How cassava protects my pineapples from pests

Reinson Kambi, a pineapple farmer in Marafa, Kilifi county, displays a sucker he uses to plant in his 30 acre piece of land. He intercrops his pineapples with other root crops, to protect them from rodents and pests. According to him, the crop is drought resistant and does well in arid and semi arid areas. PHOTO | CHARLES LWANGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • He cultivates the land during the sunny season in January and plants the seedlings that he extracts from pineapple suckers.
  • Pineapple being drought-resistant can withstand harsh weather conditions such as high temperatures, strong winds and drought.
  • The cassava normally helps to divert the attention of pests like wild pigs, birds and rats from attacking the suckers and later the fruit,” he says, adding the wild pigs and rats feed on the cassava thereby sparing the fruit.
  • If the crop is well taken care of, a farmer can harvest about 14 tonnes of pineapples from an acre.

Reinson Kambi’s pineapple plantation lies about 50km from Malindi town in the semi-arid Marafa location in Kilifi County.

Tall coconut trees whizz past as we drive past the Sabaki bridge to the dusty murram roads that lead to the farm, where we find eight workers weeding the pineapples growing on 30 acres.

“I chose pineapples three years ago because they do not require intensive care like other crops, particularly in such an environment,” says Kambi.

Pineapple being drought-resistant can withstand harsh weather conditions such as high temperatures, strong winds and drought.

“It is hard to grow any other crop here. We are still waiting for rains that we last saw in March. It only rained twice here that time.”

He cultivates the land during the sunny season in January and plants the seedlings that he extracts from pineapple suckers.

“I plant them in a 10-15cm deep hole, spaced 30cm to 60cm apart without inorganic fertiliser. I then mulch the crops with dry grass to reduce evaporation.

Later, I add organic manure to boost nutrients, especially if leaves have a reddish, purple tinge indicating that the crop is starving.”

Kambi, who is the area’s Member of County Assembly, says to reduce pests and diseases, he normally plants cassavas between the suckers.

“The cassava normally helps to divert the attention of pests like wild pigs, birds and rats from attacking the suckers and later the fruit,” he says, adding the wild pigs and rats feed on the cassava thereby sparing the fruit.

“We also erect scarecrows and sometimes manually chase away rodents and birds that try to attack the crop.”

INTERCROPPED WITH OTHER CROPS TO PREVENT PESTS

Other than cassava, bananas and sweet potatoes can be intercropped with the crop to prevent pests and rodents attack.

“Root crops such as cassava and sweet potatoes keep away rodents such as mice and animals like warthogs, while birds attack the ripening banana fruits sparing the pineapple,” he says.

However, cassavas or bananas do not protect pineapple from diseases like water blister that attack fruiting crops changing the colour of leaves to yellow or light coppery brown.

“These diseases are controlled by fungicides if detected earlier,” he says.

Wycliffe Obwoge, an agronomist from Amiran, says to grow pineapples, the planting bed is prepared by mixing the soil with organic manure.

“Suckers are then planted 30 to 60cm apart, and drip irrigation may be applied,” he says, adding that the suckers take approximately six months to begin fruiting.

“Once they have passed the tender seedling stage, their roots go deeper into the ground searching for water and nutrients by themselves,” says Obwoge.

He notes that there are two ways of intercropping to prevent rodents, although the method is not effective in preventing pests such as mites and disease attack.

“One can divide the arable land into portions, grow cassavas, bananas or sweet potatoes on one side and pineapples on the other side,” he explains, adding unfortunately this sometimes can bring other pests and disease infection.”

Last month, Kambi planted 250,000 suckers on 15 acres after harvesting the produce and he is currently readying to plant the rest.

FUNGAL DISEASE

“I plant about 10,000 suckers on each acre and harvest about 2,500 in a week when they mature, normally at different times. After five years, the suckers would have grown old and unproductive. I have figured out that I will move to oranges and mangoes, which also grow well in dry areas.”

He earns up to Sh100,000 from a single harvest after selling the fruits to traders, who transport them to as far as Nairobi.

“Sometimes I also sell them in open air market at Sh40 per pineapple. I sell the single fruits mostly to fruit vendors,” says Kambi, noting that he visits the farm thrice a week to check on the crop’s progress.

Kambi, a father of eight, says pineapple farming is well-paying since a single sucker can produce fruits several times for up to five years before it grows old.

“Once the crop is mature and ready for harvesting, one can make up to Sh500,000 per month from selling the fruit.”

According to Obwoge, although pineapple is a drought-resistant crop and does not require intensive care, it is attacked by pests such as caterpillars, beetles and mites.

“Fungal diseases also attack the crop causing colour change in leaves and eventually death.” he says, adding sometimes you might need to pluck the fruit or even uproot the sucker to avoid infecting other crops in the farm.

If the crop is well taken care of, a farmer can harvest about 14 tonnes of pineapples from an acre.