Joseph Mwangi is a smallholder farmer from Kenya, producing cabbage since 1990. He owns 5 acres of land and leases an additional 10 to 15 acres, cultivating cabbage on a total of 15 to 20 acres.
Joseph Mwangi,
a key player in his community
The farm’s activity is focused on the production of cabbages for over 30 years.
To sustain and enhance his productivity, he has experimented with various cabbage varieties to boost yield and profitability.
“
The sowing of this cabbage in nursery gave me 99% in nursery production
Joseph Mwangi,
Farmer, Kinangop, Kenya
”
The challenges Joseph faced
Farming in Kenya comes with unique challenges, and Joseph encountered several obstacles with his crop production.
He struggled with selling only 50-65% of his produce due to quality issues and poor field-holding capacity.
Xanthomonas disease frequently affected his crops, further reducing marketable yield.
Additionally, the unpredictability of buyer visits required cabbages with excellent field-holding ability.
Solutions Sakata provided
With the Conquistador variety, Joseph increased his yield to 85%
Sakata’s sales team provided essential support and advice, recommending the Conquistador F1, a high-yielding cabbage hybrid.
This variety offered:
- Exceptional germination rates
- Clean, high-quality, and solid cabbage heads
Thanks to increased disease tolerance, the quality of Joseph’s harvests improved
The Conquistador F1 is a hybrid cabbage with increased disease tolerance, specifically to the Xanthomonas disease in Joseph’s area.
With this variety, Joseph saw the quality of his production improve.
Better field holding ability helped to reduce harvest losses
Improved field-holding ability allowed Joseph to maintain the quality of his cabbages until buyers arrived, reducing harvest losses and boosting profits.
Rising temperatures, unpredictable precipitation levels, and drought are a threat to your activity. To overcome these challenges you need to opt for versatile crop varieties to ensure a successful harvest. Sakata offers a range of varieties that adapt well to stress.
To illustrate, Accord F1, is a resilient cabbage that can adapt to changing weather conditions, making it ideal for the fresh market, and the beet Cardeal F1, is a very adaptable variety that works in well all climates.
And what about the future ?
Sakata helped Joseph improve his cabbage yield by helping him choose the best variety for his local growing conditions.
As a result of the increased yield and quality, Joseph is now able to sell more products and ultimately increase his profits.