Kiwi is a temperate fruit and it can do well in the temperate regions of Kenya like Central, Western highlands, Central Rift Valley and others.
There
are very few markets where demand exceeds supply. One such market is for Kiwi
fruits which despite being a relatively new idea in Kenya, has taken the market
by storm. There are very few farmers who have gotten wind of its valued
benefits and you can take advantage of this loophole to make a timely
investment. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to go about it.
The Basics of Kiwi Fruit Farming in Kenya
Growing Requirements
Soil
The soil must be well drained. Kiwi tree vines planted where water sits on the surface following rains are likely to develop crown rot. The soil pH should be between 5.0 and 6.5.Kiwi
tree is especially touchy about less than perfect site and soil conditions in
its youth. For this reason, some growers coddle their plants in
containers for one, even two, years. Kiwi tree growth can be phenomenal in
carefully watered and fertilized containers.
In
Kenya Kiwi should be planted during the rainy season to take advantage of
long-rains but does well too under irrigation. Note that Kiwi Vines are very
vulnerable to strong wings and you may need to invest a bit more to protect
them by building a temporary fence or planting some trees around the farm.
Fertilizer
Also
compost manure and some little amounts of fertilizer, that is D.A.P and C.A.N to
provide the crop with adequate nutrients are recommended.
Pests and Diseases
Kiwi
plants are susceptible to PSA, crown rot, collar rot and root rot.
Symptoms
- Reduced shoot growth. Leaves are small and chlorotic.
- Vines may collapse suddenly or show a gradual decline in productivity over several seasons.
- Red-brown discoloration of roots and root crowns which is visible when root is cut in two.
Management
Remove
and destroy all infested leaves, twigs and fruits to prevent further spread of
pests. Avoid water logging and keep the soil aerated.
One
may also need bio-chemicals that are usually used on fruits like oranges and
grapes.
Pests
Brown
Leaf Roller, Green Leaf Roller, Greedy scale, Passion Vine Hopper and Thrips are
some of the most common insect pests that attack kiwifruits.
Management
Avoid
chemicals, as these may kill beneficial insects, like tachinid flies and
parasitic wasps, which prey on leaf rollers. Bacillus thuringiensis is a
safe, non-toxic treatment. Pheromone traps are also an effective means of
control.
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| Kiwi Fruit Seedlings |
Pollination
The burden of pollination rests mostly with honeybees, though wind and other beneficial insects also play a role. With few exceptions, a separate, non fruiting male plant is needed to fertilize and induce fruiting of female plants. The male should be no further than 35 feet from females. Do not be surprised if it appears that female flowers have stamens, the male flower parts. The stamens are there, but the pollen they shed is sterile. Similarly, male flowers have small, nonfunctional ovaries.One
male plant can fertilize the flowers of 8 or so females; and male and female
plants need not be the same species of kiwi tree to cross-pollinate. Bloom
times of male and female flowers must coincide, though.
Hand
pollination is practical if you grow only a few kiwi trees. Merely pluck off a
male blossom and lightly rub it on a half-dozen female flowers. Then go pluck
another male, repeat the rubbing, and so forth.
Trellising
Kiwi trees are rampant plants and their trunks never become sturdy enough to hold the plants up off the ground of their own accord. Under cultivation plants must be trained to some sort of support that is both sturdy and allows vines adequate room to ramble.A
trellis used by commercial kiwi tree growers consists of wires stretched
between 6-foot-high T-bar supports spaced 15 to 20 feet apart. At some
sacrifice to fruit production, but with perhaps a gain in beauty, kiwi tree
vines can be coaxed up a variety of other structures such as a gazebo, a
pergola, or even along a split rail fence.
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| Kiwi Fruit Plant |
Training and Pruning
The
goals in training and pruning are to make a potentially tangled mass of rampant
shoots manageable and easy to harvest, and to keep a vine fruitful by
allowing adequate light to fall within the plant canopy. Pruning also
stimulates an annual flush of new wood, important because flowers and fruits
are borne toward the bases of current seasons’ shoots that grow from canes that
grew the previous year only.
