Fruit trees for arid and semi-arid areas

Roda Ogake a paw paw farmer checks some of her fruits at her Riosiri home in Kisii County. [Sammy Omingo, Standard]

Commonly referred to as paipai (Swahili). Pawpaw grows very fast and may reach a height of 3 to 10m, but in semi-arid areas, supplementary irrigation is necessary to ensure that it is not short lived. This means it doesn't last longer than two or three years. Propagation of Pawpaw plants are usually produced by seed. They may also be produced through grafting or using root cuttings. Some farmers will graft female plants onto male ones to increase the number of productive trees. Each fruit has 300-700 seeds and there are approximately 20,000 seeds per kilogramme. Seeds need to be washed to remove the gelatinous aril and dried slightly. Fresh seeds should germinate within 2-3 weeks. Pawpaws require a hot climate with optimum temperature between 26-30oC. Pawpaws require adequate rain that is evenly distributed of 1000 to 1500mm annually. Lack of moisture over a prolonged period will result in decreased growth and production.

Dragon fruit

Also known as Pitayas, dragon fruit is becoming popular in Kenya due to it attractive market prices. The demand is high especially from Kenyans of Asian origin and Chinese. It contains phosphorus and potassium which encourage flowering and fruiting. The dragon fruit requires no less than 8 hours of open sun, with an average temperature range of 15 to 25C, a characteristic that makes it suitable for arid and semi-arid regions. Besides the fruits, other parts of Pitaya are edible. The roots, flowers and peels can be used to prepare herbal tea. The fruit takes 27 to 30 days to maturity.

Mangoes

Mango trees are drought tolerant and they grow best in full sunlight. Mango also does best on the average annual temperature of between 15 to 30 degrees centigrade. Annual rainfall of 850 to 1000mm is sufficient for mango cultivation. It should be noted that rainfall during the flowering season reduces fruit set. After the plant is well established it can tolerate drought especially when its tap root reaches the water table.