Six months? No way, I grow seeds in two weeks

All he wanted when he ventured into the lucrative onion farming four years ago was to reap like the people around him in Nyeri, who were growing the crop and selling in the town and beyond.

But Moses Githaiga has found more than he was looking for. The 30-year-old now grows onions and produces seeds that he sells to other farmers.

The farmer started with farming red bulb onions before he shifted to garlic seeds production. He would source garlic from Narok and Nakuru counties to sell in Nyeri and Nyahururu.

However, farmers were more interested in garlic seeds.

“They kept on asking me for seeds, which I had no idea where to get them,” says Githaiga.

However, having identified the gap, Githaiga decided to go into garlic seeds production.

“I knew this was going to be a lucrative venture for me. But there was a problem. As I started on the journey, I went to agrovet shops in Nyeri looking for the seeds but my efforts were futile,” explains Githaiga, who was referred to Nairobi.

He later bought 20kg of fresh garlic for planting as advised by an agrovet. The anxiety with which he patiently waited for the seeds to sprout was too much.

“The realisation that I would have to wait for more than six months was agonising,” says Githaiga.

“I learnt that garlic has a dormancy period of eight months. Before then, the seeds cannot germinate.”

HORMONE

In the quest to shorten the dormancy period, the farmer went in search of information from the internet.

He came across a chemical, a bio-stimulant hormone, which broke the dormancy and helped the seeds to germinate in two weeks.

Githaiga prepared his three-acre piece of land to grow the seeds.

“They did well. The chemical helped me shorten the period to produce the seeds,” says Githaiga, who now produces garlic seeds for other farmers.

“I have done this for two years now. I have mastered the art. I now sell the seeds to farmers across the country.”

To make the seeds, he explains, one buys or harvests the garlic onion and then it is dried in the sun for one month before being disinfected in chlorine.

The next step is to clean the onion bulbs using organic soap. The purpose for doing this is to wash away the disinfectant and dirt.

After the cleaning, it is important to prevent mould formation on ‘bruised’ onions. Organic salt is used to do the work.

Thereafter, the bio stimulant is mixed with water and the onions immersed in the solution for 12 hours.

From there, the onions are stored in a room whose temperature should be controlled to 20 degrees Celcius.

“It is very important to control the temperature for germination to take place.”

The treated onions are left in the room for two weeks before they are then dried in the sun for two days.

The garlic bulb seeds are ready for splitting into parts called cloves. He has employed 10 women to do the work. He splits 100kg of the seeds in a month.

When the work is done, he is ready to supply the germinated garlic bulbs to farmers. A germinated garlic clove, after the entire process, will have a shoot.

Githaiga says an acre of garlic produces 4,000kg bringing him good earnings yet he spends only Sh100, 000 an acre to produce the seeds.

“But since the demand is so big I still buy the seeds from farmers and treat them. I buy a kilo at Sh350 and sell at between Sh450 and Sh500.”
Githaiga notes garlic plants need fertiliser like CAN and NPK1717 to boost the yield.

However, he adds that some diseases like blight and rust may affect the plants in the farm, therefore, appropriate pesticides like Ortiva should be used to prevent rust and Ridomil to curb blight.

Kinyua Kamaru, the Assistant Director in the Ministry of Agriculture says that the use of bio-stimulant is a good idea when the intention is to break the dormancy of garlic.

“But anyone producing seeds must ensure the company goes through a certification process. It is important for enhancing quality,” says Kamaru, adding that the use of pesticides is a helpful to keep the garlic in good condition.