By Umar Nsubuga
Gooseberries have been neglected for years and left to grow on their own even though they have a good market in urban areas.
Many people consider it a wild crop for hunters and children, while others consider it a food for wild animals like snakes.
“A gooseberry grows to about two metres tall and can be intercropped with other fruit trees. However, this should not be done for more than one season,” says Rose Iga, a gooseberry farmer.
How to plant them
-The seeds should be dried for three to four days before they are sowed in a nursery bed.
-The seedlings should be planted two metres apart; they turn yellowish when ready for harvest.
-The plant takes two months in a nursery bed and five months to get ready for harvest. Harvesting is done twice a week for eight months.
-Gooseberries grow well in loam soils and a single fruit stem can yield about 20kg per plant.
-The fact that gooseberries are a wild crop makes them susceptible to vermin like caterpillars, magpie moths and snakes.
Pest control
Iga says the most effective way of getting rid of the destructive insects is to look at each plant carefully and pick off the larvae by hand.
When they are larger, they may be shaken off by striking the branches, but by that time, the harm is generally done, the eggs are laid on the leaves during the previous season.
She adds that snakes are another major hindrance to growing gooseberries. They feed on the berries, so one has to spray the leaves with a snake-repellent such as a green hammer to do away with them.
One can also grow tobacco to deter snakes, but it grows faster than gooseberries and can suppress them. So, it is advisable to leave enough space between the two crops.
