He reaps sh1.6m daily from pineapples
May 06, 2009
I started with nothing, apart from a hoe and my hands,†says Aron Lutalo, as he stands on his 12-acre pineapple farm. The farm, located off the main Kasana-Kasiso road, about five miles from Luweero town, has attracted the mighty, from the President to
BY JOSHUA KATO
I started with nothing, apart from a hoe and my hands,†says Aron Lutalo, as he stands on his 12-acre pineapple farm. The farm, located off the main Kasana-Kasiso road, about five miles from Luweero town, has attracted the mighty, from the President to ministers and community leaders.
Using a panga and hoe, Lutalo cut down a thick forest on which he established his first plantation. He now has over 12 acres under commercial pineapple farming.
For years, Lutalo’s old motorbike was the only source of his daily bread. “My stage was Kasana, Luweero,†he says. He would wake up early every morning and ride to the stage, from where he earned sh 5,000 a day. At first, this seemed like a lot of money but sometimes business would be bad and he would go home with nothing!
“I had to find a better enterprise. I realised that I could not be a boda boda rider all my life,†Lutalo says. He, therefore, ventured into pineapple farming six years ago. “I bought a cow using my boda boda savings. I sold it and ventured into pineapple farming,†he says. This was no easy business for a person who was used to earning daily; pineapples take 18 months from the first planting to produce ripe fruit.
“Friends told me I was mad to leave what they thought was the profitable boda boda business for farming,†he recalls. But Lutalo had made his decision and would not look back.
He sold his cow at sh450,000 and used the money to lease one acre of land at Bamugolode. Each acre is leased for sh300,000 for five years. For the first season in 2001, he planted over 12,000 seedlings which he bought at sh50each from already established farmers in the area.
The beginning was not easy. “The entire area was a forest. I did not have money to hire people to help me. I did it alone,†he says.
He patiently maintained the shamba for 18 months before he started to harvest. Between planting and the first harvest, he still did boda boda work to earn some money to keep him going.
“The season was good because at its peak, I was harvesting at least 500 pineapples per day,†he says. He sold the harvest and expanded his farm. “I saved some of the earnings and in 2003, I expanded my acreage to one-and-a-half and later to six acres in 2005,†he says. He explains that he was able to expand because he sacrificed and saved his earnings.
In 2006, Lutalo expanded his farm to the current 12 acres. “I have over 145,000 plants at the moment,†he says. In a good season, that is at least 130,000 fruits!
Managing the pineapples is no easy task, given the fact that Lutalo is practising organic agriculture and, therefore, cannot use chemicals to spray the weeds. “The grass has to either be removed using a hoe or plucked out using bare hands,†he says. “When the pineapples are attacked by pests, we use a combination of ash and urine to fight them. It takes patience to collect these materials.â€
Currently, the fruits are in the final stages of maturity and several of Lutalo’s workers are already harvesting. As we speak, there is a heap of pineapples harvested in a small space in the middle of the shamba. “At the peak of the season, between January and March, I harvest at least 2,000 fruits per day, which is equivalent to two pick-up trucks,†he says.
For the last two years, the prices of pineapples have been at between sh500 for the medium size pineapples to sh1,000 for the larger ones (‘super’). From the 2,000 harvested daily last year, Lutalo earned sh1.6m per day, about sh30m for the season.
“I think I am breaking even, but it has taken me almost six years to do so,†he says. His ambition now is to expand to around 20 acres, before venturing into value addition. He hopes to acquire his own fruit dryers soon.
Has his experience inspired others to follow suit? “Some have started pineapple growing. But most of them are still doing it on a small scale because they claim not to have enough money,†Lutalo says.
He explains that many people do not have the patience it takes to be a pineapple farmer. “Some people look at 18 months as a very long time to wait, so they prefer to grow seasonal crops like tomatoes but those, though good, will never pay as well as pineapples,†he says.
Indeed Lutalo’s enterprise has paid off. “From my earnings, I have been able to buy a plot of land near Luweero town and construct a house. My family is also living relatively happily,†he says.
Lutalo has also gained fame. In Luweero, he is one of the main reference points on farming. Any one who wants to learn about managing pineapples visits the farm and in September last year, he hosted President Yoweri Museveni. Lutalo also works closely with the National Agricultural Advisory Services to enhance his enterprise.
“I have met farmers from as far as Bushenyi and Ntungamo as well as from Germany and the US,†he says. “Would I have got this fame if I remained an ordinary boda boda rider?†he asks.
In spite of all his achievements, Lutalo faces a number of challenges: “Opening up bare forests for the initial farms is a big problem. We do not have an easier way of doing it, rather than using ordinary pangas and hoes,†he says. “One cannot use tractors and hiring labourers costs over sh200,000 per acre,†he laments.
Marketing his produce is another challenge. He sells to middlemen who then make a bigger profit, selling to consumers. “We do not have markets of our own. These middlemen are cheating us,†he says. “It is also not easy to access bank loans to facilitate expansion. I have done all this without any bank loan.â€
Fact file:
Enterprises: Pineapple growing.
How he started: Sold his only cow and used the money to lease one-and-a-half acres of land.
Winning Formula: Sacrifice and persistence.
Estimated earnings: Sh30m per year.
