PRUNING AND CANOPY MANAGEMENT OF AVOCADO TREES

Pruning of avocado fruit trees is one of the most undervalued farm operations among small-scale African farmers. Pruning is essential as it makes a difference in the value of the fruits produced by the farmer hence more income.

Well maintained and pruned trees produce fruits with higher amounts of avocado oil; trees are less susceptible to diseases and produce healthy fruits.

When you don't prune avocado fruit trees, they grow very tall thus ruling out spraying pesticides and fungicides on them using cheap and simple equipment for example knapsack sprayers.

During pruning, we create an excellent avocado tree architecture that enhances a proper spray distribution and penetration; the maintain the avocado tree at a maximum height of 5.5 meters.

4 Reasons Why We Prune Avocado Trees

1. To get better light penetration into the tree

Pruning of avocado trees allows us to expose a large percentage of the tree's foliage to sunlight thus making the leaves more efficient in the production of food for the development of fruits.

If branches crowd together, humidity within the canopy of the tree increases--a condition that diseases.

High humidity around the flowers provides suitable conditions for fungal spores to penetrate developing fruits; thus pruning serves to reduce the moisture while increasing light inside the tree canopy. 

2. Control size and vigor

Avocado trees become tall and dangerous if structural pruning is not carried out.

Varieties such as Fuerte can reach a height of 10 meters which makes harvesting hard and hazardous. Pruning, therefore, helps to make the tree of a manageable height.

3. Maintain yield and quality

The market prefers bigger fruits, but when a tree bears an unusually high number of developing fruits, they tend to be smaller.

To discourage the production of many small avocado fruits, we remove some of the developing fruits (thinning out)--a practice will tend to produce heavier avocadoes.

4. Bring neglected Avocado trees back into condition

Pruning stimulates the growth of new shoots and rejuvenates old trees.

TYPES OF PRUNING

1. Training provides the basic framework of the tree as it grows from a seedling to a mature tree.

2. When the tree is fruiting, we carry out Renewal pruning. Its purpose is to remove weak or dead material and control or encourage vigor.

If the tree is growing too tall, the strong vertical growth is cut or headed back.

3. Thinning out is involves the removal of excess fruits when the tree has very many of them. Thining out discourages biennial bearing which is a tendency for some trees to produce bumper harvests one year and poor ones the next.

WHEN TO PRUNE AN AVOCADO TREE

1. During transplanting the first pruning takes place at this stage. We trim any broken or very long roots so that they can fit into the planting hole.

2. At the close of harvest and before flowering For mature plants, pruning is typically carried out at this stage. Excess branches are removed to open up the tree to air and light.

Grafted avocado plants sometimes produce suckers.  Removing these suckers is a part of pruning. Suckers are those shoots that emerge from the rootstalk that have the potential to grow into new plants.

When suckers are left to grow, they will compete with the tree for nutrients and eventually reduce the yields of the main tree.

3. When the tree has produces very many fruits we remove some of them to encourage the remaining ones to grow bigger.

This process of removing some fruits is known as thinning out; a process that discourages biennial bearing.

A guide is correct tree height is to prune, so that canopy height becomes 70% of row width with triangular shape for the best light interception.

Precautions During Pruning of Avocado Trees

Any damaged or broken growth must be removed using a setaceous, a sharp panga or pruning saw.

To prevent the transfer of viral diseases from tree to tree, you once you finish pruning one tree, you must sterilize the pruning tools before you move to the next tree.

Sterilization of pruning tools is easy. All you have to do is It means dip the pruning-devices in a disinfectant of 20% household bleach solution between trees to prevent spreading of any sap–borne diseases such as viral infections or fungal problems like Phytophthora from an infected plant to healthy ones.

Related: Avocado seasons
Avocado Hass seedlings for sale 

PRACTICES DURING HARVEST AND COOLING LEADING TO CONTAMINATION OF FARM PRODUCE

Contamination of fresh produce by Microbes can occur easily during harvesting.

Contamination is commonly caused by field workers or by the physical environment of the produce.

Environmental sources of contaminants include soil, water, air, hands, containers, etc.

Preventing contamination of produce with pathogens is critical, since their presence increases the risk of illness for consumers and lowers food safety.

Contamination of agricultural produce during harvest

Some products like grapes and strawberries; are manually harvested, never cooled nor washed at harvest and packed in the field immediately after harvest.

Packing in the field generates a condition where contamination can occur easily from soil, other solid contaminants and disease causing microbes from the hands of the packer.

