Here Is A Man Who Has Discovered A Goldmine In Growing Tamarillo.
Mwangi shows off one plant that has more than 30 fruits in the quarter acre piece he has grown tree tomatoes. |
Every young person aspires to see themselves break even and
turn into millionaires one day. However, the millionaire status is one that
often proves too elusive to many. Otherwise, it is possible for anyone to
invest, work smart and turn their ventures into a money mill.
50 year old Julius Mwangi Kimani from Kamwario Village,
Gacharage Sub-Location, Kinyona Location of Murang’a County, can only be best
described as a man who knows how to take maximum advantage of available
opportunities to make millions.
He has been farming for about 30 years, having first
ventured started into the trade in 1986 as a young man. He left the former Rift
Valley Province, where he was born and brought up, to come and settle in his
late father’s one and a half acre piece of land near Kangari Town in Murang’a
County. With time, he had planted about 2000 tea bushes and also kept two dairy
cows.
“I sold my business in the Rift Valley after it proved to be
unviable. I came here and settled in my father’s land. In my pocket I had sh.
380,000, money that I used to build myself a house and start my journey in
farming. As time went by, I was able to buy some of the land that belonged to
my late father’s siblings to increase my acreage to about 3.5 Acres,” explains
Mwangi.
Today, he earns more than a million shillings from tea, his
dairy cows and Tamarillo or Cyphomandra betacea (tree tomatoes or matunda ya damu in Kiswahili).
Mwangi’s Goldmine.
Having dealt with tea farming for years and observed its
returns, Mwangi decided to try some other crop so as to boost his income. He
discovered the goldmine he had always hoped to find. Motivated by the success
of other farmers, he went head-first into tree tomato farming, armed with very
little information.
He cleared about a quarter acre piece of land and bought 500
seedlings of grafted tree tomatoes. The seedlings had been grafted with Solanum
mauritianum (the bug weed), a small tree or shrub that is poisonous to humans,
especially the unripe berries, to make it withstand dry weather.
“I spent sh. 50,000 and to plant the 500 seedlings and in
less than one year, I had already started earning from my trees. I have tried
tea and dairy farming. But I have decided to concentrate more on tree
tomatoes because they are cheaper to grow, mature faster than tea and their
market is good. On a very bad day, a kilo of tree tomatoes goes for sh. 80,” he
says.
The tree tomatoes, which he supplies to Nairobi and other
markets, are currently his main money maker. The market is so great that the
buyers even come to collect the fruits from his farm, thereby saving him from
the stress of having to transport them to the market. In fact, Mwangi reckons
that he is not able to satisfy the demand at the moment and he usually supplements
his supply with produce from other farmers in the region.
He notes that this year alone, he has earned about sh.
700,000 from the tree tomatoes as compared to sh. 420,000 he earned from his
5,200 tea bushes.
“Compared to tea and dairy farming, tree tomatoes have
earned me a lot of money within a very short period of time. If I were to
choose among the three, I will go for the tree tomatoes.”
Mwangi says that the plant is not as demanding in terms of
labour as compared to tea or dairy farming. Aphids and white flies can be a big
problem though if not well dealt with.
“If you just weed the land and ensure that you control the
pesticides, one plant of this grafted tree tomatoes will give you an average of
7kg per month that is about sh. 600 from each tree monthly,” he adds.
Mwangi showing the bug weed that is usually grafted with tree tomato seedlings to make it hardy. |
He adds that compared to the normal tree tomatoes, those
grafted with the bug weed are drought resistant and can survive for some time
without water since they are deep-rooted. Their fruits are also heavier.
“I would like to encourage farmers and the youth who can
access land anywhere to venture into tree tomato farming and especially the
grafted ones as this is one of the best ways to earn money. The other species
needs a lot of water to enable them bear large fruits and survive especially during
dry seasons. Grafting tree tomato with an indigenous tree known as Muthakwa in
Kikuyu (bug weed) makes it more resistant to the dry conditions. Muthakwa-grafted
tree tomatoes bear fruits all-year round with a single tree producing between
50kg and 85kg in six months. The fruits are picked after every two weeks and
can survive for 10 years,” he explains.
He now plans to increase the tree tomato acreage to grow at
least 1,000 more seedlings this year.
His Parting Shot?
“There is great wealth in farming. If I am asked to choose
today between farming and any other form of business, I will still go for
farming as its fruits are so sweet. For the youth out there who are still
tarmacking looking for jobs, just try farming and you will never regret. Don't
scratch your head saying there are no jobs. You can achieve your goals in life
with exactly what you have now. Success only goes to those who have taken an
initiative.”
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