Researchers from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) recently reported bananas may replace staples like potatoes in developing countries if temperatures keep rising due to climate change. CGIAR reports resultant warmer weathers in previously cooler environments will provide the opportunity to grow bananas as they
mature faster. In Kenya, there are farmers actively growing bananas at the expense of traditional staples like maize and beans with success. For Mr. Boaz Odemu Bulimu from Lugari Sub County, profitable farming began in 2013 after adopting the growing of Tissue Culture Bananas (TCB) alongside other improved varieties.
With yields up to four times that of traditional varieties and guarantee of harvesting 80 percent of the establishment, TCBs have changed the fortunes and status of Bulimu from subsistence to successful farmer, trainer, entrepreneur, and leader.
Before adopting the TCBs Bulimu grew traditional varieties he sold for as little as half a dollar a whole banana. He also did subsistence farming of maize, beans, and sweet potatoes. “We were content with what we earned, we didn’t know any different,” he said.
“Bananas are of great importance to small-scale farmers in the developing countries of the tropics and sub-tropics. The crop can be grown in a range of environments and production systems, and provides a nutritious staple food and a significant source of revenue all year
round,” remarks Bulimu who is the Manager at Lugari Constituency Office.
Bulimu observes that banana farming and its benefits to the population is now becoming a reality in Kenya, with more farmers realizing the potential of the crop in terms of food security and income. He recalls his interested in this type of farming after being presented with a few suckers by a neighbor who wanted him to try his hand at growing bananas. Having previously worked as a researcher with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) for several years, Bulimu decided to embark on growing bananas for subsistence and commercial purposes. He set aside one and a half acres for the crop.
“Bananas can be grown in a wide range of soils as long as there is good drainage and adequate fertility. They can tolerate short periods of flooding but do require good soil aeration,” explains Bulimu who played host for celebrations to mark the World Food Day in Kakamega County this year.
To maintain a good and sustainable water drainage, the farmer has developed an elaborate rainwater harvesting system on his farm. He has dug several interconnected trenches, measuring 120m×3m× 1m, across the five-acre farm.
“One trench can hold up to 360,000m³ of water when full,” he notes, adding the water permeates the soil evenly, enabling his banana stems and other crops to enjoy undisturbed water flow for most part of the year.
Besides direct raindrops, most of the harvested rainwater is drawn from floods along a section of the road adjacent to his home compound and farm.
Water from the trenches then percolates the soil reaching roots to all crops on the farm, thus enabling sustainability of crop moisture content and especially during periods of a dry spell.
“Perhaps, Bulimu is the first farmer in Lugari Sub County to successfully utilize flooding rainwater, which hitherto was viewed as a menace by local farmers, especially those living along sections roads prone to floods,” observed Sub County Agricultural Officer, Mr.
Eliud Wephukulu.
Bulimu has fully utilized the one and half acre set aside for growing bananas. At the moment he has 365 stems of the crop.
“The 365 stems are able to meet my family’s basic needs throughout the year,” he points out, confessing the project has transformed his family’s socio-economic status.
Bulimu has planted a total of 20 varieties of bananas on his farm, with tissue culture and East African Highland Banana (EAHB) being the majority. The crop, which has quickly turned into his major source of income generates a minimum of Kshs. 750,000 per year from fresh banana sales. “I used to harvest about ten sacks of maize from the one-acre piece of land, but the returns from the bananas are 10 times more than that of maize,” notes Bulimu. The farm produces about 10 mature bunches monthly and he expects to triple this as more plants reach full
maturity.
He has intercropped the bananas with other plants such as cassava, beans, varieties of indigenous vegetables and potato.
“Bananas can be intercropped with other crops of nutritional importance and food security such as cassava, sweet potato, arrowroots, yam, beans, maize and coffee,” the farmer reveals.
Bulimu is now a successful farmer and has become a model farmer and motivation to scores of people who treated banana farming with contempt.
“In fact every last Saturday of the month I usually donate banana suckers to interested farmers,” he disclosed, saying the farmers arrive from the rest of sub counties in Kakamega County.
For maximum land utilization, Wepukhulu says bananas can also be planted on the sloppy areas where their fibrous roots help reduce soil erosion.
The officer added that recycling of the plant residue into the farm helps in restoration of the soil nutrients. “Nothing goes to waste, the peels, leaves, and pseudostems of the banana are used as animal feeds. In return, the manure from the animals is spread on the farm, thus
maximizing the crop’s food security and economic potential,” says Wepukhulu.
During the World Food Day celebrations, Kakamega County Executive for Agriculture, Mr. Kulati Wangia who graced the occasion was impressed by Bulimu’s water harvesting and banana projects encouraged farmers in the region to emulate the same. “Banana is a food security crop because it serves as famine avoidance crop and provides a buffering bridge to food provision in times of scarcity between cereal harvests,” noted the county executive.
