Maureen W
Author
In the cold area of Bathi, near Kimende town in Lari constituency, Kiambu County, we meet an international accredited farmer Mr John Njoroge Mwaniki who has taken advantage of the cold climatical conditions of the area to explore runner farming. He has several certificates from International accrediting bodies such as CMI and recognitions from organisations such as Food Agricultural Organizations (FAO) for being an outstanding farmer. Mr Njoroge shares that he farms for exporting companies, “I am capable of farming for any exporting company and make an agreement with them because I adhere to Good Agricultural Practices,” he elucidated. There are a number of requirements to be fulfilled before one is accredited to farm for export. “The procedure involves applying for certification and then the accreditors visit your farm for inspection of very many things, for example, indication of various details of what is to be produced in the farm, the input materials, spraying programme to be undertaken, spraying justification, active ingredient, product dosage, flora and fauna affected and many others,” Mr. Njoroge noted. He has been on agreement with an exporting company to supply runner beans. “The planting season is majorly in September and by three months the beans are ready for harvesting up to the eighth month which is basically the month of May”, He said.
Aware of the risks brought by monocropping, he does rotate his runner beans with cowpeas which he used to plant before the heavenly gates of runner beans opened up for three seasons now. “I decided to upgrade to runner beans because of the yields and the heavy returns,” he indicated. The crop requires a lot of economic input in regards to having poles which support the climbing plant, electricity poles and wiring as well as the labour cost since there is a lot to be done
manually in the farm. “The blue gum poles have cost me Ksh 2 million while the electricity bill for the power supply translates to Ksh.120, 000 per month for the 2.6 acres, plus other costs that I cannot account such as pumps, the drip pipes, piping, tanks and many others,” Mr Njoroge clarified.
“The runner beans require artificial light at least four hours a day at night from 7 pm to 11 pm; because the crop needs light supply for 16 hours in a day to enable it to photosynthesize owing to its origin in Europe where they are Long days and Short nights,” he says. Six strings are tied 40cm apart; in between the blue gum 2m poles to enable the crop to climb up. Supporting sticks are placed 2m apart intertwined in the strings. Many varieties grow to about 2.5m (67ft) tall and therefore need support. On the part of productivity, Mr Njoroge confirmed that the crop is a viable one since the total yield for the 2.6 acres is approximately 90 tons with a kg costing Ksh.120. The harvesting of the crop is done 3 months after planting and its normally done twice a week preferably Monday and
Friday. “A 25kg bag of runner beans goes for Ksh.32, 000.” Mr Njoroge confirms. In addition, a 185g packet of Tesco traditionally sliced runner beans goes for 6.76 Sterling pounds. The plant requires that the electricity poles be placed at a distance of 25m to 50m between each other in order to facilitate a good supply of light. “Their length should be 15m to 17m, height should be 7m and 1m below to hold on the ground. The plant pole should be 2m high and below
it to hold on the ground approximately 1/2m.” Mr.Njoroge notes. The spacing of the crops should be 20cm from each other. The type of irrigation used in his farm is drip irrigation to ensure that the plants get enough and appropriate supply of water. Because of their height, they should not be grown in areas exposed to winds, they will easily be blown down. Their foliage is very thick and this results in them producing long beans. On the part of pest diseases, Mr.Njoroge says harrow blight is the most destructive fungal disease caused by high humidity. Other pests include spider mites which eat the leaves and whiteflies that destroy everything. As part of the remedy to this, he says that he normally does scouting of his runner beans as well as employing an agronomist to check on his crop. At the same time, he sprays his crops with the aid of machines to reach the tallest of the runner beans. All said and done, Mr.Njoroge is a happy man courtesy of the godsend gift environment and his experience in farming.