Lavender farming in Kenya: The Good, Bad and The Ugly!

Lavender farming in Kenya:

Let me teach you how to

• Grow lavender for huge profits,
• Sell it to the right customers at the right price,
• What lavender customers need… and the steps you need to take every day to succeed in growing lavender in Kenya right now!

Interested?

Continue reading…

Lavender Farming Could Be What You’ve Been Wanting to Do for so Long!

From the desk of Haron Mogeni,

Horticulturist and Farm manager,

Dear hardworking farmer,

Are you searching for an alternative crop that is:

1. Easy to manage,
2. Yields high profit,
3. and is in high demand?

If that describes you, then you are at the right place.

After hours of agonizing and backbreaking research, I have identified the perfect crop that is easy to manage, high in profit and demand.

It is a breakthrough opportunity and the timeliness of your response matters so much.

In fact, after you complete reading this, you’d be left wondering why your farm is under other crops instead of Lavender.

You will lament how you’ve been losing huge profits for this long.

You may be wondering if am qualified to make such a huge promise.

Well, I have over 15 years-experience working in the horticulture industry.

Therefore, What I’m telling you are not just stories…

But things that I have done research on, and have practiced.

Quit the club of farmers in Kenya and everywhere who are struggling to earn a living from their farm…

Nevertheless, today I want to open your eyes. and introduce you to a crop that people rarely consider.

A kilo of its produce goes for Kenya shillings 3000/=. If you prefer counting your money in dollars, a kilo of its produce yields you $ 35.

This is the perfect crop for smallholder farms. You don’t need any experience to grow the crop. In fact, if you’ve ever grown any crop, then you are more than qualified to grow lavender.

All you need to know is how, to whom and where to sell this crop.

But, don’t worry about that.

By the time you finish reading this report, you will have all the skills needed to do just market lavender like a Guru.

Don’t believe me? Here is what other people are saying…

First thing first: Why Grow Lavender In Kenya?

Lavender is a worthy crop to grow because of its perennial growing nature.

This means its lifespan extends over 1 year.

The implication of this is, “You’ll harvest flowers year after year, without replanting it again.”

• Second, lavender can grow over a wide range of altitude between 1000-1700 meters above sea level.

The higher the altitude the better as the oil yields tend to increase with altitude. High altitude males the plant flower more abundantly.

• Third, you will not worry about pests and diseases, which ravage most crops.

However, the plant suffers from phytophora root rot if grown in poorly drained soils, or when overwatered.

• Fourth, the plant grows well soils of low fertility.

• Fifth, the selling price of lavender products is very high. To find the average prices of a kilo of dried lavender flowers, oil and fragrance, visit online shops like ebay, Amazon and Alibaba.

The prices range from $50-300, which in my opinion are enough to cover the cost of production and leave you with profit.

How and where Do I Start Growing Lavender?

You’ll have to begin with a nursery.

Why do you need to start one?

You are likely to face difficulties of getting sufficient planting for your farm. Therefore, you’ll need to multiply what you get.

Another reason for establishing a nursery is to save on costs. An acre requires 15,000-28,000 plants. Now let’s assume one seedling costs $2. That will mean on planting material alone you’ll have to spend $30,000- 56,000.

By Establishing Your Own Nursery You will:

• Save big on costs of transport. This is because plant material is bulky in nature. Transporting the material for long distances will be expensive.
• Reduce the cost of planting material as you’ll multiply your own planting material. constitutes a great percentage of the overall cost of growing lavender. You also want to reduce the cost of planting material and the risk of loss. Thus multiplying your own planting material makes sense.

Lavender Farming in Kenya Hot Tips: How to Multiply Your Lavender Seedlings

1. Transplant the planting material you bought into a nursery.
2. Allow it time say 3 months to establish itself, and become vigorous.
3. Once the seedlings are vigorous and well established, you will need to take cuttings from the plants. The best time to take cuttings from lavender is right after they have bloomed.
4. Take cuttings from stems with no flower buds on them.
5. Remove leaves from the bottom half of the cutting and insert it into well-draining sterile potting soil, horticultural vermiculite or coco peat then irrigate the cuttings regularly taking care you don’t overwater.
6. The cuttings should root in about 3 weeks. Rooting hormone is not necessary.
7. Transplant rooted cuttings into pots 2-4 inches in diameter.
8. Transplant the plants to the farm/ open filed once they develop a vigorous root system.

Before transplanting the seedling into the farm, contact various restaurants, hotels, as they are the largest consumers of the herb.

Transplanting Lavender to the farm so That You Can Maximize your Returns

Lavender is a poor competitor to weeds.

It suffers greatly when it is under weed pressure.

For that reason, weed control is a very important aspect in lavender production in Kenya.

To prevent the overgrowth of weeds, prepare the field during dry weather.

Doing so will kill all perennial weeds.

You can apply pre-emergent herbicides so that the plants has a head start before weeds.

When planting (lavender agustifolia) or its cultivars, ensure planting material has been propagated vegetatively from cuttings, not started form seed so that you can have true to type plants.

What is the right spacing for Lavender?

When planting lavender as a crop, spacing depends on the size of the cultivars.

Spacing ranges from 2-3 feet within the row and 3-6 feet between rows.

Pruning of Lavender

Lavender ONLY flowers on new growth.

Therefore, prune the plants every year after it is your Lavender plants have established.

Prune lavender when green leaves start to emerge from the base of the plant.

Remove approximately one third of the top.

One good thing about Lavender is, “It responds well to pruning.” Pruning invigorates the plant thus keeping it from splitting or becoming too woody.

Harvesting of lavender

The best time to harvest Lavender stems in the morning hours when the oils are most concentrated, and when approximately 50% of the flower buds are open.

Use a sickle or pruning shears to cut stems as long as possible.

Form bundles of 50-100 stems and bind them with rubber bands, don’t use nylon rope or sisal twine.

Rubber bands will contract when the stems dry out, thus will continue holding the bundles tightly.

Dry the harvested lavender in a cool dark place where there is good air circulation.

Lavender Farming in Kenya Yields of Lavender Per Acre!

An acre of true lavender (lavender angustifolia) produces from 150 to 900 kg of dried flowers and about 10 to 20 liters of essential oil.

Marketing of lavender

You can market lavender other products in many ways i.e. as dried or fresh flowers, or processed products.

Find local buyers like; hotels, marketing agents and companies from chemical and pharmaceutical, as well as food and flavoring industries.

Before you start any production, conduct research on the local market of your produce.

You can use social networking sites like Linklend Facebook, Twitter and other online forum to reach buyers.

When it comes to international buyers, they are divided into flavor and fragrance houses, cosmetics and personal health care, aromatherapy and food manufacturers who buy in large quantities.

The major market in the world for essential oils is the United States, followed by Japan and Europe.

However, production continues to be concentrated in Europe, with seven of the world’s largest essential oil processing firms operating in Europe.

In the United States, the major users of essential oils are the soft drink companies.

Japan accounts for 10 % of the world demand. The Canadian market is dominated by the United States perfume and flavoring industry.

What are your thoughts on Growing Lavender in Kenya? Share them in the comments section below