Blueberry Farming: A Huge Agribusiness Potential in Kenya

The United States is the world’s largest producer of blueberries. They are also grown in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and British Columbia.

In Kenya, the highlands of the Central and Western regions, such as the Aberdare Ranges and Mount Kenya, provide the ideal conditions for blueberry cultivation in open fields.

Currently, blueberries are being grown in a few of these regions, mainly in Murang’a by Kakuzi limited. At the moment, Kakuzi grows the fruits in pots under a greenhouse covering 10 hectares. This is the largest successful blueberry farm in Kenya for now.

Blueberry Seedlings

Nutritional Benefits

The sweet, juicy fruits are rich in antioxidants and great for eating freshly picked or for adding to smoothies and desserts. Blueberries are one of nature’s superfoods, crammed with essential nutrients like vitamins K and C, minerals including manganese and health-boosting polyphenols.  They’ve even been proven to help with the old grey matter. If you want to include this fabulous fruit in your garden, there’s no time like the present to get planting.

Growing Conditions

You’ll get the most from your blueberries if you can provide a sheltered site, free from strong winds, with good or full sun hours to help those beautiful berries mature. The bushes are hardy, but avoid frost-prone areas of the garden, which can hamper the springtime flowers.

Most varieties are self-fertile, so in theory you can grow one on its own. In reality, you will get far better pollination and more fruits if plants can cross-pollinate. For this reason, it pays to grow at least two different varieties together.

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Varieties

There are three commercially important species of blueberries namely;

  1. High bush
  2. Low bush
  3. Rabbit-eye

Within each species, there are many cultivars or varieties. Blueberry cultivars are chosen based on production area temperature and the chilling requirements of different species. Chilling is the accumulated number of hours between 32 degrees celsius and 45 degrees Celsius necessary for flower buds to develop on a dormant plant. Rabbit-eye and high-bush plants require fewer chilling hours to produce fruit.

Low-bush species are native wild blueberry plants; however, they are still managed intensively with production techniques. High-bush and low-bush species are the most common species grown for commercial production.

Climate

Blueberries require a cool climate with temperatures between 10 and 20 degrees Celsius. The crop also requires relatively high amounts of water supply to sustain a healthy and productive growth.

Water and irrigation requirements

Sufficient amounts of water for growing blueberries can be described as that which will maintain the soils as consistently moist but not waterlogged. Remember, the bushes are sensitive to excess water and can develop root rot. Therefore, the crop requires regular watering either through irrigation or rainfall. Watering can be through drip irrigation, which applies water directly to the roots, or by overhead sprinklers for the hotter areas to keep the leaves cool and reduce the risk of sunburn.

Blueberry Farming in a Greenhouse

Soil

The soil that blueberries grow in is really important. They’re heath land plants, so there’s little point planting them in anything other than acidic soil. It’s literally fruitless. And they need it really acidic, ideally with a pH of between 4.0 and 5.5. You can find out your soil’s exact pH using a soil pH test kit.

If your soil is neutral or alkaline, all is not lost. You can amend your soil by adding sulfur chips or an organic soil acidifier several months ahead of planting to slowly bring down soil PH. Or for an immediate fix, plant your blueberries into a dedicated raised bed, filled with acidic, or ericaceous potting mix.

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Fertilizer

Nitrogen and ammonium sulfate fertilizers are used to increase soil acidity.

Spacing

Space plants about 5 f, approximately 1.5m apart for best yields and don’t be tempted to space them less than 3ft, approximately 90cm apart. Alternatively, you can plant into large containers of ericaceous – acidic compost , potting mix, which will be a lot cheaper than filling an entire raised bed, but make sure never to let them dry out.

Choose a frost-proof pot at least a foot, that’s 30cm wide, with drainage holes in the bottom. Start filling with your ericaceous potting mix then remove the blueberry from its pot. Place it on the potting mix then fill in around the sides with more. The top of the potting mix should end up level with the top of the root-ball. Water it thoroughly, topping up the potting mix if necessary as it settles. Optionally, finish with a decorative mulch of pine needles or bark chippings.

Care and Maintenance

Keep the soil or potting mix moist, watering whenever it gets dry. Mains water will gradually raise the pH levels, so use collected rainwater instead to keep the soil acidic.

Container plants will need regular feeding using a liquid fertilizer specially formulated for acid-loving plants. Plants in the ground simply need mulches topped up occasionally using an acidic organic material such as leaf mold, bark chippings, pine needles or composted sawdust. Do not use manure, which is both too rich and too alkaline for blueberries.

Remember to transplant container blueberries into larger pots as soon as the roots fill the container and protect flowers from any late frosts using row cover fabric.

A Blueberry Farm

How to Establish Your Blueberry Plant(s)

  • Choose the right variety: Different varieties of blueberries have different soil and climate requirements, so it's important to choose a variety that is well-suited to your growing conditions.
  • Soil preparation: Blueberries prefer loam or sandy loam soils. The red volcanic soils of central Kenya are ideal since they are also slightly acidic, giving the required pH of 4.5 to 5.5. If your soil is not naturally acidic, you can amend it with animal manure, rabbit Urine or peat moss to lower the PH. Additionally; add compost manure matter to the soil to improve its fertility and structure.
  • Spacing: For high-bush blueberries, a common spacing is 4-5 ft between plants and 8-10 ft between rows. This allows for proper air circulation and sunlight penetration, which can help to prevent disease and promote fruit production. For low-bush and rabbit-eye blueberries, which are smaller in size, a spacing of 2-3 ft between plants and 4-5 ft between rows is recommended.
  • For containers, the container should be at least 18 inches in diameter and deep enough to accommodate the plants root system. A spacing of 2-3 ft between plants is recommended in this case.
  • Plant at the right location: Blueberries should be planted on a location that gets full sun for at least 8 hours a day. Hence do not plant them under big trees that cast shadows on them.
  • Provide proper irrigation: Blueberries require regular watering during the growing season to keep the soil consistently moist. This typically means providing 1-1.5 inches of water per week through irrigation or rainfall.
  • Prune and maintain the bushes: Blueberries require regular pruning to remove dead or diseased wood, and to promote bush growth. Prune the bushes just before the rains. Additionally, it's important to keep an eye out for pests or diseases that could damage the bushes.
  • Fertilizer application: Blueberries benefit from regular fertilization, especially with an acidic fertilizer that has a high percentage of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) such as: 5-10-10, 8-8-8 or 10-10-10.

