Farmers abandon sugar cane, reap big from pawpaw farming

Farmers in parts of Western have abandoned sugar cane for the more lucrative pawpaw farming.

Some 2,000 farmers who now grow pawpaw in Mumias West subcounty of Kakamega say the fruit is more profitable as compared to cane.

They are growing an improved variety that only takes three months to start producing fruit.

The variety takes three weeks to germinate compared to the indigenous pawpaw which takes about 11 weeks.

Silas Lutomia, on Monday said he ventured into the business two years ago after making huge losses in cane farming following the collapse of Mumias Sugar Company.

“I was introduced to pawpaw farming by a friend who has been in the business for the past five years. He told me the business was paying well,” Lutomia said.

 Lutomia spent about Sh5,400 to buy 100g of improved pawpaw seeds of Malkia F1 variey. The variety is imported from Thailand. 

He planted the seeds in a seedbed and after three weeks the seedlings were ready for transplanting

“Farmers should prepare land well, dig a two-feet deep hole and space them five feet from apart,” he said. 

After21 days, the farmer should fill the holes with farmyard manure and plant the seedlings after a week, Lutomia said.

After six months Lutomia harvested bout 800kgs from the 200 seedlings he had planted on a one-acre piece.

He sold each kilo at Sh200, making a Sh160,000 from the produce. 

After the first yield, a farmer will go on harvesting pawpaws thrice in a year for five years.

“I have five acres of land under pawpaw plantation that has 1,000 seedlings. With them, I will make Sh200,000 every three months,” Lutomia said.

Due to an increased demand for the fruits, he encouraged his neighbours to venture into the business and is supplying them with seedlings. 

Lutomia says he and other farmers in the region plan to expand the pawpaw business in the region to reduce imports from Uganda and Tanzania.

Already, twenty farmers have been recruited into the business each with at least an acre of land for the project.

Zadock Omondi, another pawpaw farmer also from Mumias West subcounty, said he gets Sh450,000 yearly from the venture.

“With the business, I am now able to sustain my family needs,” Omondi said.

Omondi planted the Royale F1 variety on his four-acre piece of land. He said nothing goes to waste with the pawpaw fruit.

Apart from selling the fruit, farmers can also obtain pawpaw latex, an ingredient used in the pharmaceutical industry and in making detergent.

 “In every five kilos of pawpaw fruits harvested, we get one litre of pawpaw latex which we sell at Sh200,” Omondi said.

Francis Okwemba, a co-director at Kenya Papaya Products in Vihiga county, says pawpaw farmers organised and set up a factory that produces bread jam and a beverage from the pawpaw.

The plant began operations on August 15. 

Okwemba said pawpaw jam is very nutritious as it contains vitamins B and C and minerals like potassium, magnesium and copper.

He said that oil extracted from pawpaw seeds is used as an anti-ageing agent and also as a food additive.

To get pawpaw jam, fresh pawpaws are cleaned, peeled and then crushed into pulp. The juice is filtered, pasteurised and then mixed with honey which acts as a preservative.

“We also add lingzhi mushroom to the jam for medicinal purposes,” he added.

The papaya products are produced in quantities of 500g and 200g that go for Sh250 and Sh100 in the Kenyan market.

However, when they are exported in China, it’s sold at Sh1,200 and in the United States at Sh1,500.

Okwemba said that women experiencing period problems due to hormonal imbalance in the body should try pawpaw jam and its product.

“Lingzhi mushroom is used for treating fungal infections and cancer. Pawpaw leaves are used in producing a beverage which helps in the treatment of high blood pressure,” Okwemba added.

Papain enzyme in pawpaw is good for treating cancer when mixed with lingzhi mushroom, he said.