Since manual harvesting (the use of hands during harvest) is involved, there is a great deal of handling and contamination of the product is likely.

Some farmers use water taken directly from rivers or holding ponds for washing produce whose safety is doubtful.

When fruits and vegetables are immersed in such water containing pathogens, they can become contaminated.

Others do not clean machines for use in harvesting and handling produce before and after use, a practice that allows residues from the previous harvest to contaminate the new harvest.

Others handle containers and packing materials carelessly, allowing them to be full of dirt and other contaminants.

How produce is contaminated during cooling

Cooling methods using water and ice as the cooling media have the greatest potential for contamination of fruits and vegetables.

It is crucial that ice used in cooling is produced from chlorinated, potable water and stored in a hygienic manner.

Water and ice used for cooling systems should be free of bacterial contamination.

Practices that minimize contamination of agricultural produce

Add an approved disinfectant  to keep  water free from micro-organisms.

These include disinfectants such as sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite or liquid chlorine.

Good hygienic practices should be followed in handling containers and packing materials to prevent product contamination.

It is important to place a water settling and filtration device in the cooling-water treatment system to remove organic material.

Cooling water should be replaced regularly (at least once a day, depending on the amount used and condition of the produce).

Sick people should not be allowed to work in the farm especially during harvest as some diseases like typhoid among others are spread though contact.

Handling agricultural produce correctly will make you have an edge in agribusiness

If you visit Wakulima, Korokocho or any other market in Kenya, you will see Lorries loaded with hundreds if not, thousands of fruits or vegetables.

If not, hardworking women-trying to eke a living will be seated in the hot sun; their produce placed on gunny-bags lined on the ground, just next to them is slurry from yesterdays’ rain.

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As the fruits or vegetables are piled on each other in the Lorries cabins, they bruise each other, those at the bottom squashed.

To crown it all, two or more brokers are sitting on them as they haggle with customers.

By the end of a single day, 10% of the produce will go bad. If it takes 3 days to sell all the produce, over 30% of the produce is destroyed.

Let’s get back to the women. If some of the produce they were selling remained at the end of the day, can’t be sold the following day as the sun will have wilted it.

It has been observed; over 40% of agricultural produce is destroyed at the post harvest stage.

This loss would have led to higher incomes and changed the fortunes of farmers and those product supply chain.

At times a total loss can occur if the produce is highly perishable; for example vegetables and fruits.

We must understand that seeds, vegetable or fruits are living commodities that continue to respire long after they have been detached from the mother plant.

Seeds respire slowly therefore can handle rough treatment and still be viable years later.

This is not the case for vegetables and fruits for they respire and deteriorate very fast after suffering wounds from rough treatment.

Who is the loser at the end of the day? – The farmer. The broker would have made their cut, the city council theirs- the farmer crying all the way to his wife!

When Kenyans are selling produce to the international markets, it is well packaged, handled and inspected by our best graduates who work for KEPHIS [Kenya plant health inspectorate service]

What happens when we want to sell produce locally? Nobody cares! - The produce is loaded and ferried in a dirty pickup that probably ferried a corpse the other day.

When the produce gets to the market who handles it? Your guess is right- it is that ‘fella’ who is water phobic.

The last time he had a shower was when he was rained on as he was caring a 100 kilo sack of potatoes.

The logic behind this article is- you can earn more if you mind how you handle produce as you will reduce wastes due to rotting.

Have a careful day! Will you?

LiveJournal Tags: Conditions in Horticultural markets in Kenya

Cooling of agricultural produce.

LiveJournal Tags: Cooling of agricultural produce,Effect of storage temperature on agricultural produce,Post harvest technology