Growing Blueberry From Seed

High-bush blueberry can be propagated from seeds, cuttings from an established plant or bare root.

Common Pests and Diseases

Pests

These include; Blueberry bud mite, flea beetle, Japanese beetle, sharp-nosed leafhopper, thrips.

Management

  • Control of mites can be difficult as they are protected from pesticides by bud scales; miticides are most effective when applied just after harvest when the buds have not yet formed as they are more exposed to the chemical.
  • If beetles were a problem in the previous year, use floating row covers to protect plants or spray kaolin clay; adult beetles can be hand picked from plants and destroyed by placing in soapy water; parasitic nematodes can be applied to soil to reduce the number of overwintering grubs; insecticidal soaps or neem oil can help reduce beetle populations
  • Plantations of blueberry can be monitored for sharp-nose leafhoppers through the use of yellow sticky traps; insecticides registered for use on blueberry are generally quite effective at reducing leafhopper populations and should be applied to coincide with leafhopper dispersal to limit the spread of blueberry stunt.
  • Infested areas can be removed by pruning; in commercial plantations the insecticides registered can be very toxic to bees and should be applied at dusk when bees are not actively flying. 

Diseases

These include; Gray Mold, Powdery Mildew, stem canker, Phytophthora root rot.

Management

Plant disease-free, dormant plants; remove or bury mummified fruit, if burying fruit cover with at least an inch of soil; application of appropriate foliar fungicides are very effective at controlling diseases in commercial plantations. Also use of good cultural practices: plant blueberries in well-draining soils or in raised beds; sanitize all tools and equipment regularly and avoid transferring soil between sites.

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Pruning Blueberries

One of the great attractions of blueberries to first-time fruit growers is that they require very little pruning. Begin by cutting out any dead stems and stem tips, then thin any overcrowded branches and any growing too close to the ground. To keep established plants productive, cut out about a quarter of the oldest branches every year.

Harvesting

Blueberries are picked by hand for fresh market for small scale farmers. For large scale growers, they are picked by hand and later harvest by machine for either the fresh market or processed market depending on fruit condition and current market prices.

Mechanical harvesters (this is for large scale growers like in the United States) straddle the row shaking the bushes with mechanical fingers to remove ripe berries. The ripe berries fall into a catch frame and are conveyed into plastic field lugs that carry about 9-10kg of fruit. Fields that are machine harvested are usually harvested multiple times to retrieve all mature fruit.

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Post- Harvest Handling

Within hours of picking, blueberries are transported by to a packinghouse. They are then cleaned to remove leaves, sticks, and underweight berries. All blueberries are then graded and sorted. Fruit destined for the fresh market are packed in clear plastic packing containers.

A Blueberry Plant with Fruits

Market Outlook

The market for blueberries in Kenya is growing quite fast, with increasing demand from both local and international buyers. These fruits are currently available only in select supermarkets. The price of blueberries in Kenya is currently between Ksh1,600-2,000 per kilogram, depending on the quality of fruit.

Blueberry farming in Kenya is highly profitable because of the low supply against a high and growing demand. An acre of land can accommodate approximately 2,000 bushes. The bushes start bearing fruits after 2 years and the yield keeps increasing to peak at 4 years when the plants fully mature.

At maturity, a single blueberry bush can produce 5kgs of fruits per year. That means you can get 10 tons of fruit from one acre. At the current price of Ksh1600, you would be making Ksh16 million in revenue if you sell directly to the end consumers.

Seedlings

There are not as many blueberry seedlings for sale in Kenya however; you can get high quality seedlings from Richfarm Kenya from time to time. You can call or WhatsApp on O724698357 or 0723213602 to place an order for your seedlings.

Note: You might need to wait in line for your seedlings to be produced.

  • Cost per seedling ksh.500
  • Seedlings per acre: 2000 seedlings
  • Spacing: 4-5 ft between plants, 8-10 ft between rows, but varies depending on variety
  • Fruit price: Ksh. 1600- 2000 depending on quality
  • Yield: 5kg per plant annually
  • Common pests: Blueberry bud mite, flea beetle, Japanese beetle, sharp-nosed leafhopper, thrips.
  • Common diseases: Gray Mold, Powdery Mildew, stem canker, Phytophthora root rot.
  • Lifespan- Perennial

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Where is blueberry grown in Kenya?
  • How fast do blueberries take to grow?
  • Where do blueberries grow best?
  • Which berries grow in Kenya?
  • Where do I get blueberry seedlings in Kenya?
  • What is the establishment cost in blueberry farming?
  • Who are the largest growers of blueberries in Kenya?
  • Is blue berry farming profitable?

 

 

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Blueberry Farming: A Huge Agribusiness Potential in Kenya

The United States is the world’s largest producer of blueberries. They are also grown in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and British Columbia. ...