Lydiah Wamuyu, a farmer in Karatina, Nyeri County is earning big from tree tomato farming, one of the popular agribusiness in the region.

Her farm, christened Mwangi wa Matunda farm, hosts 1,000 tomato trees. The farmer revealed she opted for tree tomato farming after abandoning cabbage farming, which was labour-intensive.

“We had planted 3,000 cabbages and it was costly. During that time, one cabbage was selling at Sh30 so we got about Sh90,000. However, after deducting expenses, we were left with little money,” she told The Star.

With the help of her husband, wamuyu planted 300 tree tomatoes, which they bought from a family friend, and were elated when they sold a kilo of tree tomatoes at Sh100 and got Sh30,000.

“Tree tomato farming is less labor intensive, and I just add fertilizer and water the crop as I wait to harvest after every two weeks,” she added.

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Inspired by the good earnings, they decided to expand and add more trees. According to the farmer, tree tomato takes about three to five years to be ready for harvesting after planting.

In addition, the yield increases as the tree grows. Her 1,000 trees yield about three to five kilos each monthly.

The farmer has a ready market and sells a kilo for between Sh80 to Sh100. Payment is done instantly and Wamuyu can make between Sh300,000 to Sh500,000 (on a good month) from her tree tomato farming venture.

“But, it takes time and good management of the trees to get good returns. The only challenge is the white fruit fly which we manage by spraying,” Wamuyu said.

Besides tree tomato farming, the farmer also produces seedlings and trains other farmers on tree tomato farming.

“We sell one tree tomato seedling at Sh50 and train farmers on tree tomato farming at Sh1,000 per session,”  Wamuyu said.