How to Grow Chives in Kenya
We'll focus on starting a profitable chive farming business in Kenya in this post.
Keep in touch and read this useful post to discover how to increase your yield of chives cultivation in Kenya.
Green chives have a flavor that is somewhat akin to mild onion. They belong to the Allium genus, which also contains leeks, garlic, and onions. Farmers in Kenya have long grown allium vegetables for their distinctively sour flavors in food and their therapeutic benefits.
The herb, whose scientific name is Allium Schoenoprasum, is becoming more and more well-known throughout the nation and is thought to have come from Siberia.
Profitable Chive Farming Business in Kenya
Chives are hardy, low-maintenance plants that can reach heights of 10 to 12 inches. They grow leaves that are hollow and considerably more delicate than onions. A kilo of chives, which sells for approximately Ksh620 (5.25 euros) on the international market, brings in millions of dollars for Kenyan farmers, according to Veg Farms.
The Allium family (Alliaceae), which also comprises other crops including onion, garlic, leek, and bunching onion, includes chives. The Allium species with the greatest geographic distribution is the chive.
Although the crop is perennial, it is grown as an annual in Kenya, where the entire plant is picked at the end of an eight-week growth cycle. Chives have a robust tillering tendency compared to onions and other alliums, generating thick clumps without well-formed bulbs.
Health Benefits of Chives
A nutrient-rich food is chives. They have less calories but are rich in healthy nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which means they are also low in calories.
However, consuming a lot of chives is required to obtain a considerable amount of these nutrients. Chives are frequently used as a garnish in their place. A typical serving size is one tablespoon (tbsp), or three grams.
The following nutrients are present in 1 tbsp of chopped chives:
• Energy: 0.9 calories
• Vitamin k: 6.38 micrograms (mcg), or 5% of the daily value (dv)
• Vitamin c: 1.74 milligrams (mg), or 2% of the dv
• Folate: 3.15 mcg, or 1% of the dv
• Vitamin a: 6.43 mcg, or 1% of the dv
• Calcium: 2.76 mg, or less than 1% of the dv
• Potassium: 8.88 mg, or less than 1% of the dv
Growing Requirement for Cultivation of Chives in Kenya.
Temperature and Humidity
This well-liked herb grows best in conditions of full sunlight and temperatures between 16 and 21 degrees Celsius.
Chives are a cool-season herb, and cool weather is when they produce their best crop. In the middle of the hot seasons, chives can become dormant due to extremely intense heat. The foliage can also be destroyed by extreme cold, which is why greenhouse chives are the best.
Soil
The common herb requires soil that drains well and has a pH of 6-7. In medium-loam soils, they flourish. To enhance the quality of black cotton soils and other clay soil types, enough manure is required in addition to good drainage.
Chives should be planted in rich, moist, well-draining soil, similar to the circumstances that make onions thrive, for the best crop.
Types of Chives to Grow
The two species of chives commonly grown in home gardens are common chives (Alliu schoenoprasum) and garlic chives (A. tuberosum):
Common chives consist of clusters of tiny, narrow bulbs that develop thin, tubular, blue-green leaves that grow to a height of 10-15 inches. Depending on the species, the tasty, edible blossoms might be white, pink, purple, or red.
Garlic chives (also called Chinese chives) look similar to normal chives, but grow to a height of about 20 inches and have flatter, greener leaves. Their leaves taste mildly of garlic, as their name implies (bulbs are more intense). White, bigger, and less tightly clustered than those of common chives, the flowers are white. Garlic chives are suggested for zones 4 to 9 because they are not quite as cold hardy as regular chives.
Giant Siberian chives (Allium ledebourianum) possess a stronger onion-garlic flavor than other chive cultivars, giving them a deeper flavor. The plant grows higher and has huge rose-violet flowers.
Siberian garlic chives (Allium nutans) possess a characteristic onion-garlic taste. They feature upright blue-green foliage and midsummer pink blossoms.
How to Plant Chives in Kenya
Land preparation
Because chives have shallow roots (25–30 cm), it is not advisable to prepare the area extensively. To achieve a good tilth on virgin fields, plough the ground twice, across the field, to a depth of 20–25 cm.
Make beds that are 20 cm high and 120 cm wide. Fork and rake the soil before planting on areas that have been constantly farmed. Use Roundup at a rate of 3–4 tbs/gal 7–14 days before to planting if Cyperus rotundus, often known as nut grass, is present when the area is being prepared. When the weeds are actively developing, the pesticide is most effective.
