High profits from crops they neither know nor eat

By Maore Ithula and Agencies

It is friendly overthrow of traditional farming methods that farmers in parts of Meru region have embraced with open arms.

Agents who represent horticultural exporters have introduced crops unknown to the region and are paying farmers handsomely to grow them.

Farmer’s whose land has been leased do not know the names of the crops nor do they consume them, their only motivation is the cash they are paid by the agents who harvest and take them away.

In Meru Central District, the agent of a horticultural exporter has been knocking on the doors of farmers who have large tracts of land and offering them seedlings of a vegetable crop they had never seen before.

The agent leases a half an acre of land for Sh4,000, pays the farmer Sh3,000 to prepare the parcel and provides fertiliser.

After six months, the agent returns to harvest the crop and then buys the produce at Sh100 per kilo. On top of that, the farmer will earn a bonus of Sh150 per kilo produced in a year.

Over 100 contracted farmers in Kithirune West location, Meru Central District, have been laughing all the way to the bank.

Popular vegetable

In this village, situated at the base of Mt Kenya forest, 10 kilometres from Nkubu town, the farmers do not know what artichoke, a vegetable that is popular in Mediterranean countries, is.

Early year, Meru Green, a little known fresh produce exporter, introduced this seemingly strange crop in the area.

Tending the crop, Peter Mwenda who is also a teacher at Kithirune Girls Secondary School, says: "At first I thought extension officers and agents from Meru Green were joking. But after they gave me Sh2,000 as a token lease to my of land, I started taking them seriously."

Before the officers left, Mwenda says, he was advised to prepare terraces on the leased part of his land. The officers came later with seedlings of artichoke and planted them.

"Before planting they paid me another Sh1,500 for preparing the land," he says.

He continues: "They brought with them manure and fertiliser which they applied when planting the crop. For six months, every month, they sent someone to spray the crop and paid me Sh1,500 per month for weeding the land where artichoke is growing," he says.

Human consumption

Mwenda, fellow farmers and residents of this area do not know what the crop is or where it is taken after it is harvested. However, the agents tell them it (artichoke) is for human consumption although even the agents have no idea how it is cooked.

Mwenda and other farmers say the agents from Meru Green told them artichoke is so delicious that if people are taught how to cook it, farmers will have a hard time controlling human pests.

Mwenda and others are grudgingly contented with these assurances. Besides, production of the crop is better paying than any other crop ever farmed in the area, even coffee, they say.

On the other hand, Kithirune villagers say, livestock eat leaves and stems of both artichoke and the weeds from where it is grown.

But what is artichoke? Mwenda and the ordinary folk at Kithirune simply refer to the crop in Kimeru language as riua, (flower).

Zachary Muthomi the Meru Green director and founder does not want to speak much about the crop. But the retired agricultural officer says artichoke (Cynara cardunculus) is a perennial crop of the thistle (with prickly leaves) species.

He says this is the first time the crop is being produced in the country but declines to talk about the intricacies of his business before it takes off.

For export

A check confirms that Meru Green is cleared by the Horticultural Crop Development Authority and the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services to deal in artichoke and other crops. It is one of many horticultural crops being grown locally purely for export.

"I do not wish to discuss this business in detail because am not sure whether it will be in my interest. We are trying to identify which species of the crop can do better in this region before we talk of the source of the crop or the fresh produce thereafter," he said as showed legal documents of his trade hanging on his office wall at Gatimbi Market.

Independent research on the Internet reveals that artichoke has its origin in Southern Europe. The plant grows to between 1.5 and two meters tall.

It has arching, lobed, green leaves that are between 50 and 85 centimetres long.

Edible bud

Its flowers develop in a large head around an edible bud that is about eight to 15 centimetres in diameter with numerous triangular scales.

The edible portion of the buds consists of the fleshy lower portions of the fleshy leaf.

More information indicates that the plant is low in saturated fats, cholesterol and sodium.

Specialists say artichoke has been shown to improve digestion, liver function, and help lower high cholesterol levels and prevent heart disease.