Pomegranate Farming in Kenya: A Guide To Making It A Profitable Venture

Pomegranate farming in Kenya is now becoming popular, most farmers attracted mostly by the potential returns: pomegranate is one of the most expensive fruits in Kenya at the moment. However, a growing awareness on the health benefits of pomegranate among Kenyans is also playing an important role in the uptake of its cultivation by even small scale farmers. 

Pomegranate farming in Kenya: A rising trend in agribusiness

Pomegranate, scientifically known as Punica Granatum belongs to the Lythraceae family and has been grown for centuries in various parts of the world, especially Asia. Iran and India are the leading producers of the fruit worldwide. In Africa, Egypt is the largest producer of pomegranates which are an important income earner in the country's agricultural industry. 

Why is Pomegranate farming in Kenya growing so fast?

Pomegranates are known for their vibrant red colour, unique flavour and numerous health benefits. In recent years, the demand for pomegranates in Kenya and the world over has significantly increased due to their rising popularity as a superfood. As a result, pomegranate farming has become an attractive industry for many farmers globally, Kenya not being left behind.

Climatic requirements for pomegranate farming

One of the main advantages of pomegranate farming is the plant's ability to thrive in diverse climatic conditions. Pomegranate trees are relatively tolerant to cold and hot temperatures, making them adaptable to various regions. 

Pomegranate farming
in Embu

This adaptability has contributed to expanding pomegranate production to areas outside their historical origins, such as Mediterranean countries, California, India, and East Africa. 

In Kenya, pomegranates perform well in areas that experience warm to hot climates such as such as Machakos, Makueni, Kitui, North-eastern Kenya, warmer parts of Rift Valley such as Laikipia, parts of Central Kenya such as Nyeri, the coastal region, and most parts of Western Kenya. However, some farmers in the cooler Kikuyu and Banana areas are also successfully growing it. This resilience allows farmers to take advantage of favourable weather conditions and ensure a stable supply of pomegranates throughout the year. 

Soil type and nutrient requirements

Pomegranate trees need well-draining soil with a pH level between 5.5 and 7.5.  A spacing of 3m by 4m is recommended when planting. The optimum temperatures for pomegranate farming ranges from 20-35 degrees Celsius. Higher temperatures are necessary during the fruit ripening period.  Adequate irrigation is crucial during the early stages of growth, but excessive watering should be avoided to prevent root rot. Healthy, certified seedlings can  be acquired from Richfarm Kenya nurseries in Naivasha or Embu; call them on 0724698357, 0723213602 or 0798919007.

Pomegranate seedlings for sale at Richfarm Kenya

Cultural practices in pomegranate farming

Pomegranate trees also require regular pruning to promote the development of a strong framework and allow sunlight to reach all parts of the tree. Additionally, you must monitor pests and diseases that can affect the crop, such as aphids, white flies, and fungal infections, to protect the tree and ensure high yield. 

Economic benefits of Pomegranate farming in Kenya

Pomegranate farming offers several economic benefits for farmers in Kenya:

1.   The demand for pomegranates continues to rise due to their nutritional value and various health benefits, such as being a good source of antioxidants and having potential anti-inflammatory properties. This growing demand results in higher market prices, making pomegranate farming profitable.

2.    Pomegranates have a long shelf life, allowing farmers to store and sell their produce throughout the year.

3. Pomegranates are used in various industries, including food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, creating additional market opportunities for farmers. 

Environmental benefits of pomegranate farming in Kenya

Furthermore, pomegranate farming contributes positively to the environment. Some of the advantages of growing pomegranate trees are;

• Act as natural barriers against soil erosion due to their extensive root systems. These are the fruit trees you should plant if your farm is on a steep area. 
• Require fewer pesticides than other fruit crops, lowering the risk of harmful chemicals entering the environment. You also won't have to worry about the high cost of farming inputs.
• The deep red flowers of pomegranate trees attract pollinators, benefiting other nearby crops and wild plant species. You can also take advantage of this and set up bee hives with an assuarity of fast honey production. 
•  Moreover, pomegranate farming promotes sustainable agricultural practices, as it does not heavily rely on excessive water consumption or synthetic fertilizers.

