Apple tree stump turns Nyeri photographer into millionaire farmer

By Francis Ndungu

In Nyeri County’s Ihururu village, a once-struggling photographer has recreated himself as a high-income farmer from a single apple tree stump that he used to start his now thriving fruit and tree seedling business.

Last year, Moses Kareko sold more than 30,000 apple tree seedlings and over 35,000 apples, bringing in over Sh18 million from his two acres.

It was a huge leap from where he began. “I got a few coins from photography, but it could not sustain my family’s basic needs,” said Moses, who first experimented with grafting in 2004. 

“I grafted the first seedling from an ordinary apple stump and got five seedlings. After 1.5 years, the first apples were ready and I harvested 100 apples per tree end sold them at Sh50 each.”

Excited by the profits, he expanded his orchard in 2010, planting 35 trees on a quarter-acre.

“From my inherited apple stump, I got more rootstock for grafting. I also planted ordinary seedlings to provide more rootstock stoll for propagation.”

He quickly found that apple prices could be unpredictable, “I sell my apples locally, where, in the peak season, the fruits flood the market. Sometimes the price can go as low as Sh20 per apple.”

This saw him diversify his fruit. “I started growing strawberries, Hass avocado, and macadamia.” But continued to earn up to three times more from his apples than from the other fruit crops. He also shifted towards selling apple tree seedlings.

“The market for seedlings is huge. I now graft and sell thousands of seedlings at Sh500 each, with customers coming from as far as Uganda,” he said. In 2024 alone, he grafted over 30,000 seedlings, earning more than Sh17 million.

Moses says grafting with exotic varieties, such as the Israel Anal variety, has also increased his success. Unlike traditional trees, which yield 150–250 apples per season, grafted trees produce up to 600 apples per tree with proper care.

His own apple trees fruit twice a year and are drought resistant, making water from his small holding pan mor than sufficient. He also put a shading net over his water pan to reduce evaporation.

“Pest and diseases also need to be controlled, especially when it’s cold, which encourages fungal disease like blight and blotch, and sees white flies laying eggs that hatch in the warm season, damaging my fruits.”

“During the wet season, I spray my trees with copper-based fungicides which both prevent and cure blight and blotch, sometimes spraying every 1-2 weeks.”

“To get rid of thrips and white flies, which cause small bruises on my fruits lowering its quality, I use flower dust, which is also absorbed by the plant to provide nutrients. I also use blue and yellow stick cards and plant hot pepper plants between the trees, which produce a smell that repels thrips,”

To stop damage by birds, Moses has fenced his orchard with shade nets. “There are two options of doing this. You can fence the whole orchard or, if your fruits are scattered, fence an individual tree,” he said. 

He has further increased his apple production with regular pruning of his trees

“I cut away all non-fruit bearing branches and overcrowded branches to help in aeration and in preventing fungal diseases, and I make sure the branch cuts heal well.”

He also keeps his orchards well weeded to stop competition from weeds for the nutrients in the soil and adds manure.

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“I apply well rotten manure twice a year as two buckets of manure for each tree, which I put around the base of the tree and mix well with soil mulch and water. This saves me the cost of buying fertilisers,” he said.

From the more than 35 apple trees on a ¼ acre, he now gets more than 500 apples per tree, delivering over 17,000 apples each season, which he sells for an average of Sh35 each.

But with increasing demand for high-yielding, drought-resistant apple trees,,his main attention is now on seedling propagation. “More farmers now understand the benefits of grafted trees. They mature in 1.5 years instead of 3, resist pests, and have deeper roots for water absorption,” he said.