Macadamia farmers in Nyeri, Embu and Meru counties will be smiling all the way to the bank after a bumper harvest .
The prices are also expected to improve from the high of Sh200 a kilogramme when the season closed in September, said Charles Mwangi, a farmer in Nyeri.
“Last season was good but we expect prices to go beyond Sh200 a kilogramme next year due to increasing demand and farmers who have a good crop will have a long harvest period because of the staggered rains experienced this season,” said Mr Mwangi, who expects to harvest about 15 tonnes from 700 trees between February and June next year.
Due to growing demand, nut processors want county governments in the crop catchment areas to support ongoing efforts to double the current production by 2022 as farmers switch to the nut.
Nut Processors Association of Kenya (NutPAK) has put in place an initiative that will see the number of trees increased by one million from the current 2.5 million.
The target is to have 10 million trees by 2022, enough to double the current production.
NutPAK has already carried out 15 of the 55 planned field days in macadamia growing counties during which seedlings are being distributed and information on good crop husbandry shared.
However, the association is concerned that county governments have not created a budget to support the crop despite a huge number of farmers embracing it.
“We expect the government to support the processors in the ongoing efforts to register farmers in the country and also carry out tree census,” Mr Charles Muigai NutPAK chief executive officer said.
With the entry of the China as a producer in the recent times, there is need for the government to offer full support to allow Kenya safeguard its market, Mr Muigai said.
Unlike in Kenya, macadamia production in China is a government-supported initiative and the country projects to produce 100,000 tonnes by 2025, according to the statistics presented at the Macadamia Symposium in China held recently in which Kenya sent a delegation.