During harvest time, the temperature of harvested produce is almost the same as ambient temperature.
Sometimes it can be high as 40⁰ degrees depending on the surrounding environment.
If temperatures are high, the respiration rate of the produce increases consequently increasing the evolution of ethylene, a gas responsible for ripening and senescence.
The objective cooling of produce is to slow down the rate of respiration thus prolong its shelf life.
PRE-COOLING
Pre-cooling is the rapid lowering of the field heat from freshly harvested produce before a comprehensive cooling regime is undertaken so as to maintain its quality.
Methods of pre-cooling vary from plant produce to produce. For example when cut flowers like roses are harvested, they are dipped in a bucket containing water mixed with a fungicide before being taken to a cold room.
Conversely tea is kept under a shed or in a cool place after harvest as the application of water to it, will reduce its storage life and encourage rotting.
Other produce like grapes should not be immersed in water as this will remove the natural wax layer on the fruit.
The natural wax is important in enhancing long storage life; furthermore it is a quality requirement of the market.
For most crops, storing them where cool air is circulating, under a shed, is sufficient to remove field heat.
Precautions to consider during cooling agricultural produce
Inappropriate cooling temperatures or methods may subject produce to abnormal ripening or chilling injury.
Abnormal ripening is mostly observed in fruits. They either ripen very fast or fail to do so when exposed to room temperature.
During cooling, a high relative humidity is maintained to prevent an excessive loss of water.
Such loss may result to wilting, shriveling, flaccidness or loss of nutritional value of produce.
Ethylene is an important gas produced naturally in fruits and vegetables as it promotes ripening.
However, during storage it should be absent or present in minute amounts; ripening is desired after the produce has reached the customer.
To prevent its production during storage, cooling must be done rapidly.
High ethylene producing commodities like fruits should not be stored together with low ethylene producing commodities like vegetables.
The produce must also be cooled at temperature which is above freezing point for temperate commodities or chilling point for tropical and subtropical commodities.
Chilling or freezing of produce affects the flavor of fruits its quality in terms of or will result to chilling injuries.
Unfortunately, these methods are not used by small scale farmers because they are at times at far flung areas away from power lines and the cost involved.
The quicker the temperature of the produce is lowered after harvest, the longer the storage life.

MISCONCEPTIONS REGARDING GREENHOUSE PRODUCTION

My neighbor bought and installed a greenhouse about 1 year ago. He had high hopes that in a short while he would recoup his investment.

Greenhouses in Kenya have been touted as the panacea of increased farm profitability. This served to increase his resolve to own one; little did he know...

After researching, he noted, during rainy seasons there was a critical shortage of tomatoes- prices would skyrocket to over Ksh 6000/= for a 70 kilogram crate.

An ‘expert’ estimated that his greenhouse measuring 45 feet by 15 feet could yield 100 crates of tomatoes if, he planted Anna F 1 Hybrids.

He salivated at the prospect of earning a turnover of 600,000/= within 5 months after investing Ksh 180,000/= in construction of the greenhouse and about Ksh 50,000/= on labor, seeds and agrochemicals.

His experience proved contrary to his expectation, because he had a job that made him busy, he left his wife in-charge of the greenhouse.

Despite the fact that his wife was determined to succeed, unfortunately, she had zero skills in pest identification, irrigation and fertility requirements and greenhouse management.

Within 1 month of transplanting her plants were invaded by white flies and red spider mites and within weeks, everything had dried up! She planted tomatoes again and again, the same thing happened.

By the time I arrived, the greenhouse was under Sukuma wiki[kale] for family consumption.

They had lost over Ksh 80,000/= in seed, chemical and labor costs and were on the verge of selling the greenhouse.

 

Exaggerated information:-

Most of the information available on greenhouse production is inaccurate as it is being peddled by salesmen is whose motivation is, to make a quick sale or profit.

The yield potential of greenhouses is exaggerated to appear attractive to the naive first time grower or inexperienced farmers.

Some of these self appointed ‘experts’ do not have any hands on experience on greenhouse production!

Their job is to set up greenhouses for farmers [which they do skillfully] after that, the farmer is left on his own, either to succeed or fail.

The hard job for the farmer commences after he purchases the greenhouse. He has to; grow the correct crop, at the correct time, the correct way- to make profit.

The reality is; the yield obtained from a greenhouse is directly proportional to the technical skills and its management by the owner.

One needs to be experienced on use of irrigation, plant hormones, greenhouse grade fertilizers, pesticides, pest identification and control.

For instance, crops grown in a greenhouse are sensitive to salinity. This means, the water used in irrigation, must be free from dissolved salts especially sodium chloride, as it has a damaging effect on crops.

Secondly, most farmers do not realize incorrect usage of fertilizers in a greenhouse can render their greenhouses useless.

Fertilizers tend to increase the level of salts in the soil or growth medium. They need to use fertilizers with a low salt index or periodically drench the soil.

The other misconception is; plants grown in a greenhouse do not suffer pest attack.

The fact is, a greenhouse is an enclosed environment where high warmth levels coupled with high humidity exist making favorable for pest growth compared to the open areas.

An experienced farmer will continuously scout for pests and diseases and control them before they reach economic injury levels.