Soil preparation
To completely eliminate weeds and create a good tilth for chive planting, the site must be prepared thoroughly. The first working should be deep, and successive cultivations should seek to create a tilth that is moist and malleable. Animal dung can be used to supplement a less fertile soil by fertilizing the crop that came before it. The corn seed fly's larvae will attack the planted cloves or germination of the seed if organic animal products like blood and bone meal are applied right before planting. This is because they attract the fly and its larvae.
In order to allow the crop to mature, farmers are also obliged to till the field to a fine texture. Chives require sufficient nitrogen to grow properly.
Propagation of Chives
You can plant the herb using either seeds or vegetative materials. Planting rooted clumps using divisions is the simplest and most effective way to propagate chives. Pull a smaller clump from the larger clump by gently digging the clump. At least five to ten bulbs should be present in the smaller cluster. Place this little clump in the area of your yard where you want to grow chives.
Chives can be produced from seeds, which should be moist and allowed to develop at a temperature between 15 and 20 °C. They can also be planted inside or on polythene sheeting.
Prior to transplanting, seeds can be grown on nurseries, indoors, or outdoors. When the seedlings are 15 cm tall, transplanting can begin. Due to regulated growing circumstances, unlike open field farming, transplanting may be done at any time, whether it be early in the morning or late in the evening. Plant seeds no deeper than 14 inch and about 2 inches apart. Add a small layer of soil on top. After seedlings appear, thin them out until plants are 4 to 6 inches apart in all directions. The harvesting time lasts 90 days after planting, and plant spacing is always around 20 cm.
Planting Of Chives in Kenya
You can grow chives as an annual or a perennial plant. In rows that are 30 cm apart, space plants 10 cm apart. If chives are pruned to 10 cm in the summer, they will grow better. A preplant full fertilizer or composted manure is advised, with further nitrogen applications suggested every year following the first harvest, as adequate nitrogen is crucial. Each year, several cuttings can be obtained, but as the season goes on, the rust disease may limit the quantity of cuttings. You can grow chives as a houseplant.
To maintain development, continually feed and water. Make sure the plants get enough light, particularly throughout the winter. Although they can resist practically any dramatic temperature changes and can tolerate some shade, they thrive in cool climates. Plant seeds or divisions 4 to 6 weeks before to the typical last frost date in your area.
Crop Care and Management
Weeding; Due to its short fibrous root system and absence of an aerial canopy to shade out other vegetation, chives are poor competitors with weeds for water and soil nutrients. Regular cultivation is used to control weeds, and daily inspection is advised to control insects. In order to prevent losses from weed infestation, the farm should be kept weed-free because they compete with the crop for growth-promoting elements.
Mulching– An extra layer of mulch is beneficial for chives because it keeps the soil moist and reduces weed growth. Upon decomposition, the mulch also releases nutrients into the soil.
Irrigation- Chive plants need very light irrigation. Between watering the soil should nearly completely dry out before receiving a good soak. You shouldn't overwater plants. Watering frequently results in bigger, more succulent leaves. Once established, chives are a species that can withstand drought. This does not imply that you should forgo providing them with water during hot, dry weather. Keep chives continuously wet throughout the growth season to provide a stunning yield.
Pruning; Dead-heading the flowers as soon as they have completed flowering is a good idea if you don't want chives sprouting up all over your yard. By doing this, the seeds won't grow farther. When a plant blooms, the flower head should be cut off when it begins to dry out and die so that energy can be directed into the growth of leaves. The seeds can aggressively self-sow and are often quite productive.
Liming; The ideal pH range for chives is between 6.0 and 7.0. Different soil types require different amounts of liming. For liming to be effective, limestone must be applied at least six weeks before planting. Apply the limestone as directed, working it into the soil until a depth of at least 15 cm has been reached.
Which Is The Best Fertilizer For Chives.
For fertilization, The results of the trials showed how much nutrition chive requires. Following the fundamental fertilization of the soil, weekly fertigation with an NPK fertiliser at a higher nitrogen dose (10–15 kg ha–1 N per week) led to higher biomass production than fertigation with nitrogen alone and/or a half nitrogen dose. The most intensively fertilized treatment that produced the best yield had yearly uptakes in yield of 185–200 kg ha–1 for nitrogen, 17–20 kg ha–1 for phosphorus, and 120–140 kg ha–1 for potassium.
