John Kiruthi is the founder of the agricultural information portal Farmers Trend and a farmer who has found success in tree tomato farming.
Kiruthi raises tree tomato seedlings in Nyeri and Limuru, a business he was introduced to by one of his clients.
With a capital of Sh100,000, Kiruthi bought seedlings in a nursery in Embu and planted them in Nyeri in 2015 and two years later started to propagate his own seedlings.
“I’ve managed to propagate more than 40,000 grafted tree tomato seedlings. I use about 0.5 acres for the seedlings project. The tree tomato farm is one acre each in Nyeri and Limuru,’’ says Kiruthi.
According to him, unlike other fruits, tree tomatoes do not have seasons; the fruits are harvested weekly. In a year, he harvests between 15kgs and 20kgs per tree.
He notes that under proper management, the tree starts providing fruits in the eighth month after transplanting the seedlings.
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He however notes tree tomatoes are heavy feeders of water and chemicals. In addition, the crop is labour intensive, hence finding skilled workers has always been a challenge for him.
He sells non-grafted tree tomato seedlings at Sh50, each, while those which have been grafted using an indigenous tree called ‘Muthakwa’ are sold at Sh100 each.
“Muthakwa grafted tree tomato tends to have a longer lifespan and resistance to nematodes that normally attack the tree,’’ the farmer reveals.
Kiruthi notes that the tree tomato market depends on various factors with prices ranging from Sh80 to Sh150 per kilogramme.
On planting, he advises farmers to till the land well to loosen the soil and then dig out planting holes, which should be made wet before planting.
“While digging the holes, we separate subsoil with topsoil. We then mix the topsoil with 10kgs of compost manure and return back to the hole, almost to the brim. It’s at this point that we plant the seedlings,’’ says the farmer.
He advises farmers intending to grow this fruit to have sufficient water or use drip irrigation as well as observe proper management to get good returns.
