5 tips on sweet potatoes farming in Kenya.
You must admit that as a farmer finding a low cost plant is a good option to keep your farming venture going. As a farmer you must always be on the lookout om the next thing if not big. Sweet potato farming offers a relieve to the soil and replenishes soil fertility. Convectional farming method advices farmers to always rotate crop with either tubers, legumes and other deep rooted crops to help in soil aeration and soil structure improvement. Sweet potato is a bread substitute in and Kenya therefore ranks highly in terms demand.
Here is a list of key items to put in mind when planning a season on sweet potatoes.
Land Selection
Your production will directly be affected the land you choose to grow your crop, it is therefore prudent to take time and select the best option for optimal production. Sweet potatoes require well drained soils and free soils, a PH of 6.0 and temperatures of above 24 degrees. Land that has had too much fertilizer or acidity do not yield well. One should also select at least an acre for commercial viability of your crop, remember for you to attract bulk buyers your harvest should be sufficient to fill big trucks e.g. an isuzu FH lorry.
Land preparation
Once you have selected the suitable parcel of land to use, making it ready for planting is the next thing. Sweet potatoes require ridges that molded with soil on both sides, this method ensures your crop has sufficient room for tuber creation. If you have chosen zero tillage method, you can directly create the ridges without ploughing your land a week before planting to allow for soil to loosen and weeds to dry if any.
Seed(splits) selection
Seeds or splits are either found within your farming network, make sure to always check out from your fellow farmers or within the networks. The best two varieties is either the white variety(traditional) or the Bungoma variety. You will require 4 bags of splits @ KSH 500 each, the key here is getting splits of approximately one feet(30cm) to maximize on the number. However, traders sometimes prefer Bungoma variety because of the long shelf life. As farmer it is also very prolific thus giving you maximum profits.
Crop Husbandry
The requisite critical care includes weeding, spraying and molding the ridges again once the crop is about a foot tall or one month old. One should spray in intervals of three weeks for three times(mandatory) to avoid infestation of sweet potato weevil. Some of the recommended pesticides in Kenya includes, oshothion, alpahtox and ranger.
Marketing
Getting produce to the market is ultimate action to a farmer as this translates your Aligning yourself to get market and possibly a good price should be a continuous process. The option available include local markets, through digital platforms, businessmen and direct customers. My advice for every farmer is to visit the market often or keep in touch with the buyers so that they can book your product beforehand. There a Kiswahili saying that says “ Chema chajiuza, kibaya cha jitembeza” meaning a good product will attract buyers. Make sure you give your crop the best to get best results.
You must admit that as a farmer finding a low cost plant is a good option to keep your farming venture going. As a farmer you must always be on the lookout om the next thing if not big. Sweet potato farming offers a relieve to the soil and replenishes soil fertility. Convectional farming method advices farmers to always rotate crop with either tubers, legumes and other deep rooted crops to help in soil aeration and soil structure improvement. Sweet potato is a bread substitute in and Kenya therefore ranks highly in terms demand.
Here is a list of key items to put in mind when planning a season on sweet potatoes.
Land Selection
Your production will directly be affected the land you choose to grow your crop, it is therefore prudent to take time and select the best option for optimal production. Sweet potatoes require well drained soils and free soils, a PH of 6.0 and temperatures of above 24 degrees. Land that has had too much fertilizer or acidity do not yield well. One should also select at least an acre for commercial viability of your crop, remember for you to attract bulk buyers your harvest should be sufficient to fill big trucks e.g. an isuzu FH lorry.Land preparation
Once you have selected the suitable parcel of land to use, making it ready for planting is the next thing. Sweet potatoes require ridges that molded with soil on both sides, this method ensures your crop has sufficient room for tuber creation. If you have chosen zero tillage method, you can directly create the ridges without ploughing your land a week before planting to allow for soil to loosen and weeds to dry if any.
Seed(splits) selection
Seeds or splits are either found within your farming network, make sure to always check out from your fellow farmers or within the networks. The best two varieties is either the white variety(traditional) or the Bungoma variety. You will require 4 bags of splits @ KSH 500 each, the key here is getting splits of approximately one feet(30cm) to maximize on the number. However, traders sometimes prefer Bungoma variety because of the long shelf life. As farmer it is also very prolific thus giving you maximum profits.
Crop Husbandry
The requisite critical care includes weeding, spraying and molding the ridges again once the crop is about a foot tall or one month old. One should spray in intervals of three weeks for three times(mandatory) to avoid infestation of sweet potato weevil. Some of the recommended pesticides in Kenya includes, oshothion, alpahtox and ranger.Getting produce to the market is ultimate action to a farmer as this translates your Aligning yourself to get market and possibly a good price should be a continuous process. The option available include local markets, through digital platforms, businessmen and direct customers. My advice for every farmer is to visit the market often or keep in touch with the buyers so that they can book your product beforehand. There a Kiswahili saying that says “ Chema chajiuza, kibaya cha jitembeza” meaning a good product will attract buyers. Make sure you give your crop the best to get best results.
Very helpful insights.Most of us look forward to starting a farming venture at some point.This article will come in handy
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking time to read the article, starting small is key, but starting is even more important
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