Over-fertilisation is potentially harmful to chives. Like many herbs, slower, more compact development produces foods with more flavor and plants with better overall health. A soil with lots of organic materials ought to supply enough nutrients. To improve the plant's vigor, a very little dose of a 5-10-5 fertilizer may be required once every spring if the plant starts to become weak from yearly harvesting. For chive plants grown outside in containers or indoors, apply a liquid fertilizer every four to six weeks at a concentration of one-half the label's recommended strength.
Pests & Disease Management
Since pests and diseases rarely damage the crop, maintaining it is quite inexpensive. Thrips and onion flies are two major pests that could affect the crop; employ blue traps or the predatory mite Ambluseius californicus to manage them. In the event that physical control is unsuccessful, suitable chemicals may be employed sparingly.
Smut, mildew, leaf spots, rust, bulb rots, and white rot are only a few examples of diseases. Keep the land tidy, and only utilize disease-free planting materials. Use the right chemical as directed by a crop specialist in your area in cases of severe infestation.
Pests
Aphids– These suckers draw sap from the plant, which causes the leaves to curl and deform. Their excretions contain honeydew, which promotes the growth of sooty mold.
Thrips– They eat by sucking the plant sap, and infestation causes scarring on the leaves as well as discolored, twisted, and deformed tissue. The plants that have been severely harmed could seem silvery.
Cutworms– Cutworms feed on the stem by curling their bodies around it. The plant is cut off just above the soil surface as a result of this feeding.
Diseases
Downy mildew– Infection causes the growth of gray-purple fuzzy growth on the surface of leaves as well as pale spots or lengthy areas on leaves. The leaf tips progressively collapse as the leaves eventually turn pale, then yellow.
Pink root– Light pink roots that deepen and turn purple, translucent, water-soaked roots, and an overall appearance of nutritional deprivation in the plant are all signs of infection. While the stunted plants produce shrunken bulbs, the infected seedlings may perish.
Damping off– Infected roots become gray and water-soaked, and seeds become wet, mushy, and degrade, failing to emerge. Prior to infection, seedlings that had already sprouted collapsed and died, while older plants suffered severe stunting.
Harvesting.
How Long Chives Take To Mature
A 240 square meter greenhouse may yield up to 150 kg of chives, which take about 45 days to mature. Farmers then harvest the crop every 20 to 25 days for up to three years. Chives are an easy-to-grow perennial crop that is rarely harmed by pests or illnesses. Growing chives in Kenya is a viable alternative for vegetable growers because of all these qualities and a consistent export market.
Chives can be harvested by cutting leaves from the plant's base. When flower stems have finished blooming, cut them off at the soil line. By doing this, the plant will be kept from setting seed and will remain more fruitful. When used fresh, chives have the best flavor. By slicing up prewashed leaves into tiny pieces and freezing these in plastic containers, extra chives can be stored in the freezer. Pieces don't need to be defrosted before use.
When harvesting, be sure to trim the leaves all the way to the ground (within 1 to 2 inches of the soil).
Three to four harvests are made the first year. In succeeding years, prune plants every month.
Six to eight weeks after planting, veg farms advise that the entire plant can be harvested. To avoid putting plants under heat stress, always harvest in the morning. The leaves should be clean, crisp, and largely discoloration-free. Eliminate all yellow, diseased, or pest-damaged leaves. To get rid of any soil particles, the roots should be properly cleansed. The material should next be measured and tied into the bunches needed for the market, which weigh around 0.45 kg (1 lb). Burn any contaminated and pest-infested materials
Estimated Yield of Chives
Chives' Estimated Yield A pure stand of chives will produce about 33,000 kg/ha. Chive Herb post-harvest management..
Post-harvest Management
Since chives are a crop that spoils quickly, they should be sold as soon as possible after harvest. This can go on for up to 48 hours if refrigerated conditions are available. Chives can be kept for an additional 7–14 days by being stored at 0–1°C and 95–100% relative humidity.
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FAQ- Frequently Asked Questions
Where is chives grown in Kenya?
County of Nakuru, A group of farmers in Kenya's Nakuru County have chosen to grow chives, a plant from the onion family.
How many times can you harvest chives?
3-4 times, Three to four harvests are made the first year. In succeeding years, prune plants every month. Late spring or early summer is when the chive plant will flower. The blossoms should appear full and vibrant since they are edible and taste best shortly after they have opened.
How do you make chives grow thicker
Chives grow thicker in soils that are rich in organic matter and have good drainage. In sandy-loam soils, grow the plant. These soils are well-draining and do not hold much water in the root zone. Sand, clay, and silt are all present in loam soils.
1 Comments
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