Ten years ago a neighbor from the United States handed Isaac Chumba two seedlings of strawberries, little did he know that that would be the start of an incredible journey in Agriculture.
Chumba is an insurance provider but that has not stopped him from pursuing his passion in agriculture.
From the two seedlings, the youthful farmer has grown to a major distributor of strawberries in almost all supermarkets and fruit vendors in Eldoret town. He has the fruits covering three acres of his farm.
"The best I can get from an acre of maize is 30 bags, otherwise most people earn 25 bags, but with strawberries the results are impressive," says Chumba.
"The beauty about strawberries is that after three months, you start harvesting," he adds.
With the ever-increasing demand, Chumba is reaping big from strawberry farming. He sells a kilogram of strawberries for about Sh200.
To ensure a constant supply of these fruits, he plants them at different time intervals. Strawberries demand is usually high in December due to increased festivities.
"In the month of December, we sell a lot of them since many people who bake cakes usually require them as flavors. Some need them for juice and other uses," notes Chumba.
Like any other kind of agriculture, strawberry farming also has its challenges. Birds are a major nuisance since they are usually the first to enjoy the fruits of Chumba's toil.
"We have to keep people on the farm to scare them away especially in the morning and evening when it's not so hot. That's when they invade most," he says.
With better returns from strawberry as compared to the traditional maize and wheat farming, more farmers are slowly developing interest.
"I have been looking for strawberry splits for so long and so I have come to buy them so that I go plant them in my farm as well," said Joan Chepchumba a resident of Uasin Gishu who was at Chumba's firm to buy the splits.
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