Avocado farming has emerged as an attractive enterprise, as the demand for the fruit steadily increases locally and internationally.
The ready avocado market not only offers substantial profits from fruit sales but also opens up new avenues through the utilization of avocado by-products thus promoting economic opportunities for farmers in the region.
Lucas Aruda, a 32 -year-old farmer from Mahanga village in Mungoma location of Vihiga sub-county, ventured into avocado farming five years ago. “Avocado farming has completely transformed my life by enabling me to earn a steady income and I intend to undertake value addition to produce edible oil,” he stated.
Aruda cultivates the Hass variety that begins fruiting after years and a tree can produce 30 fruits in a year and averagely three fruits make one kilogramme (kg). In an acre of land, there can be planted about 150 seedlings with spacing of 3-5 metres plant to plant and 5-7 metres between the rows.
The agripreneur added that the production rate of the trees increases with age as at four years a tree can produce up to 200 fruits annually while at 10 years it stabilizes at about 800 fruits.
Aruda said the county has a great untapped potential for avocado farming with favourable climatic conditions for export production. He sells the raw, green, nutrient-rich fruit at Sh1, 500 per 50-kg sack which is about 150 fruits but the price is much higher at the export market.
The farmer explained that this enterprise brings a wide range of by-products that can further boost income through value addition, including avocado oil, avocado butter and beauty products containing avocado extracts.
Last month, Mofarm, a fresh fruits exporting company, donated 3,000 avocado seedlings to the Vihiga county government for onward distribution to selected farmers. Aruda intends to register with Mofarm so that he can earn a better price from his produce.
By Tony Gisairo and Sammy Mwibanda
