Fridah Meme is a Meru-based farmer who mastered the secrets of making more profits on a small piece of land.
On her eight-acre farm, she does different types of farming, including chicken, dairy, and crop farming. She grows different types of crops, such as tangerines, green grams, beans, cowpeas, maize, and groundnuts.
Groundnuts are usually her main crop as they are more profitable than the other crops she grows on her farm.
“I intercrop the groundnuts with maize. This has enabled me to earn more, and through this project, I have been able to pay for education comfortably,” Said Meme.
Meme plants groundnut seeds worth Sh 7,000 every planting season. She harvests 1,000kg of nuts and sells a kilo at between Sh100 and Sh150.
According to her, groundnut farming does not require one to have a big farm for them to make profits. All it requires is good timing and proper farming practices.
“Just like maize, groundnut is an early-season crop and thus must be grown at the onset of rains. A space of 30-45cm is needed between rows and 15-20cm between plants.” She added.
With this spacing, it means an acre accommodates about 30,000 plants, which is equivalent to at least 16-20kg of seeds that are sowed to a depth of 5-6cm.
Weeding takes place two-three weeks after germination. Meme says that hand-weeding is the best for young nuts to prevent disturbing them or damaging the flowers.
After weeding, she does mounding to encourage the growth of bigger nuts. She also applies calcium-rich fertilizer to her crops immediately after the pods start forming so as to ensure maximum yields.
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She also uses about 20kg of phosphate fertilizer to boost the firmness of the crop. Just like any other crops, groundnuts are prone to pests and diseases, which at high levels can affect the crop’s growth hence low yields.
Some of the diseases that affect groundnuts include leaf spot and crown rot which are usually common in the late summer. To contain them, Meme plants at the onsets of rain.
She also practices other disease control practices such as crop rotation, planting certified seeds, and ensuring overall farm hygiene.
During harvesting, Meme explains that farmers need to adhere to the right harvesting procedures. This includes harvesting the crop when mature, removing pods, and drying them on a Canvas for five days.
After the drying period, winnowing is done to remove dirt. She said that she gets at least Sh 60,000 from groundnuts in a season.
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For the other crops, she sells tangerines at Sh1,500 per crate, while green grams and cowpeas go for Sh70 per kilo. From her 50 chickens, she gets a good number of eggs which she sells at Sh 450 per crate. She also has a dairy cow that produces 20 liters of milk daily.
