Welcome to my crops ‘supermarket’

Mr Abraham Kutswa explains how he has been able to raise Irish potatoes on his farm. He makes up to Sh40, 000 in a good month from the farm proceeds. PHOTO |JOHN SHILITSA

What you need to know:

  • A farmer is advised to harvest cucumbers once after every three days consecutively for two months.
  • Kutswa, 32, developed an interest in farming in 2005 following training and exposure visits, courtesy of government sponsored agri-business programmes targeting small-scale farmers.

You can call it a crops’ supermarket. That is what Abraham Kutswa’s farm resembles.

Just as in a retail outlet, where you can find any product you want, on Kutswa’s farm, one gets a variety of crops that include fruits, vegetables and potatoes.

“I grow many crops. Yes, I will not dispute, my farm is no different from a supermarket.”

Kutswa plants melons, cucumber, Irish potatoes, bananas, indigenous vegetables, passion fruits, pepper, orange fleshed sweet potatoes and cassava on his one-and-half acre farm, which he has divided into different parts.

The farmer also practises bee-keeping, where he has 10 hives and dairy farming, which he has just ventured into.

“The cucumbers will be ready for harvesting next week. They take 45 days to mature, but one can harvest for up to 60 days,” says Kutswa, who is based in Khwisero, Kakamega County.

A farmer is advised to harvest cucumbers once after every three days consecutively for two months.

He grows cucumbers and watermelons in a greenhouse, which he put up at a cost of Sh225,000.

“I have received an order to supply 400kg of pepper. I will be able to meet the target because the crop only takes 60 days to mature. There is a huge market for pepper within the county,” says Kutswa, who has a nursery where he grows pepper seedlings, which he also sells. 

During the dry season, he uses a Money Maker pump to irrigate the crops. 

“This ensures that I harvest my crops all the year round. I water the cucumbers, watermelons, pepper and potatoes using the pump.”

The crops, he says, have better yields than sugarcane or maize, which farmers grow in the area, because they are tolerant to diseases and are not labour intensive. 

“I keep on wondering why farmers still grow sugarcane and maize yet they do not earn much. They can do better with these short season crops.”

A smallholder farmer, advises Kutswa, can become self-reliant by planting early maturing crops and using the money earned to buy maize and beans without taking the trouble of growing them.

In a good month, Kutswa earns over Sh40,000 from the crops.

“Farming takes care of all my family’s needs, including taking children to school. I also pay fees for some relatives,” says the former Kampala International University clinical medicine student.

Kutswa, 32, developed an interest in farming in 2005 following training and exposure visits, courtesy of government sponsored agri-business programmes targeting small-scale farmers.

Some 40 farmers from Khwisero benefited from the initiatives.

Recently, Bukura Agriculture Training College supplied Kutswa and other farmers with certified banana suckers. 

“The first harvest gave me 70 pieces that fetched between Sh400 and Sh500 each. I expect better yields during the second harvest,” he says.

“I have been requested to supply Khwisero Empowerment Youth Network group with hundreds of the tissue culture banana suckers.”  He grows Williams variety, which is high-yielding and resistant to diseases.

Kutswa, currently the chairperson of Khwisero District Smallholder Farmers Network, which comprises 40 members, among them 25 women, is spearheading Sh5 million World Bank grant banana project under the Western Kenya Community Driven and Flood Mitigation Programme. The money will be used to put up a mini-banana processing plant at Khwisero market.

“This plant will create job opportunities not only for farmers, but also for locals. Farmers in other sub-counties will also benefit.”

With a processing plant in the area, smallholder farmers venturing into banana farming will be able to add value to their produce and realise higher profits. 
“Our vision is to become a leading processor in the county and beyond,” says Kutswa, who dropped out of college and saw an opportunity in farming.
The farmer has leased land to expand his business.

“I hope to go back to college and study management to be able to manage my business professionally,” he says.

“I am grateful that I made a bold move, otherwise, I would now still be in Mombasa working for people. I am now happy that I work for myself, having started with Sh200 growing sukuma wiki (kale).”