The Seedlings in the nursery
Plants speak. They turn weak and yellow when unhappy but will stand bright and green when content. They’ll reward you with a good harvest if treated well and turn you blue if unfavourable conditions prevail. This week, we meet the ‘seedlings whisperers of Beverly Hills’. And no, we have not relocated to the US. This particular Beverly Hills is one of the upcoming estates along the new Thogoto-Mutarakwa-Limuru Road.
At the entrance to Beverly Hills, there is a
small plot about 1/8 of an acre that wears a green net on its head and harbours
endless raised rows of wire mesh. This is a seedlings nursery, the very
foundation of the green leafy vegetables that nutritionists advise your meal
should not lack. As if anxious to woo the endless stream of customers who visit
this farm, the tiny seedlings stand attentively in neat rows. Some, you will recognize
right away. Others will require introduction by Collins Kyallo or Stanley
Ngige, the duo behind the project.
While it’s Stanley who nurtures the nursery, Kyallo
birthed the idea. Working from home last year, he realised there were many
farms around him growing vegetables whose demand was rising steadily especially
as an immune booster in the time of the pandemic. However, there was a gap in
the supply of vegetable seedlings.
Being an entrepreneurship student, Kyallo is
not one to waste a good chance. Not
especially one that was presenting itself in a field that had always occupied a
large part of his heart, agriculture. He embarked on research over the Internet
and knocked on the doors of government agencies and peers, absorbing critical
details that would light his path towards the establishment of a nursery.
Along this process of knowledge acquisition,
Kyallo involved his farm manager Ngige. The two had already worked on other
projects together before so, it was not hard to get the engine roaring. They
soon wiped out the doubts of those who saw an impossibility in softening a
ground so tough, in a region whose water supply has been low and inconsistent.
Almost always, on this little garden, you will
find Ngige working his magic on his nascent plants or chatting with the stream
of customers. In fact, our interview was constantly interrupted by the demands
of the clients. Ngige explained that the rainy season carries with it a high
demand for seedlings as most farmers try to maximise on the favourable weather
conditions.
Ngige and Kyallo specialise in naturing seeds
at nursery stage to seedlings that can bear the conditions of various farms in
this region. But it does not come easy. It takes about 21 days for the
seedlings to leave the wombs of the trays in this nursery shed. Ngige, however,
explains that unlike what most people think, this process does not start with
carefully laying the seeds onto the fertile soils, but with the selection of a
healthy seed and then the daunting task of soil preparation follows.
Next to the foot bath (every serious farm has
this) at the entrance of the nursery, there are two metallic drums connected by
a thick metallic pipe. One tank holds water and the other raw soil that is to
be sterilised. Fire is lit underneath the water tank heating the liquid to
vapour. The hot steam seeps through to the next drum carrying the soil before
escaping into the atmosphere. The fire stays on for 24 hours a process that
strips the soil off harmful micro-organisms.
After this, the sterilised soil is transferred to
a booth, a room covered all round with polythene. Here, its mixed with fine
goat manure to re-introduce healthy micro-organisms and make the soil fertile
all over again before it’s put in ‘non-stick’ plastic trays that hold the seeds.
The non-stick trays carrying the seeds are
transferred to a small greenhouse where, thanks to the controlled warm and
humid conditions, the seedlings sprout in just three days. From here, they are
ready for the open shed where they are laid on raised wire mesh surfaces.
Depending on the variety, the seedling will
remain on this shed for an average of 21 days before they are distributed to
customers. Ngigi says that it’s important to stagger the planting so that you
have a constant supply of seedlings to meet the demand at any given time.
While the duo seems to have figured the whole
process out, they point out that it does not come without its fair share of
challenges. The greatest being lack of water.
This neighborhood is notoriously dry and most
residents have sunk boreholes on their farms both for agriculture and domestic
supply. However, sinking a borehole is an expensive affair and sometimes comes
with frustrations. One of the residents points out that his three attempts to
tap water from underneath have not borne fruits as all he could find were defiant
rocks and caves.
From research, Kyallo discovered mist
irrigation method. This allows small amount of water to seep through over-head
drips for five minutes, three times a day. To do this, they tapped borehole
water from a neighbouring farm about 500 meters away. They reveal that while it
was a relief to have the constant supply, the installation costs are high, and
the monthly water bill is back-breaking. In fact, they say that the bill can go
as high as KSh6,000 per month.
Mist irrigation is economical with water. Taps are open three times a day with each session lasting five minutes.
Other challenges emanate from some customers
assumption that naturing the seedlings is easy and so insist on buying them at
the lowest price. However, with more of the customers fetching the seedlings
from the farm themselves, they are slowly learning that it takes hard labour.
In the process of this conversation, Ngige lets
us in on a secret that the sterilised soil is sourced from the road side. He says this is because a soil test by
experts from the Kenya Agricuture Research Institute (KARI) showed that the
soil on the farm was overused and heavily infected.
He advises farmers to test their soil and water
before embarking on farming project. This costs only KSh150 at KARI and expert
advice is offered depending on the result.
The duo advice those wishing to try the venture
but are hampered by poor water supply to try mist irrigation. It is economical
and local plumbers will easily lay the overhead drips.
The non-stick trays which allow for easy
transfer of seedlings are, however, imported. Yes, plants do love them non-stick
too.
Kyallo explains that the green net above the
shed lets in 50% of heat, thus the seedlings are protected from harshness of
the sun. The polythene paper, on the
other hand, prevents rain droplets from falling directly onto the seedlings as
this could uproot them.
Both agree that while this activity takes hard work
and immeasurable sacrifice, the returns
are fulfilling, especially when it rains as the demand rises sharply. A tray
which carries an average of 200 seedlings retails for KSh600.
The nursery at the entrance of Beverly Hills in
Karai, Kiambu County feeds many farms and green houses in this region with
healthy seedlings. Vegetables seedlings including Capsicum, Sukuma Wiki,
Cabbage, Spinach and ‘Kienyeji’ (local) vegetables are available.
In addition, with many homes cropping up around,
there is a rising demand for tree seedling and fruits. Bottle brush is especially preferred
for its aesthetic value in landscaping. Kyallo reveals that he has a larger
farm in Murang’a county where he specialises in growing tree seedlings.
Before it gets to the ‘kibanda’ next to your
home, the green leafy vegetable was once a seed, probably the size of a full
stop at the end of this sentence. And out of these little dots, a healthy diet
can find its way onto you plate, thanks to efforts of people such as Kyallo and
Ngige.
