By Herbert Musoke
Mahawiyah Mukasa, a farmer in Nakaseke district grows dragon fruits. It is an exotic fruit which performs well in areas that receive relatively low rains.
Mukasa says that dragon fruit plants require very little water to grow making it a perfect fruit to be grown in areas like Kapeeka in Nakaseke district where his farm is located.
Mukasa’s farm ( Kapeeka Agro and Livestock farm) sits on 10 acres. On it, he grows dragon fruits and rears livestock. The fruit has three varieties; yellow, white and red.
How to plant Dragon fruit
Mukasa says a farmer desiring to start growing the plant should get seeds from a trusted farmer.
After securing quality seedlings, insert concrete poles in the garden. The poles support the fruit while growing.
“At first, we were using concrete poles which was expensive. We then changed to palm tree stems which is cheaper. A palm tree stem costs about sh5, 000 whereas a concrete pole goes for sh70, 000,” he explains.
He says an acre takes 450 poles with each (pol)e meant to support four seedlings (each pole is counted as a plant). So, a farmer will need 1,800 seedlings each costing sh20,000.
He adds that the pole should be 7ft, the 2ft should be in the ground to hold it firm and the 5ft are to support the fruit. Also, put a tyre at the tip of the pole, the tyre is held by the iron bars inserted in the pole.
Mukasa says the tyre helps the plant to grow while facing down.
When it grows through the tyre, cut off the tip of the growing bud. He says this makes the new buds grow facing down.
It takes 8-10 months for the plant to grow through the tyres and cutting off the tip. In the next two months, the plant will start facing down and in two months it will start flowering. The fruit will ripe in 45 days.
Best practices
Mukasa explains that the fruit doesn’t need a lot of water to thrive. If planted in a water-lodged place, it will rot.
“This is why we heap soil around the poles because if it rains the water will drain in the soil but little will be retained for the plant’s survival,” he says adding that too much sunshine can kill the plant since it is a desert plant.
To fertilise the fruits, Mukasa mixes rabbit droppings in the soil. He also mulches the soil to retain water.
Harvest
According to Mukasa, at most, each plant yields 10 fruits every two months. He harvests 60 fruits from each plant a year.
He says his main market is supermarkets. A kilogram of dragon fruits goes for sh15,000.
