One of East Africa’s most enterprising orchard managers, Henry M’Tiiri, is working to introduce new grape varieties in Kenya.
M’Tiiri, who is based in Meru, has one of the most elaborate fruit seedling collections in the country, and among the clients he prides of as having served is Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who in December 2015, bought hundreds of grape seedlings for his vineyard.
Not one to wait for opportunity to pass him, Mr. M’Tiiri has imported into the country one of the best varieties of grapes developed by the BD Grape and Spices Research Culture Institute in Bangladesh.
Researchers
BD a leading firm leads the world in the production of sweet grapes, having developed over 40 high-yielding and top-quality varieties.
Among the improved varieties that M’Tiiri brought in are Russian Ruby and Crimson (red and green) Seedeless.
His plan is to propagate the stems he brought in for sale to farmers in Kenya and East Africa.
“This variety only takes six months from planting to maturity and I am looking forward to multiplying it for farmers across the region,” he told Farmbizafrica.com.
By the time he has enough stocks to propagate, M’Tiiri estimates he will retail each stem at Sh500.