A Farmer reaping high on Carrot farming

Agriculture for a long time in the country has always been perceived as a dirty and tiresome venture especially by town residents. The commercialization of the sector has made many to take a paradigm shift from search of white collar jobs to practice it. But, it takes a little courage, and some grim determination to succeed in farming.

On the slopes of Mt Kenya, Kimahurii Sub-location, Kieni East Sub county, Nyeri County. We met Jessie Ndana a humble and jovial man who is taking farming on high levels despite not owning a piece of land in the area.

With little as 5,000 shillings, Ndana began the search of a portion of land where he could practice his agricultural skills, so as to add to the budget of his house thus making him not to entirely depend on the shop that he operates.

The staggering population in the area, coupled with fragmentation of land made it difficult for him to acquire a fertile piece of land hence settling on one that is close to a river.

‘’This place as you can see is a quarter piece of land that I leased, it was bushy with these grasses you see. But I have managed to clear the land to the state it is now,’’ he jovially articulates showing us the neighboring grassy land.

With his family in full support, he sourced services of young men who assisted him in cutting of the grass and on the tillage of the land. The labor according to him is cheaper in the area as per a day he parts with 200 shillings per person.

After the preparations of the land he sowed the seeds on the soil and sprinkles with water to increase the moisture content of the soil hence facilitating high germination of the seeds.

Proper soil preparation is very important in achieving success with the root crop. They grow best in a deep, loose soil that retains moisture yet is well-drained.
In the middle of the land, Ndana has dug furrows running parallel to the crops to drain excess water that could have been retained in the soil.
‘’We do not add soil on top of the seeds once we have sowed them like farmers in other areas do, here we sprinkle water just to sink the seeds a little. The seeds are very tinny, I assume it is the difference in soil texture of different places in the country thus why we don’t add soil,’’ he elucidates
He purchases his seeds from cereals and Seeds Company in the area. He narrates that some of companies sells seeds that are of high quality and matures faster.

Read the full article in Hortfresh Journal July-August edition
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