Sweet deal in red pepper

They call him Mkorino wa Pilipili and Samuel Ndichu likes it for he stands out among farmers in Lamu County.

Getting into red pepper business was the last thing he thought he would ever do. Ndichu always wanted to be a grower but fate pushed him into growing cayenne pepper.

In 2005, the farmer bought three acres of land in Kipini, where he had planned to move to from Mkinduni and grow maize.

Elders, however, allocated him land bordering a forest that is infested with wild animals, including elephants.

This made it difficult for him to grow the maize. However, giving up was not an option for him. Ndichu went into pepper farming after learning that baboons and elephants keep off the crop.

“A friend advised me that pepper was the only crop that wild animals would not touch. This encouraged me to plant it,” he recalls.

NCOURAGED

“My friend had planted pepper on his farm to help ward off wild animals from other plants. He demonstrated to me the way to grow the crop and I was impressed.”

Since then, he has never turned back. He now produces pepper that he describes as “sweet, spicy and hot”.

According to him, pepper is easy to grow and preserve as long as the climatic conditions are favourable.

“My first harvest was bumper, thanks to my friend’s guidance. He later helped me find market when I thought I would make losses. This encouraged me,” narrates the farmer, adding that pepper matures into scarlet red in about 70 days.

His start-up capital was Sh2,000, which he used to buy seeds and plant with the help of his wife Monica Wanjiku.

Wanjiku says they harvest up to 600 kilos of green pepper and about 400 kilos of scarlet red pepper in two-and-a-half months.

After planting, the crop can be harvested for two years before another is grown.

“We practise rotational farming to improve soil quality. We do not inter-crop pepper with maize or sim-sim since it grows well on its own,” she explains.

At their farm, they have a nursery where they plant pepper seeds before transferring the seedlings to the main farm.

“You have to take good care of the young crops in the nursery to avoid losses. In our case, we have used mosquito nets to cover the nursery because we do not have other material. The nets keep out birds and other predators”.

Pepper farming has spared Ndichu the competition he would faced growing maize.

“Pepper earns me a living. People used to tell me I would not get market, now they have seen it is a profitable venture.”

Mr Ndichu earns Sh200,000, from a tonne of pepper. Prices range between Sh150 and Sh180 a kilo.

Among the challenges he faces are high cost of fertiliser and pesticides.

He also wishes that the government would introduce agricultural extension officers in the pepper sector to help farmers benefit from the crop.

“We need experts to advise us on best practice and how to use pesticides. Sometimes pests attack my crop and the only thing I think of doing is to uproot them,” he says.

Mr Ndichu trains other farmers to help them join the business.

“If we have many people growing the crop, it would be easier for buyers to come and buy the produce from farm. This will save me transport costs that I incur by taking my produce to the market,” he says.

The farmer sells his produce in Mombasa, Nairobi and Mpeketoni.

Currently, he has over 10 bags of dry pepper that he plans to sell when supply decreases in coming weeks.

MAXIMISE

“I’m not in a hurry to sell the stock. I am going to be patient so that I can reap more,” he says.

Ndichu plans to increase the size of his farm and sink a borehole to irrigate the crop so that he stops relying on rain.

Mtwapa-based Kenya Agricultural Research Institute horticultural researcher Francis Munui says harsh weather is a great enemy of pepper.

“Pepper, like any other crop is delicate. If rains disappear, the crop gets affected. To maximise on yields and prevent post-harvest losses, farmers need to be trained on value addition since pepper is perishable,’’ he notes.

The institution offers training on horticulture farming upon request.