Avocado farmers tap fruit fly ‘seducers’ to boost earnings

James Githinji, a smallholder avocado farmer at his farm in Kandara. PHOTO | COLLINS OMULO | NMG

By COLLINS OMULO
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Summary

• A few seasons back a fruit fly attack rendered highly-sought avocadoes nearly worthless after they were found unfit for export, plunging him into losses.
• The horticulture export business has exacting standards.
• Among the bare minimums that exporters have to meet includes size, appearance, and phytosanitary (health of plants with relation to trade).

Ambrose Murigi only has good things to say about the horticulture export business. For close to 10 years now, he has been growing avocados for export at his farm in Muruka in Kandara, Murang’a County, and reaping big.

His 41 trees have been the goose that lays the golden egg, earning him enough to comfortably provide for his family over the years. And with demand for Kenyan avocadoes at the global market ever-rising, it seemed that things could only get better. Well, that was until his trees suffered an attack from a most devastating source.

A few seasons back a fruit fly attack rendered his highly-sought avocadoes nearly worthless after they were found unfit for export, plunging him into losses.

The horticulture export business has exacting standards. Among the bare minimums that exporters have to meet includes size, appearance, and phytosanitary (health of plants with relation to trade).

Avocadoes come in different sizes ranging from 16 (big) to 26 (the smallest). However, export avocadoes have to be between 16 and 22 and must not have sunburns, black marks, and the stalk should be intact upon harvest.

The fruit fly attack left his tonnes of avocadoes with marks. His predicament was also shared by James Githinji, also a smallholder avocado farmer in the same area, just some kilometres from Murigi’s farm.

The 66-year-old has been growing avocado since 1994 and currently has 220 hass avocado trees in his two-acre land.

To deal with the flies, spraying the fruits with pesticides was the low-hanging fruit. However, the two farmers quickly dismissed the option after considering the stringent phytosanitary standards on chemical residues imposed in major markets such as the European Union where Kenyan avocadoes earn farmers top cash. Exporters who flout the standards are locked out of the lucrative market.

While weighing their options, both Murigi and Githinji stumbled upon a programme that was using a most ingenious way to tackle the flies menace.

SokoFresh, a firm that offers farm-to-market cold storage and market linkage services to horticulture farmers had started a programme that was selling insect trappers to help reduce infestation.

The insect trappers have pheromone hormone, which is a chemical used by insects and other animals to communicate by sending the chemical signals to attract mates. The trappers simulate the type of scent produced by the female insect to seduce or lure their male counterparts.

Simon Kiguru, SokoFresh operations associate, explains that the fruit flies die after coming into contact with the hormone.

“When you control the male flies, no more eggs will be fertilised, meaning there will be no hatching, hence the population of the fruit flies will be reduced,” says Mr Kiguru.

Githinji and Murigi immediately knew this was the best solution.

This way, Githinji says, they can monitor the fruit flies hence detect infestation before it spread. This then enables them to reduce damage to their avocadoes while also protecting the environment from harmful pesticides that would have been used instead of the trappers.

Ambrose Murigi displaying avocadoes he has harvested from his farm in Muruka area, Kandara Constituency in Murang'a County. PHOTO | COLLINS OMULO | NMG

The appeal for the insect trappers is enhanced by their pocket-friendly prices. The traps retail at Sh300 and one can serve a radius of four avocado trees.

A piece of the hormone goes for between Sh150 and Sh250 depending on size and is effective for three months before it is replaced.

Murigi joined SokoFresh in February and has been supplying about 700 kilogrammes of avocado every fortnight to the firm.

He explains that before, many of his avocadoes would end up as rejects because of the black spots.

“My earnings have increased four times after reducing on avocadoes going to waste,” he says.

The farmers sell the avocadoes to SokoFresh at Sh12 a piece compared to between Sh7 and Sh8 brokers offer for the export type.

For Githinji, he harvests between three and four tonnes of avocado every week and sells more than 15,000 pieces to SokoFresh every month.

SokoFresh pitched a tent in Murang’a County in 2019 but began operations in the off-season of 2020, that is, between August and October.

Mr Kiguru points out that their focus is smallholder farmers who are recruited to be part of the programme where they can sell their avocadoes directly to SokoFresh. Currently, 600 smallholder farmers are part of the programme.