Pests and diseases can severely impact crop yield if not managed effectively. You need to adopt sustainable and integrated pest management techniques to minimise pesticide use and maintain the health of the trees.  

Projected Cost and  Income for 1 acre 

• Cost per seedling Ksh. 200
• Seedlings per acre -330 
• Spacing - 3m by 4m
• Fruit price- Ksh. 1,500-1,700 per kg (retail)
• Yield- 12-20kgs per tree depending on age
• Pest- Pomegranate butterfly or Fruit borer, caterpillar
• Diseases- Bacterial leaf spot, fruit cracking
• Lifespan- 20 yrs plus

Pomegranate farming in Kenya is a promising agricultural practice due to the increasing demand for pomegranates and their various health benefits. This industry offers economic opportunities for farmers, as well as contributing to the environment through sustainable practices. 

However, the challenges faced by pomegranate farmers underscore the need for continuous research, better pest management strategies, and adaptation to changing climatic conditions. To get more information and high quality seedlings for your pomegranate farming project in Kenya, contact Richfarm Kenya on 0724698357 / 0723213602.

5 Reasons You Should Inter-Crop Pixie Oranges and Pawpaws in Kenya

Growing Pixie oranges and pawpaws together is an innovative approach that can yield numerous benefits to both crops. Pixie oranges, known for their sweet and juicy flavour, are a popular citrus variety. Similarly, pawpaws have gained popularity with their unique tropical taste in recent years. 

Pixie trees inter-cropped with pawpaw

You can optimise space, promote biodiversity, and enhance the ecosystem's overall health by cultivating these two plants together. In this article, let us explore the various advantages of growing pixie oranges and pawpaws together, highlighting this symbiotic relationship's ecological, economic, and horticultural aspects.

Advantages of Inter-cropping Pixie and Pawpaws 

1. Maximising Space - 1 farm producing 2 fruits at the same time

Cultivating Pixie oranges and pawpaws together maximises land utilisation. Both crops have almost similar growth requirements, such as climate and soil conditions. They both do well in warm or hot areas such as the ukambani counties of Makueni, Machakos and Kitui. The hot Baringo County is also hot on the trail and, gladly, also the coastal areas of Kwale and Taita Taveta are embracing pixie and pawpaw farming. 

A bit of irrigation may be necessary for pixie oranges, as they are less drought-resistant than pawpaws. By combining these two plants, a farmer can utilise the same plot of land for multiple harvests, ultimately achieving higher productivity per unit area. 

To successfully cultivate the two fruit trees together, Pixies would require a spacing of 5m by 6m, while pawpaws, which usually require a 2m by 2m spacing, would be grown between the pixie trees.

2. Ecological diversity - Attract more pollinators hence a bigger harvest

Moreover, growing these fruits together promotes ecological diversity. Each plant attracts different pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, thereby increasing the chances of successful cross-pollination. This intermingling of insect activity enhances the overall biodiversity of the area, leading to a healthier ecosystem and a more sustainable agricultural practice. Bugs like ladybugs, lacewings, and parasitic wasps are great deterrents for other pests that will eat your fruit crops.

3. Continuous income - When 1 fruit goes off-season, the other gives you money

You can benefit from the combination of these crops in terms of economics. Pawpaws have a much faster maturity rate than pixies, providing an earlier source of income. In hotter climates, pawpaws start producing as early as six months from planting, and pixie oranges will start producing in the second year. 

Additionally, by diversifying their produce, farmers can tap into different market segments, and ensure that they are always selling something. for example, in most of the hot areas, the peak production season for pawpaw spans the months of November through to March. The pixie peak season then sets in from April through to September. Hence a farmer who has both of these trees on his land increase sales and revenue streams.