Contact: 0782882008
If you are a farmer or if you know of somebody who has gained from farming and is ready to share his/her experience, please write to business@newvision.co.ug or call 0414-337000
I started with nothing, apart from a hoe and my hands,†says Aron Lutalo, as he stands on his 12-acre pineapple farm. The farm, located off the main Kasana-Kasiso road, about five miles from Luweero town, has attracted the mighty, from the President to ministers and community leaders.
Using a panga and hoe, Lutalo cut down a thick forest on which he established his first plantation. He now has over 12 acres under commercial pineapple farming.
For years, Lutalo’s old motorbike was the only source of his daily bread. “My stage was Kasana, Luweero,†he says. He would wake up early every morning and ride to the stage, from where he earned sh 5,000 a day. At first, this seemed like a lot of money but sometimes business would be bad and he would go home with nothing!
“I had to find a better enterprise. I realised that I could not be a boda boda rider all my life,†Lutalo says. He, therefore, ventured into pineapple farming six years ago. “I bought a cow using my boda boda savings. I sold it and ventured into pineapple farming,†he says. This was no easy business for a person who was used to earning daily; pineapples take 18 months from the first planting to produce ripe fruit.
“Friends told me I was mad to leave what they thought was the profitable boda boda business for farming,†he recalls. But Lutalo had made his decision and would not look back.
He sold his cow at sh450,000 and used the money to lease one acre of land at Bamugolode. Each acre is leased for sh300,000 for five years. For the first season in 2001, he planted over 12,000 seedlings which he bought at sh50each from already established farmers in the area.
The beginning was not easy. “The entire area was a forest. I did not have money to hire people to help me. I did it alone,†he says.
He patiently maintained the shamba for 18 months before he started to harvest. Between planting and the first harvest, he still did boda boda work to earn some money to keep him going.
“The season was good because at its peak, I was harvesting at least 500 pineapples per day,†he says. He sold the harvest and expanded his farm. “I saved some of the earnings and in 2003, I expanded my acreage to one-and-a-half and later to six acres in 2005,†he says. He explains that he was able to expand because he sacrificed and saved his earnings.
In 2006, Lutalo expanded his farm to the current 12 acres. “I have over 145,000 plants at the moment,†he says. In a good season, that is at least 130,000 fruits!
Managing the pineapples is no easy task, given the fact that Lutalo is practising organic agriculture and, therefore, cannot use chemicals to spray the weeds. “The grass has to either be removed using a hoe or plucked out using bare hands,†he says. “When the pineapples are attacked by pests, we use a combination of ash and urine to fight them. It takes patience to collect these materials.â€
Currently, the fruits are in the final stages of maturity and several of Lutalo’s workers are already harvesting. As we speak, there is a heap of pineapples harvested in a small space in the middle of the shamba. “At the peak of the season, between January and March, I harvest at least 2,000 fruits per day, which is equivalent to two pick-up trucks,†he says.
For the last two years, the prices of pineapples have been at between sh500 for the medium size pineapples to sh1,000 for the larger ones (‘super’). From the 2,000 harvested daily last year, Lutalo earned sh1.6m per day, about sh30m for the season.
“I think I am breaking even, but it has taken me almost six years to do so,†he says. His ambition now is to expand to around 20 acres, before venturing into value addition. He hopes to acquire his own fruit dryers soon.
Has his experience inspired others to follow suit? “Some have started pineapple growing. But most of them are still doing it on a small scale because they claim not to have enough money,†Lutalo says.
He explains that many people do not have the patience it takes to be a pineapple farmer. “Some people look at 18 months as a very long time to wait, so they prefer to grow seasonal crops like tomatoes but those, though good, will never pay as well as pineapples,†he says.
Indeed Lutalo’s enterprise has paid off. “From my earnings, I have been able to buy a plot of land near Luweero town and construct a house. My family is also living relatively happily,†he says.
Lutalo has also gained fame. In Luweero, he is one of the main reference points on farming. Any one who wants to learn about managing pineapples visits the farm and in September last year, he hosted President Yoweri Museveni. Lutalo also works closely with the National Agricultural Advisory Services to enhance his enterprise.
“I have met farmers from as far as Bushenyi and Ntungamo as well as from Germany and the US,†he says. “Would I have got this fame if I remained an ordinary boda boda rider?†he asks.
In spite of all his achievements, Lutalo faces a number of challenges: “Opening up bare forests for the initial farms is a big problem. We do not have an easier way of doing it, rather than using ordinary pangas and hoes,†he says. “One cannot use tractors and hiring labourers costs over sh200,000 per acre,†he laments.
Marketing his produce is another challenge. He sells to middlemen who then make a bigger profit, selling to consumers. “We do not have markets of our own. These middlemen are cheating us,†he says. “It is also not easy to access bank loans to facilitate expansion. I have done all this without any bank loan.â€
Fact file:
Enterprises: Pineapple growing.
How he started: Sold his only cow and used the money to lease one-and-a-half acres of land.
Winning Formula: Sacrifice and persistence.
Estimated earnings: Sh30m per year.
Contact: 0782882008
If you are a farmer or if you know of somebody who has gained from farming and is ready to share his/her experience, please write to business@newvision.co.ug or call 0414-337000