Flora's sweet success.

Mutomo is a semi-arid land. Rain as usual is scarce and very often one gets thirsty. You can quench your thirst by eating melons. Below here i have documented the story of Flora Nzambuli who grows melons in Mutomo. See how you can grow melons if you live in place with the same climate.

You won’t believe it; Melons can grow in a semi-arid land such as Mutomo. Meet Flora Nzambuli she is a resident farmer in Yaana village, Kawelu Sub location, Kibwea location in Mutomo District. She is a member of FFS. Last year, during the rainy season she planted water melons and was able to sell them at approximately ksh35, 000 both in Mutomo town and Mombasa at Mwembe Tayari market.

She started her small project by buying seeds worth Ksh.5, 000. The types of seeds used are called Baby sugar Water melon seeds. They can be found locally in the chemists. Once they water melon plant has sprouted it needs to be sprayed with pesticides because of the constant attacks of aphids.

Melons are sold per kg. 1kg=25ksh.Her melons managed to hit a weight of up to 10kgs, this means that most of her melons in Mombasa went for ksh.250 or more. In Mutomo she used to slice a melon into 10 pieces each piece would fetch her ksh.10 which led to an overall ksh.100 per water melon. Water melons do not need refrigeration and can last up to 90 days after the harvest day. For the melons to last that long they need to be kept uncut- they should be in their whole form.

Challenges have been there though in growing water melons. Such challenges have been squirrels which find the melons to be a delicacy. The other thing is the constant attacks by aphids and lastly little rainfall. The water melons can do well in Mutomo, but only during the rainy seasons.

If you are interested in planting water melons in Mutomo, Flora advises you to plant them during the October/ November rains. She planted hers during the same season and she harvested in the same season. The other thing is that melons grown in Mutomo are extremely sweet. This is owed to the generous golden sun that Mutomo has been blessed with. The farmers here do not need to use fertilizers as their soils are rich.

The best type of spray to use is called Karate. This is sprayed before the melons flower. A small can of Karate spray costs between ksh.300-500 for spraying roughly one acre. The melons are sprayed during their flowering stages and after that any time aphids show up.

How do you know they are ready for harvest?
1. They will be dark green in color
2. The stem that attaches the fruit to the mother plant usually dries up when the fruit is ready for picking
3. If you tap the fruit, fingers held as if knocking on a door, it produces a sound similar to that one of playing a drum.

Method of selling/ marketing
1. Word of mouth-buzz marketing, telling the community members about you water melons brings customers to your door step
2. Sampling- people want a taste of the melons to entice them to buy. She did this in Mombasa and her fruits were selling as hot cake.

Approximately how much did you use on transport?
From Mutomo to Mombasa return trip for a single passenger is ksh.1, 000 and ksh.3000 for the bags of melons plus loading and unloading of bags to the market venues she spent ksh.1, 000, total expenditures on transport coming to ksh.5, 000.

For more information contact;
Flora Nzambuli
Mobile: +254 727 857 452
Mobile: +254 736 429 402
Email: floranzambuli@yahoo.com