Not
all the new shoots that grow from the previous year’s canes will fruit. Some
canes may have been too shaded the year before, or the vine may be too young.
Those canes that are fruitful will produce fruiting shoots at their basal
half-dozen or so buds; the buds further out are capable of producing shoots
that will fruit the next year.
An
established kiwi tree vine consists of a trunk, permanent cordons,
and fruiting arms or canes.
Training and pruning are done by tying shoots to supports and pruning the
plants while they are growing and they are dormant.
Girdling
Girdling is a technique that induces fruiting and hastens maturity and bud-break by disrupting the flow of nutrients and hormones in the stems. In late summer, make two parallel cuts, one sixteenth of an inch apart, on the trunk, and remove the strip of bark from between the cuts. Do not girdle any vine that is in a weakened condition, or cut too deeply, remove just the outer bark. |
| Kiwi Fruits |
Harvesting
A mature kiwifruit vine can produce more than 90 kilograms of fruit. The ready kiwi fruits are harvested by snapping them off their stalks when the skins turn brown and samples of cut fruit show black seeds. The fruit will be hard, but will soften and sweeten in a week at room temperature. In a cool room, such a fruit will keep for two months. If the fruit is refrigerated to near freezing, and the humidity maintained at 95 percent with a plastic bag having just a few small holes, the fruit will store for 9 months. Let firm and ripe fruit soften before eating. This can be hastened by putting the fruit in a bag with an apple.Hardy
and super-hardy kiwifruits drop or come off easily from the vines when they are
ripe. They are picked firm and ripe with their stems attached, and the small
fruited kiwifruits store as well as the large kiwifruit.
The
average kiwi vine takes 2 to 3 years to mature and start producing fruits. The
first few harvests may however not be as productive but this tends to improve throughout
the plants maturity life.
Kiwi Fruit Remains an Undiscovered Goldmine in Kenya
Market Outlook
There are very few markets where demand exceeds supply. One such market is for Kiwi fruits which despite being a relatively new idea in Kenya, has taken the market by storm. And you just need to have a taste of this fruit to understand why so many people love it.
There are very few farmers who have gotten wind of its valued benefits so far. Actually, production of Kiwi fruits in Kenya is yet to kick off on a commercial scale. Now that’s where the mammoth opportunity is. You can take advantage of this low-supply-high-demand situation in Kenya and make your profits.
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| Kiwi Fruit Harvest |
Investing in Kiwi Fruit
Let’s start with good news;
Kiwi seedlings are now available in Kenya for an affordable price of Ksh.300. You
can contact Richfarm Kenya 0724698357/ 0723213602 to have clean certified
seedling.
The crop management is
similar to passion fruit management practices. That means you will also need
trellis and enough manure and water to bring up a healthy profitable crop. See
the complete guide below; it contains the cost estimates for an acre.
The Money Math
An acre of kiwi fruits carries about 650 vines. In the third year, each vine should give you about 20 fruits on the lower side. That gives you about 13,000 fruits in a season. Check out the prices in supermarkets today and you will find a retail price of between Ksh.90 and Ksh.100 per fruit. Supposing you sell the fruit at a wholesale price of Ksh.70 per fruit, that acre will give you a cool Ksh.910,000. Now keep in mind that the production increases with time.
We have compiled this comprehensive Kiwi fruit farming guide for Kenya with step-by-step information from planting through to harvesting and marketing in our resource page where you can download a copy.
NB:
The ratio of male to female kiwi plants is 1:5, therefore we recommend having 5
seedlings at once to minimize the chance of you taking females only yet a male
is needed for fertilization. I covered this on female and male kiwi fruits
above under pollination.
- Cost per seedling ksh.300
- Seedlings per acre - 340 vines
- Spacing – 2m between lines, 6m from plant to plant
- Fruit market price – Ksh. 90-100 retail, Ksh. 70 on wholesale
- Yield – 20-30 fruits per vine in a season
- Common pests - Brown Leaf Roller, Green Leaf Roller, Greedy scale, Passion Vine Hopper and Thrips
- Common diseases - PSA, crown rot, collar rot and root rot
- Lifespan – Deciduous
