Now that the tea sector which has been the backbone of economy in larger kuresoi area is ailing, i believe youths should resolve to eucalyptus tree farming, this is lucrative, easy and needs less capital. Let me prove the old adage and notions of the tree wrong. Most people think that eucalyptus consumes a lot of water more than any other tree species and agricultural crop. This misconception is untrue. There are quite a number of research results which revealed that eucalyptus is efficient water user. For instance, Davidson (1989) reported that on a “leakproof hectare” at Nekemet(with annual rainfall of 2158mm), E. saligna and E. grandis could produce 46.6 m3/ha/yr without drawing on water reserves(rainfall only) compared to 16.4, 16, 12.4 m3/ha/yr biomass production for the coniferous, acacia and broadleaf species, respectively. These figures reveal that for the same amount of water consumed eucalyptus produce higher amount of biomass which is economically profitable and acceptable. Most eucalyptus species need on average 785 litres of water/kg of biomass produced as opposed to cotton/coffee/banana(3200), sunflower(2400), field pea(2000), cow pea(1667) soyabean(1430), potato(1000), sorghum(1000) and maize(1000) liters/kg biomass produced(Davidson 1989). The above figures show that eucalyptus species are efficient water users. I strongly believe eucalyptus can transform a peasant farmer to a millionaire in less than seven years, compared to the tea crop which our people are now aslave to it, it is unbelievable that a farmer with a five acres of tea plantation is struggling to pay bills, what if the same farmer had taken the option of eucalyptus? He could be owning apartments in prestigious residential areas in urban areas. It is time we revolutionize our society. My advice , let plant it the tree is as good as that sukuma wiki in your garden, it is environment friendly.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 05:06:00 +0000