Macadamia small-scale macadamia farmers eye better returns

By , K24 Digital
On Fri, 26 Jul, 2019 00:00 | < 1 min read
Macadamia. Photo/File
Nicholas Waitathu @PeopleDailyKe

Small-scale macadamia farmers will record better returns following the signing of a partnership that will avail them certified and high-yielding seedlings.

Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) is partnering with private sector players to enhance provision to farmers new varieties that suit different ecological zones.

The State agency yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with Equatorial Nut Processors Ltd to promote nut productivity in the country. Karlo Director General Eliud Kireger said the biggest challenge facing productivity in the nut industry is that farmers use poor inputs and varieties.

Superior clones

“We have scanty knowledge on suitability of superior clones for different zones, and often do not apply agronomic processes and technologies for effective pest and disease management,” he said.

Further, the nuts industry, he said, is grappling with malpractices such as pre-mature harvesting of nuts, poor harvest and post-harvest procedures are also a challenge.

Being a low-input crop, macadamia is grown by more than 100,000 smallholder macadamia farmers and pockets of large-scale farms across the country producing slightly more than 40,000 tonnes supplying to over 25 processors.

Equatorial Chief Executive Officer Moses Mwangi said his company processes more than 10,000 tonnes and plans to increase the quantity as farmers start accessing high yielding seedlings.

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