4. Reduced risk of loss due to pests and diseases outbreak

Growing pawpaw and pixie oranges together reduces the risk of a farmer being thrown out of business due to an outbreak of a specific pest or disease. Pixie oranges and pawpaw trees have distinctive pest profiles, meaning pests and diseases affecting one crop may not necessarily affect the other. Hence, by planting the two fruit trees on the same land,  farmers reduce the risks associated with the outbreak of a specific pest. 

Inter-cropping pixie and pawpaw also disrupts the build-up of pests and diseases by creating a more diverse environment, hence minimising the use of pesticides and promoting a more environmentally friendly farming practice.

5. Efficient soil nutrient utilisation - pawpaws eat from the top layer, pixie roots search deeper

Pixie orange and pawpaw inter-cropping offers an opportunity to fine-tune soil conditions. Pixie trees have deeper root systems, capable of accessing nutrients in lower soil layers. As a result, they alleviate nutrient competition among the pawpaw  trees, ensuring a more balanced nutrient availability throughout the growing season. This synergy helps maintain the health and vigour of the plants, ultimately leading to better fruit quality and enhanced harvests.

Detailed information on pixie fruit farming in Kenya can be found on; Pixie Orange Farming: A Worthy Investment For The Year 2023.

Read also for pawpaw farming in Kenya; Pawpaws Make You Money While Asking For Very Little Input From You.

NOTE:

• • An integrated pest management system is necessary as you will deal with more than one pest type.
  • Integration of Hass avocado with pawpaws can be practised in warm climates. Avocados do well in cool to warm climates as opposed to pawpaws, which do well in warm to hot temperatures.
  • The main crop should be avocado or pixie; pawpaw should be used to generate cash-flows as early as month six to supplement the primary crop and cushion the farmer. Additional income can be used to expand primary crop acreage or employ economic practices such as drip irrigation, solar-powered water pumping, digging a self-sufficient borehole, and having a huge capacity dam.
  • It is always advisable to have a good area for expansion as fruit farming is a very profitable venture.
  • More farmyard manure or organic fertilisers should be applied from time to time to improve fertility and balance competition.

Which is Best: Commercial Fruit Crop Farming Vs Real Estate Investment

Real estate investment has long been considered a reliable and lucrative option for individuals looking to grow their wealth. However, an alternative investment avenue that now needs to be noticed is commercial fruit farming. 

Commercial fruit farming VS Real estate development

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic the real estate industry experienced a huge downturn in demand for office spaces and in-person meetings. With the advancement in technology in-person meetings are likely to go down. 

While real estate certainly has advantages, this article highlights the numerous reasons why commercial fruit farming can be a superior investment option in the current age of. By examining the initial investment needed, Return on Investment(ROI), economic viability, potential for long-term returns, environmental benefits, and risks and comparing it to real estate investment, we will uncover the compelling case for commercial fruit farming as a profitable and sustainable investment strategy.

1) Return on Investment (ROI)

The Return on Investment in real estate in Kenya can vary widely based on factors such as location, property type, market condition, property management, and economic trends. ROI calculations can be complex and may need to consider various costs and potential revenue streams. Be it as it may, we can take a simple example: all factors are constant. 

 

Assuming a rental property that a middle-class Kenyan could afford, maybe a pensionable government employee like a teacher would manage to do. They buy a plot located a few kilometers out of town for about Ksh. 1.5M. The cost of building simple 8 or 9 one-bedroom houses on the 50 by 100 land ranges from 3.5M-5M for a single floor without a concrete slab for future development. The cost may go high depending on the availability of raw materials nearby and the choice of house finishes the owner may decide to have. That would bring the estimated total cost to about 6M.  

