Nalepo Plant Raisers, a couple defying all odds to propagate quality seedlings
In the undulating lands of Emali town, few meters from the Emali Standard Gauge Railway Station is Nalepo Plant Raisers which is being chaperoned by a lovely couple; Eric and Mercy Moshira Saitoti. They have put all their energy and resources in propagation of all kinds of vegetable seedlings after discovering they were spending a lot in acquisition of hybrid seedlings for planting and would later lose a big chunk of them when transplanting.
At the initial stages, they were propagating for their own planting until a time when one of their buddies made an order for capsicum seedlings, but in the end failed to collect them when they were ready for transplanting. “Stranded with thousands of capsicum seedlings at our disposal, we realized we could not plant all of them at a go. We had injected a lot of finance which we couldn’t let it go to waste, thus we resorted to online marketing, posting photos of the seedlings and making inquiries for potential buyers. The response we got was overwhelming and we even fell short of fulfilling all the orders that were made. It’s at this juncture that our eyes opened and we started to propagate for commercial,’’ Mercy stated.
In November 2017, the couple opened up the doors of Nalepo Plant Raisers to the world. Nalepo is a coined Maasai word that loosely translates to something that is productive the way a cow produces milk.
With no prior knowledge on commercial propagation, they went online to acquire worthwhile knowledge but they later contracted an agronomist who impacted them with information on the dos and don’ts as far as vegetable propagation is concerned.
“We buy certified vegetable seeds from reputable companies, some farmers also bring seeds for us to propagate for them at a cost, however most farmers rely on us to provide them with seedlings,” Eric said.
They specialize in propagating tomatoes, cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, pepper (hot and sweet), onions, and cucurbits, among others.
“It normally takes four weeks for tomato, cabbage, broccoli, kales and spinach seedlings to be ready for transplanting. Onions take about five weeks while hot and sweet chilies take seven weeks. Watering the seedlings depends entirely on the weather; when it’s too hot we water twice per day,” she said.
According to the couple, a farmer runs the risk of germination failure if orthodox methods are used. Seeds grown using modern technology especially in a greenhouse have a higher germination rate. They also have a bigger root mass, which makes the plants stronger and lowers their chances of wilting.
“We have our own growing media, which includes cockpit mixture which is locally available, mixed with our secret formulae that helps us achieve 90 to 95 per cent germination rate for hybrid seeds and 80 to 90 per cent germination rate for the outdoor seedlings,” Eric revealed.
The price of seedlings ranges from Ksh 2 to ksh 12 with the hybrid type fetching more. “For the outdoor seedlings, when they are ready for transplanting, we harden them to adapt to the outside climate by minimizing the rate of watering. We usually arrange delivery to places near Emali, but for upcountry orders, deliveries are normally made through courier services to our clients,” Mercy said.
The market for seedlings is readily available. They get most of their clients through on-line and referrals from other clients who have used their products. Returns from propagation are faster compared to other farming ventures. For example, it takes only 3 weeks to get returns from tomato seedlings.
Besides propagation, they are also cultivating all types of seedlings they propagate. This gives an opportunity to a farmer visiting the farm to observe how the seedlings are performing. Once a farmer buys seedlings from Nalepo, they assist the farmer with the transplanting process and offer a spray program which a farmer should follow.
The resilience of Nalepo in propagation has caught the attention of a prominent agricultural seed supplier company who are carrying out trials of commando F1 variety of tomatoes on their farm. They also organize field days for farmers in the region to be trained.
Their advice to potential farmers, is that farming is like any other business and should not follow on-line hype especially social media where everyone seems to be a farmer, but should get information from practicing farmers.
