Green house farming in Ukambani is commonly known for tomato and capsicum growing, but farmers in the region are slowly abandoning tomatoes to venture into pepper growing.
On a tour of Nzaui in Makueni county, we meet 35-year-old Lawrence Nyamai, who quit tomato farming one year ago and has never looked back.
Nyamai is a member of a 15-member group which owns seven green houses at Kwa Kakulu Youth Polytechnic in Nzaui. He says pepper farming has opened a new chapter in their lives.
They grow the Scott Bonnet pepper variety which is 3,000 times hotter than the ordinary pepper and is known to manufacture teargas. Nyamai says the variety is so hot that the locals do not consume and only grow it for export.
“This variety is never consumed locally as it is 3,000 times hotter than ordinary pepper so we grow it for export only,” says Nyamai as he takes us inside one of the green houses and is careful not to break any of the plants which are looking red-ripe and ready for harvest.
He says they export the crop to Holland and fetch a tidy sum of Sh120 per kilogramme as compared to ordinary pepper which go for between Sh30 and Sh40 in the local market.
When planting, Nyamai says he first digs holes to a depth of about two feet and adds some compost manure. He then prepares raised beds which work well for drip irrigation and waits for three days before he begins watering the seeds.
“After sprouting, the seedlings are then taken from the nursery and planted. It is advisable to use DAP fertiliser while planting,” says Nyamai, citing that spacing of the plants must be maintained at 60cm by 60cm leaving a space of one metre between the lines.
He explains that the crop takes three months to mature and is harvested once the chilli changes colour from green to red. About 300 seedlings, he says, are planted in each green house and he is able to harvest 100 kilogrammes a week.
Harvesting is usually done for three months consecutively before the plant is uprooted and a new one planted.
“Some of the expenses involved include the purchase of the greenhouses, setting up of an irrigation system and crop pests. One greenhouse can cost around Sh200, 000 and another Sh50,000 for setting up an irrigation system, but the returns made are good for the ,” he says.
Nyamai adds that growing of the crop in green houses ensures minimised attacks by crop pests and diseases, but the hot pepper is sometimes affected by thrips, a problem which is manageable with the use of appropriate pesticides.
Gideon Mwonglela, an agronomist working with Woni Vegetable Exporters, says the fruit size of the Scott Bonnet variety is bigger compared to the ordinary pepper.
He affirms that the variety is indeed 3,000 times hotter than ordinary pepper and can even be poisonous, and that the size and the hotness makes it fetch better prices in the market.
According to Mwonglela, the company supplies farmers with the seeds, trains them on how to do the planting and markets the crop for them.
“Woni Exporters provide the farmers with seeds and offer technical expertise to ensure that they export the best quality of the pepper,” he says.
Others who have offered technical and financial support to the farmers include USAID and the Kenya Horticulture Competiveness Project.
