Good people,

I am sure one of us has done this. We can't be all doing potato, pig and Maize farming!

Bwenyenye, My partners and I have a pilot project - 10 acres under cultivation in Nakuru - maize and beans. 5 acres planted with Nyayo and 5 planted with Wairimu. I can report to you that Nyayo is doing much much better than Wairimu. I have never planted any other bean varieties so I cannot comment on that. About the source of seeds, our man on the ground (MOG) sourced them from a seed shop in Nakuru and the cost of seeds was approx 10k. The MOG who has more experience on such matters advises that on average, each acre will produce between 1200 and 1500 kg. The last time I checked, beans were retailing for Sh 6,800 per 90 kg bag. Other costs include ploughing 2k per acre , weeding 2k per acre (allocate these 50:50 with the maize) and harvesting costs which I have not yet quantified. Happy planting!

Bwenyenye, I have no idea why it (beans farming) attracts fewer farmers. However, it is laborious compared to maize farming and this may be a factor. About profitability, I guess it depends on whether your shamba can sustain beans farming without fertilizer input. When the rains delayed, the MOG referred to above recommended interplanting - his reasoning being that beans would perform well even with reduced rainfall. We consider this an experiment and will change to other crops if the results are not as expected.

@Aaccelriskconsult wrote: bout the source of seeds, our man on the ground (MOG) sourced them from a seed shop in Nakuru and the cost of seeds was approx 10k.
Do you have the no of the store for seeds in Nakuru. Am desperately looking for seeds. What quantity did you plant in the 5 acres. Where did you get maize seeds. I have looked for 614 allover but failed.

accelriskconsult...how did the bean farming go? Bwenyenye any experiences to share?

@incognito.... bado anza. I was caught off guard by rains. So I guess I will have to wait.

Just store them well and wait for January. When the Boarding schools open, you will be king. if you can hold, wait even till March just before the next crop is harvested and you will be tops.

I have tried this but the maize thing is not worth it at all. It too expensive to farm.

May be on very large scale lakini sio acre moja mbili, tano

if you have many bags the cost of storage per bag will come down say if you gave each bag a storage cost of 300 and you had 50 bags that's 15000 the selling price may rise from 4500 after harvesting to 6000 during planting in March. that can earn you approximately 1 k more, I am piloting this with a friend who is in the business and I hope to learn more.