Strawberries earn tidy sum for former driver

At Nyairoko village, Nyandarua County, withered weeds litter farms with some busy farmers toiling the land in readiness for the long rains season.

But in the midst of the weedy hectares, Simon Mwangi’s evenly distributed dark green plantation beckons from miles away. Getting closer, white flowers beautifying the dark green vegetation is clearly visible, with some small red coloured fruits strategically placed magnifying the beauty.

The vegetation is strawberry, planted in raised rows covered with a liner, giving the entire farm an enticing scent and beauty.

Mr Mwangi, the farm owner, admits that he is also motivated by the beauty, attracting him to work or visit the farm for long hours.

Five months after the first harvest and the farmer won't hear of any other crop or business venture, after all, they all failed him, miserably, before he ventured into the heavily rewarding berries.

Mr Mwangi was a fruits vendor in Mombasa town but gave up about three years ago due to stiff competition and personal challenges he won't disclose.

He once worked as a truck driver and farmed potatoes, among other crops, until last year when he diversified and gave the berries a try. His first harvest was in July, three months after planting his first crop. “I was in potato farming for more than three years. I changed my mind in March when I visited a friend here in Ol Joro Orok constituency," he said. He found him tending the berries, got interested and requested for more information about the crop. Impressed by his friend's success, Mr Mwangi carried a bunch of strawberry branches for seedlings propagation.

“I started preparing my farm and gathering more literature about strawberry farming. By May the land was ready for planting and I had also propagated enough seedlings for an acre of land,” he said.

Land preparation involved digging and harrowing, drilling two boreholes and installing a drip irrigation system — all valued at Sh700,000. Doing some quick calculations, Mr Mwangi is never going back to potato farming.

He instead plans to increase the acreage under strawberries to five acres by December.

“With best farming practices the maximum a farmer can harvest is 80 bags of potatoes per acre. The highest price per bag is Sh2,500, a total of Sh200,000 after four months of extensive labour with high cost of production,” said the farmer. In a month, Mr Mwangi makes more than what potato farmer earn after four months of toiling. “I harvest a minimum of 500 punnets twice a week. I sell my produce through the friend who recruited and trained me," he said. He earns between Sh150 and Sh180 per punnet depending on market trends.

The monthly cost of production is Sh3,000 for bag of top dressing fertiliser applied by five casuals each paid Sh250 each. He has employed and trained seven casuals who harvest the fruits, sort them, grade and package at Sh250 per worker, a total Sh1,750 per day.

Pruning is a mandatory exercise to avoid competition for nutrients between productive and none-productive branches.

Pruned branches are used as dairy cows feed supplements. At planting, manure is a critical component of faming. “I used two big trucks of manure at land preparation which I also spread like in top-dressing, then mixed it with soils before covering with the polythene paper. Besides enriching the soils, manure is also good for moisture conservation,” said Mr Mwangi.

The farmer said that the liner helps in weeds control as well as moisture conservation.

Agronomist Peter Chege said that with proper agronomy, a strawberry plant can be harvested for up to five years.

“After five to six years of harvesting production will start declining. Uproot the crop, plant a different type of crop, then replant strawberries later,” said Mr Chege.