BARINGO COUNTY: Even after losing a lot of money in trial and error ventures, Paul Kendagor would not stop experimenting with farming. His latest passion is grafted mangoes of which he is a pioneer in his Noiwet Village, Mogotio sub-county in Baringo County.
When grafted mangoes were introduced in the area in 1980s, he was one of the first farmers to register and received a few seedlings, which he multiplied to 300 plants.
“I was among the first farmers to come on board. Many tried their hand but gave up along the way. I chose to remain focused and determined,” he says.
Much as he is now successful, he says the journey has not been easy.
Because of inadequate experience, he was forced, at one time, to uproot more than 30 mangoes due to poor spacing as recommended by experts.
“I suffered huge losses I had to start from square one.”
With the assistance of the Ministry of Agriculture, which organised field days, he learnt how to prepare a thriving mango orchard.
“You have to do everything right from the planting stage to maturity level,” says the farmer whose farm hosts district field days annually.
Kendagor’s mango orchard covers two acres; one of the biggest in Noiwet Village, where he is the pioneer of grafted mango farming.
“With no previous experience, I had to depend on a distant advisor, who would tell me which pesticides to apply and how to mix it. This greatly affected the mangoes productivity in the beginning so output was very low,” he explains. But as he perfected his art, the yields also improved.
Since the year 2000, he says, his mango harvests have increased with one mango tree bearing more than 100 fruits.
“Being the only mango farmer in my village, I got clients as far as Kabartonjo, Nakuru, Eldama Ravine among other parts of the country,” he says.
He sells a bag of 90kg of mangoes at Sh1,500 wholesale price and a single mango fruit at Sh5. With his 200 mango trees, he harvests the fruit three times in a year raking in more than Sh300,000 per year.
“This is what feeds my family and educates my children,” he says.
To boost his earnings, he inter-crops the mangoes with other food crops.
Stay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter
Initially, Kendagor had to transport his mangoes to Mogotio and Emining markets on a bicycle.
Today, most of his clients come for the fruits at his farm.
With the experience he has gained, other than training farmers, he is constantly consulted by colleagues from his village and beyond.
He also grafts mangoes and sells the grafted seedlings to customers at Sh1,000.
“Growing mangoes has now become part of my life and I do not regret joining this business. I have benefited and gained fame in my community and the entire Mogotio sub-county,” says the farmer.
Because of his expertise, many community members, agricultural officials from the county and beyond, visit his farm to learn about best practice.
The best thing about mangoes, he says, is the fact that growing the fruit does not affect production of companion crops like beans, ground nuts, maize, cassava and sweet potatoes.
To increase his farm yield, he has also bought a water pump to irrigate the trees during the dry season.
The farmer has diversified into bee keeping in a bid to boost his earnings. Kendagor is the proud owner of 80 bee hives, which supply him with plenty of honey and wax for sale.
In 1989, he used the proceeds from sale of honey to construct a three-bedroom house, inclusive of kitchen and dining area.
“I sold several kilograms of honey worth Sh120,000, which was a lot of money then. I sold a smaller ratio in 1984 and purchased a bicycle,” he says.
At the moment, he can harvest up to 800kgs annually with a kilo selling at Sh375.
While being the only mango farmer in the village has got its advantages, it has also got its disadvantages.
“Some customers want mangoes in large quantities, which I cannot supply,” he says. He is now trying to mobilise other farmers in the area to take up mango farming.
Kendagor says the major challenges of mango growing are natural factors.
For instance, when the soils are too fertile, the flowers tend to drop at an early stage and this affects the yield.
Mangoes require a lot of care and the farmer has to be patient because the fruits take too long to mature and start yielding. Grafted mangoes take about two years before the first harvest.
He says one has to keep pruning whenever the mangoes stop production.
Pruning, according the 70-year-old farmer, enables the tree to get enough sunlight, which is important for germination.
“Mangoes are generally affected by fruit flies, which pierce and lay eggs on them, leading to rotting. A farmer must be keen when spraying especially when the mangoes are mature. If you do not spray every fortnight, the mangoes will get diseased,” he explains.
According to him, mangoes also occupy lots of land, thus one needs to have enough land to practice mixed farming. To prevent pests and diseases, rotten mangoes should be picked from the farm and buried.