by removing taxes on inputs and helping farmers in value addition and marketing. It should regulate imports of tomatoes from neighbouring countries,” he says.

To counter such challenges, Mugo plans to diversify his farming and include dairy and macadamia tree farming.  

[email protected]     

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