The ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources has called on Kiambu commercial tree farmers to plant fast growing and suitable tree species in their tree nurseries.
The move is aimed at attaining maximum profit and appropriately managing forest cover.
Speaking during a field day at Ting’ang’a today, Kiambu Forest Officer, James Thairu, said that it was vital for commercial tree farmers to get the skills and knowledge of knowing which trees were suitable to plant in their nurseries as this helps in preserving time and money spent on the venture.
He said that most trees planted in nurseries grew faster after they were moved to the field than those that had been planted earlier on the farms.
Thairu said that farmers should know the kind of seeds they were purchasing for planting so that they give them time to mature and not become impatient when the seedlings take a long time to be ready for harvesting.
He advised the farmers to buy seeds that grow fast, grow with low upfront costs and low maintenance and harvest costs as most of the people in the region relied on farm produce.
Thairu said that fast growing trees were also recommended since they do not consume much time before harvesting period hence produce a regular income.
He also added that trees that produce high value products were suitable since the produce would bring forth an abundance of useful products that the farmer could sell and make more money.
He said that as a commercial tree farmer, it was important to shift from commodity trees that take years to grow, to growing trees which mature fast and produce more hence high income earning.
“The care given to the trees should be proportional to the output and therefore farmers should spare adequate time to the trees as they are like a goldmine,” he said.