 

Assuming 70% tenancy (some months the tenancy could be 100% and others below 50%) for houses whose rent would be 7,500-10,000 depending on how far the house is from the town, eight houses at Ksh 8,000 per month would generate about Ksh 44,800 monthly, which translates to Ksh 537,200 annually. Routine maintenance and improvement plus caretaker remuneration would take away an estimated figure of Ksh 80,000. A percentage of the annual income goes to a real estate agent who will manage the property on the owner's behalf; as many would understand, dealing directly with tenants can be hectic if you deal with a bad lot. 

 

Include rental tax and the estimated annual income would be around Ksh—400,000 for that property. If you divide this figure by the 6M cost figure, you will look at a 15-year ROI period, assuming that all the money generated would go to repaying a loan they took. Most loans by government employees take about 96 months or eight years to repay. This forces the owner to take top-ups and mostly end up losing the property or selling at a throwaway price to ease the burden on the pay slip. This explains why hundreds of rental properties are up for sale on jiji.com and Facebook Market Place, some generating as much as half a million in monthly rent.

As for commercial fruit farming, we can pick common practices like Hass avocado, Pixie oranges, passion fruit ,Macadamia or dragon fruit farming for export: see the details we have given about these crops at the end of this article. For our case, we will pick what Kenya is now best known for in the export market: Hass avocado farming. 

2) Initial Investment

 

The average price of a 50x100 property in a prime area with enough potential for real estate investment could be anywhere from Ksh 3 million in smaller towns running into hundreds of millions in big towns like Nairobi, Nakuru, and Mombasa. Conversely, arable land suitable for Hass avocado farming would go from a few hundred thousand in areas like Laikipia, other parts of the Rift Valley, Eastern region, Coast Region, Nyanza, and Western. There's cheap farming land in every corner of this country, going for as low as Ksh300,000 per acre in places with road, power and water accessibility. 

 

With real estate development, it is advisable to do a one-off complete structure instead of incremental development where you build several floors depending on cash flow issues. Developing land with some occupants poses a health hazard as the potential for injuring people is high, and dust and noise pollution for occupants may chase them away. On the other hand, expanding the area under cultivation on your farm does not inconvenience anyone; as such, the initial amount for investment does not have to be as huge as is the case for real estate.

3) Nature of Land

 

For real estate investment, the nature and location of land is one of the most important factors. Commercial land should be located in a prime area with a high potential for tenancy. Acquiring land in prime areas is a very expensive affair. 

Compared to fruit farming, land for cultivation can be located in remote locations where land is cheaper. The only issues to consider are the nature of the soil and avoiding extreme weather conditions. Water availability for irrigation can be checked off by drilling a borehole or harvesting rainwater using dams. Most fruits do quite well within the tropics as the climatic conditions are very stable. 

4) Economic Viability of Commercial Fruit Farming

When it comes to commercial fruit farming, the potential for high financial returns is high. Fruit, a staple in our diets, has a constant demand both locally and internationally, ensuring a steady market. The profitability analysis of fruit farming reveals attractive margins, thanks to the increasing health-conscious trend among consumers.

See the projected profit margins for 5 select fruits in this article: 5 Fruit Crops That Start Earning You Money In The Second Year. 

 

Unlike real estate investment, which can be subject to market fluctuations and economic downturns, the fruit farming industry remains fairly resilient. People will always need and crave delicious, juicy fruits – no matter the state of the economy. 

5) Potential for Long-Term Returns in Commercial Fruit Farming

 

Commercial fruit farming offers excellent growth prospects if you're in it for the long haul. As the world's population expands, the demand for fresh and nutritious food will only increase. This presents a golden opportunity for fruit farmers to corner their market and reap long-term rewards.

 

Furthermore, factors like advancements in agricultural technology, improved farming techniques, and access to global markets contribute to the fruitful returns of commercial fruit farming. As an investor, you can tap into these developments and enjoy watching your orchards flourish over time.

