Chinese tomato grafting technology broadening revenue streams for Kenyan farmers

Tomato grafting technology from China help Kenyan farmers reclaim profitability and food security, becouse of the grafted tomatoes are high-yielding, and resistant to disease and pest attacks. 

His entire family in tow, Jonah Karanja made a stroll while admiring the succulent tomatoes that were blooming inside a greenhouse erected at the edge of his five-acre (about 2 hectares) farm, sandwiched by rolling plains in Nakuru county, located about 160 km northwest of Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

The middle-aged farmer is an early adopter of tomatoes grafted using Chinese technology and is optimistic that once the vegetable matures fully, it will fetch him a windfall. "It is my first time to cultivate the grafted tomato and I am impressed by its sheer height and ability to produce more compared with the traditional varieties," Karanja said during a recent interview at his farm.

The non-grafted tomatoes, according to Karanja, were laden with risks including bacterial wilt disease, attack by pests, and vulnerability to harsh weather besides fetching low prices in the local market.

Since 2008, Karanja has been involved in tomato farming albeit with minimal rewards until lately when he adopted the grafted variety whose demand at the farm gate and far away markets has grown exponentially.

Karanja is among smallholder farmers within Nakuru County who are cultivating grafted tomatoes under the China-International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) South-South and Triangular Cooperation funded project.

The conventional tomato variety has been fetching Karanja 50 shillings (about 39 U.S. cents) per kg though he hopes the grafted variety will earn him double that amount.

In Kenya, this tomato grafting technology has been rolled out to the farmers on a trial basis courtesy of a partnership between Egerton University based in Nakuru County and Nanjing Agricultural University of China. Running from May 2023 to September 2024, the grafted tomato farming initiative was domiciled in the "Empowering rural youth through innovative horticultural solutions in tomato value chain" project.

Joshua Ogweno, the Kenyan director at Egerton University's Confucius Institute, said that tomato grafting technology from China is ideal in local settings and involves inserting a stem that is disease- and drought-tolerant into another scion in a bid to maximize productivity.

"From what we have seen, grafting technology is working on tomatoes to manage the bacterial wilt," Ogweno said. "With this project, we are trying to score in two ways; to reduce poverty and by making farmers grow tomatoes, they can sell and others can eat. We are increasing their income by getting a big harvest."

Over 4,000 farmers have been trained in greenhouse farming and tomato grafting technology, according to Ogweno, noting that Egerton University has also identified a reliable company to supply the grafted tomato seedlings to local farmers.

Her face glowing amid evening light showers, Mary Mwangi, a local woman farmer, admired the tall tomato trees at the greenhouse adjacent to her farmhouse, sagging under the weight of succulent and ready-to-harvest crops.

When she was introduced to grafted tomato cultivation, Mwangi took the offer gladly and has not regretted it since the harvest has been bountiful and she is no longer incurring heavy costs on pesticides.

The middle-aged farmer has so far harvested grafted tomatoes three times and proudly stated that the quantity went up each harvest thanks to meticulous crop husbandry acquired through training. "I'm very happy to witness the grafted tomatoes flourish on my farm and when I look at their weight, they look heavier and when I take them to the local market, customers are ready to buy them at a higher price," Mwangi said.

Mary Muthoni Maina, another farmer from Nakuru County, has embarked on cultivation of the grafted tomato after being trained by Egerton University's agronomists. According to Maina, the grafted tomatoes are high-yielding, and resistant to disease and pest attacks, stressing that both farmers and consumers have embraced them with enthusiasm.

So far, Maina has harvested the grafted tomatoes thrice, earning 15.50 U.S. dollars weekly during the initial harvest while subsequent harvests per week have been fetching her 54.26 U.S. dollars.

"This variety is also very strong and I would appeal to Egerton University and the Chinese team to continue training us on growing grafted tomatoes since many customers keep coming for them on our farms," Maina said.

Stephen Githeng'u, a horticulture expert at Egerton University, said that due to their huge size, about five grafted tomatoes could make one kg compared to seven to eight ungrafted varieties.

Githeng'u observed that through the cultivation of grafted tomatoes, farmers have been able to reclaim profitability and food security, adding that plans are at an advanced stage to help the farmers market their produce online.

Tomato grafting, which has been practiced in China for many years, has performed well in 15 demonstration sites within Nakuru county, said Liu Gaoqiong, a professor of Horticulture from Nanjing Agricultural University who is also a visiting professor at Egerton University.