They continually struggle with greenhouse pests like red spider mites, white flies, thrips and diseases like agro-bacterium, powdery mildew among others.

To control these diseases and pests, they spend a great deal on agrochemicals. For them to make substantial profits they continuously device ways of minimizing pest problems.

In conclusion, you should not be afraid of this investment, for it richly rewards for those who are ready to learn and persevere.

It is in a greenhouse that technology can be used in previously unimaginable ways.

At a click of a button, you can irrigate crops, increase or reduce greenhouse temperature, irrigate plants and a myriad of other operations conducted.

Do not be afraid to consult experts. I believe there are those who are motivated by the success of small start-ups and are ready to offer free advice.

Overcoming failure in agribusiness needs one to resolve to work hard, technical knowledge on crop production and financial literacy skills.

Farming is an enterprise where you can double or even triple your investment in 6 months to one year but it is laden with huge risks.

In my previous blog posts, I have provided technical information on different crops for those who wish to start a farming enterprise; but this one is unique, for the focus is success in agribusiness.

A farming business is the easiest business to start; all you need is a piece of land. If you don’t have any, there are people, always ready to lease their land.

Secondly; you must have the resolve to work hard, equipped with technical knowledge on the crop you wish grow and be abreast to the ever changing crop or farm operations and financial literacy skills.

Most of us assume that capital is the paramount factor in agricultural production, this is not true. In my opinion, managerial skills reign supreme- they determine success or failure.

A knowledgeable agricultural investor/farmer will view farming as a production line. The factory is the soil, where inputs are necessary in sufficient quantities for flourishing crop growth.

Most farmers do not supply the requisite inputs in the desired quantities. They either, oversupply or undersupply them; two conditions having a considerable influence on the quality of and price at which to sell the product.

Farmers all over lament that the costs of production have sky rocketed while the commodity prices have remained low; even in this condition, there are those who are smiling all the way to the bank.

For instance, during the rainy season, grass sprouts all over even on public land. Those with foresight harvest the grass aggressively; store it for the dry season or replenish their barns.

An Agro-based business thrives during seasons of biting shortage or during seasons of high demand like Easter and Christmas; successful farmers position their resources for such occasions.

All we need to succeed in any business including agriculture is the ability to forecast and lay plans that will shape the business/firm in the present term, medium term and in the future.

HOW FINANCIAL LITERACY AFFECTS AN AGRIBUSINESS

Success in business is the wish of every businessman or lady in Kenya; unfortunately only a handful makes it. A discussion on a popular web forum www.wazua.com attributed this failure to lack of financial literacy.

“The...biggest handicap to most people achieving financial freedom is the lack of financial education. We have people all over who are keen to invest and start business, but the truth of the matter is that 90% of the businesses started fail within the first 5 years of operation.”

The question is; which financial education is needed to succeed in business? Must you arm yourself with complex accounting formulas or equations to calculate profit or loss, sales projections or turnover?

We have witnessed people, who’ve had suboptimal education succeeding in business; some of whom are billionaires! This proves to succeed; only a basic education is necessary.

All we need to understand is; what is capital, what are sales, when do you make a profit or loss and how to deal with and regulate expenses, and, recognize that every decision taken, has a financial implication to the business.

Many people have bright business ideas. Once they take the bold step to implement them, they fail to differentiate capital from sales, profit from sales, and fail to monitor expenses to peril of the business.

Successful businessmen whether learned or not, have learned by experience and practice the role of capital in business, the tricks of increasing sales, the ways of increasing profits while reducing losses and the effect of ballooning expenses on a business.

Of course there are other ‘accounting calculations or concepts’ [if implemented] assist a businessman to accurately determine if his business is doing well.

I believe the most basic accounting concepts constitute the foundation of any business; other accounting formulas evolve from them.

Customarily, we are quick to leap into opportunities without seriously analyzing them. We consequently finish up missing the bigger picture.

We are rash to engage in business because of the greed of achievement. A business is like a seed; there are preparations that must be put in place before planting the seed.

You don’t expect to harvest immediately after planting, the seed must be natured; the bountifulness of the harvest is determined by how we natured the seed.

At times, regardless of the effort done, we miss a harvest because of reasons beyond us; the same applies to business.

When we critically analyze ourselves and the business, we will be able to understand our limitations and how they affect the business so that adjustments can be made.

There exists a very big gap and the same must be addressed if we want to progress as a country and get out of the shackles of poverty and of course the middle class mentality.

