PJ Dave Flora, leading in production of high quality Rhodos
PJ Dave Group began its operations in 1990, the farm was started by Mr. Pravin Jaychandra Dave & Mrs. Elizabeth Dave with one major goal, to grow and export high quality fresh cut roses to customers around the world.
The PJ Dave motto, ‘providing roses for every emotion’ is indeed true and factual as the farm in the last 20 years has established itself as one of the leading flower exporters in Kenya. PJ Dave Group consists of three flower farms; PJ Dave Flora Ltd, PJ Dave Flowers Ltd and PJ Dave Flowers Timau (Rising Sun).
P.J. Dave Flora Limited is a 57Ha, family owned business established in 2007. The farm is idyllically located within the Athi Kapiti Plains, 60km south of Nairobi in Kajiado County. The farm specializes in growing and exporting premium quality, fresh-cut roses. Their portfolio, ranges from medium to big head sizes roses, boasts of 12 intermediate and 8 premium varieties.
The flower export business rides on reputation. Dedication to maintaining and improving the quality of their roses through continuous investment in high-end technologies, R&D, combined with trained, skilled and experienced workforce, is what has seen P.J Dave Flora grow and expand massively.
Best selling Rose and its uniqueness
Rhodos has one of the highest demands in the market compared to the other varieties and is the company’s best-selling rose.
PJ Dave Flora is the largest producer and exporter of Rhodos, with exclusivity. The rose’s success is attributed to their large head size, their long vase life, and their ability to transported well makes them the rose of choice for many importers. They are better if complemented with other colours of same headsize.
Apart from Rhodos, their team is focusing on the future and actually taking step towards achieving it by putting alot of effort on trials of different new varieties. They have settled on 7 varieties, of which expansion is underway and are expected to be in full production by September 2018.
Advancement on quality assurance
PJ Dave Flora Ltd always places maximum efforts in ensuring that their roses attain the desired market quality. They have an efficient system of controls placed to ensure all aspects of growing and harvesting are followed. The controls begin right from variety selection, production in the greenhouses, packaging in grading halls and cold store area.
“An efficient system of controls has been placed to ensure all aspects of growing and harvesting are followed. We have invested in biological means of pest control (IPM). Phytoseiulus persimilis.We have a fully functional labolatory – produces paecilomyces spp, Trichoderma spp, Phosphate solublising bactateria , metarizium and Bacilus substilis. By use of IPM we have reduced usage of chemicals to control thrips, powdery mildew and catapillars,” says Santosh Kulkarni, General Manager of the Farm.
The company has invested in banana system on part of the farm. The system ensures flowers are transported free from damages from greenhouses to grading hall. They have also made great strides in the use of technology by investing heavily in Reverse Osmosis for purifying borehole water they use to irrigate their flowers.
We have moved away from the traditional way of measuring head size. To ensure uniformity on head size, we have invested heavily in technology; over 20 head size measuring machines have been installed in grading hall. This has increased uniformity, efficiency and speed. The fruits of this investment are evident from the returns based on head size,” said Joseph Karanja, who is the sales manager. The farm has also invested in a reliable and efficient transport system that consists of three refrigerated trucks to transport their flowers.
CSR Activities, social aspects, and environmental management,
PJ Dave Flora Ltd has employed over 1150 workers. In their endeavour of building a good working culture, they have built a medical clinic in the farm. The clinic provides free medical services to their staff members under the Country’s NHIF program. They provide free accommodation to workers and they also offer free meals to those employees who work in the grading halls.
Isinya is home to Maasai community, a people with a deep, unrivalled, almost sacred love for cattle. The land is arid and semi-arid and rivers often run dry and rain is seldom. For this reason, the Maasai remain a nomadic community, always wandering in search of grazing ground for their cattle. “We built a large water trough for the community’s cattle. The water trough is a free water drinking spot for all cattle and their herders as they go in search of the literal greener pastures,” said Santosh.
They are very passionate about the development of the youth in the community within which they operate. “We support youth development by sponsoring youth development initiatives. PJ Dave Flora has invested in the nurturing and growth of local sporting talent by fully sponsoring the Flora FC football team. The team consists of young talented men and women from the local community,” Santosh clarified.
The Company fully sponsored the construction of P. J Dave Primary School – Isinya and on occasion provide textbooks to the school. They also donated the 6-acre property upon which the school is built. After some time, they saw the need to create a comfortable environment for the class eight candidates; thus they provided them with beds and mattresses to allow them to board. The company has also contributed towards the expansion and development of 9 other schools within Isinya township, offers bursary funds to the community and to some of their employees.
They have received both local and international recognition such as MPS Certification, registered with SEDEX as well as they are in the process of acquiring Kenya Flower Council Silver Certificate. “We are continually committed to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of our workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large. Just like any other grower, our main challenge is the escalating cost of production; such as the prices of chemicals and fertilizer which increases faster than the market prices of Roses. This means the profit margin for growers keeps on decreasing every other year, “Santosh concluded
