Fruit farmers across the globe are now adopting Top Working to maximize their yields. Top Working is a technique that involves grafting established trees to another superior variety suitable for domestic or export markets or the desired variety of the grower.
The top working technique is used in fruits like Mango, Cashew, Guava, and Jackfruit, among others. Many farmers who have tried this technique have confirmed it’s the real deal for anyone looking for huge profits in fruit farming.
Boniface Otieno from Bondo, Siaya County, is one of the few farmers in the country practicing Top Working. He learned the technique after attending a training organized by the Kenya Agricultural Value Chain Enterprise, funded by USAID.
He would later ditch maize farming to deep his nets in Top Working, a decision he wished he had made earlier.
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“I used to plant maize and wheat, but the climate became unpredictable. I could not rely on it to meet my household needs because I have children to school,” he explained.
According to him, the technique breathed life into the old and low-productive trees, increasing the period over which they would be productive. Otieno grows the traditional apple and Ngowe mango species.
“I grow the traditional apple and Ngowe species, and when they reach maturity, I insert a graft of a different breed and tape them together,” he explained.
The graft takes three months to attach to the main tree fully. Farmers must wait one more year before the new attachment bears fruit.
Otieno said one tree can yield as much as 1,000-2,000 fruits. On every harvest, he makes Sh30,000 from each mango tree and Sh25,000 per orange tree.
“It helps me pay school fees and can even afford to take them to the hospital,” he said.
Otieno called on other youth to embrace the new farming technique to maximize their earnings, expressing his willingness to share his information with potential growers.