Establishing A Grape Orchard

The first question that any prospective grower needs to ask himself before he chooses a crop to grow is; “can grapes grow successfully in my locality?”
In my previous post, titled growing grapes in Kenya, I tackled the issue of appropriate environmental requirements for grape growing. 

In this post, I will discuss 

How to Establish a Grape Orchard.

To establish a grape orchard, you need the right planting material. Grapes happen to be propagated vegetatively; this means, parts of the plant are cut, rooted and used to generate other plants. The most common method used in the vegetative production of grapes is stem cuttings.

If you are growing grapes for the first time you can obtain the cuttings from other grape farmers in Kenya or the Kenya Agricultural research institute (KARI). But if you already grow some grape vines in your farm in Kenya all you need to expand your farm is the vegetative propagation of the vines.

Other grape vegetative propagation methods include; layering, budding, grafting and tissue culture.

Layering is used in cultivars that are difficult to root while budding is used to rejuvenate old vines
On the other hand, grafting is done on rootstocks resistant to the grape louse, nematodes and other soil conditions like drought and low PH.

When you need clean planting materials in large quantities such that it is impossible sufficient grape stem cuttings, Tissue culture becomes handy.
Grapes can also be grown from seeds; this method is mainly use by plant breeders to grow grapes with the intention of creating new varieties or improving the existing ones.

How To Obtain Suitable Grape Cuttings For Propagation.

The best time to get cuttings from grapes for propagation is when the plant is dormant. You harvest cuttings from the dormant annual fruiting vines or canes. Hardwood cuttings of 30 cm long, each with 3-4 buds are selected from the mother-plant and treated with a rooting hormone.
Hormone treated cuttings are then stuck in a nursery to root and develop leaves. After rooting and leafing takes place, they are ready for transplanting to the main farm.

Planting Grapes

The Land is ploughed thoroughly and deeply to a fine tilth. Trenches measuring 30 cm deep by 20 cm wide and 1.5 M long are prepared for insertion of the cuttings.
The top soil is mixed with 120 grams DSP and put back into each trench. The soil is then irrigated thoroughly and excess water is allowed to drain out before the cuttings are stuck in the trenches.
Spacing of 15 cm apart should is observed the trench is filled leaving the top buds of each cutting exposed.
Sprouting will occur after 4 weeks, afterwards top dress using CAN to promote vegetative growth.
The cuttings should be left to grow for one year after which they will be ready for transplanting to the main field. The best time is between, August to October, so as to reduce transplanting shock.
If the cuttings are directly stuck in the field, the same procedure used in the nursery should be followed, but the spacing in the field should be the recommended spacing.
Holes should be at least 60 cm deep; each hole should receive 120 grams of DSP fertilizer, soil mixed with it, followed by irrigation.
The whole cutting should be covered with soil; one bud should be left projecting above the soil. The soil around the cutting or transplant should be firmed and irrigated weekly.
Shoots that sprout through soil are the best; those that are vigorous should be allowed to grow and trained towards a trellis.

Training And Pruning Of Grape Vines

Before grapes are planted a trellis system should be set up. The most suitable trellis is the T trellis as it is easy to construct and maintain.
There are other methods of trellising; they include Veranda, Double veranda and Table trellis. Training is determined more by trellis system than by the rootstock.

Spacing of vines is usually about 2 to 2.5 Meters intra row spacing and 3 Meters inter row spacing. The combination of training and pruning gives the vines the shape for bearing fruits.

The shape should maximize the number of bearing canes and their exposure to the sun, as this improves the quantity and quality of grapes respectively. On the other hand, disease control is easier.

One year after planting, vines, go dormant. When environmental conditions improve, the main shoot starts growing. When it reaches the top wire of the trellis it is pinched to encourage branching.

New shoots emerge from the pinched point. If you are using a T-trellis select only 2 shoots. Train them to follow the wire in opposite directions.
Laterals that grow from the trained shoots are allowed to hang below the wires. They should also be pinched to discontinue excessive growth once they have grown sufficiently.

Pinching of grapes is important as it conserves nutrients, removes apical dominance, prevents the growth of small berries at the top of the vines and encourages good bud break and berry development.

Harvesting, Handling And After Care Of The Vines

Ripe berries are cut off from the laterals during harvesting. After harvesting, grape vines go dormant.
If they don’t go dormant naturally, all leaves must be stripped of from the vine to allow them to go dormant forcefully.
A Powdery mildew attack or withholding irrigation can promote defoliation.