Several options are available for the long-term commercial fruit farmer; here, we would look at fruit crops that would be giving you returns for more than 20 years.

1. Dragon fruit farming

·            Cost per seedling Ksh. 500

·            Seedlings per acre -2,000 

·            Spacing - 2m by 2m

·            Fruit price- Ksh. 400-500 per kg (farmgate)

·            Yield- 20-30 fruits per plant per year

·            Lifespan - 40 yrs plus

Read Dragon fruit farming step by step guide

2. Hass avocado farming

• Cost per seedling Ksh. 150
• Seedlings per acre - 150
• Spacing - 5m by 5m
• Fruit price- Ksh. 15-22 per fruit
• Yield- 600-800 fruits per tree per season
• Lifespan 30 yrs plus

More information on How To Grow Avocados In Kenya For Export

 

3. Citrus fruit farming

In this category we have pixie oranges, Washington oranges, blood oranges, tangerine, lemon among others.

• Cost per seedling Ksh. 250
• Seedlings per acre - 270
• Spacing - 3m by 5m
• Fruit price- Ksh. 5-10 per fruit
• Yield- 300-500 fruits per tree per season
• Lifespan 40 yrs plus

Read ;Why Pixie Orange Farming In Kenya Is Booming Now 

And also Tangerine Farming: How To Grow The Best Tangerine For The Market In Kenya

4. Apple fruit farming

• Cost per seedling Ksh. 250
• Seedlings per acre - 450
• Spacing - 3m by 3m
• Fruit price- Ksh. 20-30 per fruit depending on variety
• Yield- 500 fruits per plant per season
• Lifespan 30 yrs plus

Read; Apple farming in Kenya: How to produce Big Juicy Apples

We would also love to give you some interesting facts here about commercial apple farming: 

The highest number of fruits recorded to have been produced by an apple tree in one season is 2,820. This record was set by a Granny Smith apple tree in New Zealand in 2009. The tree was 25 years old and was planted in a commercial orchard. It was well-cared for and received regular fertilization, irrigation, and pest control. The tree also benefited from a mild climate and long growing season.

The average number of apples produced by an apple tree in one season is 400 to 800. However, the number of apples produced can vary depending on the variety of apple tree, the age of the tree, the growing conditions, and the care that the tree receives.

5. Mango farming

• Cost per seedling Ksh. 150
• Seedlings per acre - 180
• Spacing - 4m by 5m
• Fruit price- Ksh. 6-10 per fruit (farm gate)
• Yield - 600 - 1,000 fruits per tree
• Lifespan 30 yrs plus

More information; Mango Farming In Kenya: How To Grow The Best Mangoes For Export

6. Macadamia farming

• Cost per seedling Ksh. 300
• Seedlings per acre - 80
• Spacing - 7m by 7m
• Fruit price- Ksh. 100 per kg
• Yield- 100 kgs per tree
• Lifespan 30 yrs plus

Here's how to do it; Professional Macadamia Farming in Kenya: Full Guide

Conclusion

Real estate development is quite a good form of long-term investment. It gives the investor an opportunity to earn the residual monthly income from rent while enjoying the rising value of land over time. While commercial fruit farming offers the same benefits but with a lower initial investment, quicker and higher returns in investment and diverse investment options, it hasn't been taken up by many, mostly because of lack of knowledge.

The commercial fruit farming field in Kenya had also not been given much attention in the past, hence few innovations and support services were developed. However, with the success of companies such as Kakuzi, the recognition of Kenyan fruits in the international markets and the growing interest in agribusiness among youths, the field is becoming better investment alternative to real estate. 

Innovative companies such as Richfarm Kenya have also entered the space with invaluable solutions. Investors in commercial fruit farming can now enjoy hands free investments just like their counterparts in real estate: our agribusiness consultancy services provide what real estate agents provide for the investors across the divide. The saying that Future Billionaires Will Be Farmers has never been more valid than it now is.