Orange growing turns around retired teacher’s fortunes
Apr 14, 2010
THE moment you set foot in this home you ‘smell’ prosperity. Located about 3km from Mityana Town, the home could have been anywhere in any urban setting. Welcome to Nanyonga village, Katakala parish, Busimbi sub-county in Mityana where Elisa Ssemanda is reaping from investments in orange farming
By Joshua Kato
THE moment you set foot in this home you ‘smell’ prosperity. Located about 3km from Mityana Town, the home could have been anywhere in any urban setting.
The presence of car-tyre marks in the compound means this rural house’s owner has a car.
Then as you enter the compound, you discover the source of the wealth - a small orange orchard. It has less than 20 trees, but each of them is weighed down with huge harmlin and washington navel oranges. This is where it all began.
Today, Elisa Ssemanda has got over 360 orange trees on an acre of land, just behind his house. He harvests at least 400 oranges from each tree every season.
His farm, in Nanyonga village, Katakala parish, Busimbi sub-county in Mityana, is a mark of prosperity.
It is not surprising that Ssemanda is growing oranges because this area of Mityana is renown for orange production. What is surprising, however, is that not every resident grows them.
Overall, Ssemanda has six and half acres of land. By any standards, this is an intensive farm given the fact that Ssemanda’s major source of wealth is orange growing.
Very few farmers can earn such amounts from an acre of land.
Ssemanda has three other enterprises; coffee, bananas and livestock. But it is orange growing that carries his major signature. As the retired teacher emerges out of the inner compound, one notices that age is catching up with him.
But according to him and the enterprises around his home, there is no doubt he prepared very well for old age.
He is walking like any civil servant emerging from his office. The difference is that while the civil servant would be dressed in a suit and tie, and shiny shoes, Ssemanda is wearing a blue overall and gum boots.
Moments ago, he was helping one of his workers, who was spraying weeds in a water melon garden.
“This is my work place,†Ssemanda said, extending his right hand for greetings. He respects his ‘office’ irrespective of all the prejudices against agriculture.
“I started agriculture in 1973,†he says. But then, he was not growing oranges. He was growing vegetables like tomatoes.
“I grew tomatoes for 15 years until 1988,†he says.
He would harvest tomatoes three times in a single season, with each season producing 3,500 tomatoes. “Tomato was profitable because competition was very low at the time since there were very few tomato farmers against the high demand,†he explains.
It was age that forced him to stop growing tomatoes. “I was growing old, and bending over with the sprayer on my back was difficult. I looked for a crop that I would grow without bending over. My mind went to oranges and coffee,†he says.
However, he was not able to get enough resources to start off the enterprises until 1998 when he got money to buy seedlings. “My dream had started to become a reality.â€
When he started, it was all bliss and success. He sought expert information from the district agriculture officials before zeroing on the two types of oranges, harmlin and washington navel. These orange breeds produce big, seedless fruits, which grow faster and survive in bad conditions.
“I have 300 trees and each of them produces an average 300 fruits every season,†he says.
It took two and half years before his orange trees matured.
“Oranges take 18 months to flower, but to start harvesting, one has to wait for two and half years,†he explains.
Once they start producing, there is no looking back.
At the moment, he sells a kilogramme of oranges at sh750. A kilogramme has an average of four oranges.
Ssemanda, however, explains that if well looked after, these orange breeds can produce over 700 fruits per season per tree.
“I tested this with one of my trees, which I looked after very well and it produced 600 fruits,†he says.
Oranges have a good market, especially in urban areas. Ssemanda has already utilised this market.
“There is a ready market for oranges in Mityana town. In fact, we cannot sustain the demand at the moment,†he says.
He uses only organic manure to enhance soil fertility in his farm, but sprays the orchard to wade off pests. But this was a problem. “Carrying that 15-litre sprayer on my back for was hard and took days to complete the garden,†he says.
This, he said, forced him to invest in a 200-litre motorised sprayer that he bought at sh4m.
“With this, you just bring it here, put it in one place and then start spraying using the long hose pipe,†he says.
Ssemanda also has some animals at the farm, including cattle and pigs.
“I keep a few of them because I do not have enough labour to look after them,†he says. Nevertheless, he sells milk from the cows and piglets from the pig farm.
FACTFILE
Name of farmer: Elisa Ssemanda
Location of farm: Nanyonga village, Busimbi sub-county, off Mityana Road in Mityana
Enterprises: Oranges, coffee and livestock
How he started: As a tomatoe grower, before switching to oranges
Winning formula: Staying focused and taking agriculture as his major job
Contact: 0752639499
THE moment you set foot in this home you ‘smell’ prosperity. Located about 3km from Mityana Town, the home could have been anywhere in any urban setting.
The presence of car-tyre marks in the compound means this rural house’s owner has a car.
Then as you enter the compound, you discover the source of the wealth - a small orange orchard. It has less than 20 trees, but each of them is weighed down with huge harmlin and washington navel oranges. This is where it all began.
Today, Elisa Ssemanda has got over 360 orange trees on an acre of land, just behind his house. He harvests at least 400 oranges from each tree every season.
His farm, in Nanyonga village, Katakala parish, Busimbi sub-county in Mityana, is a mark of prosperity.
It is not surprising that Ssemanda is growing oranges because this area of Mityana is renown for orange production. What is surprising, however, is that not every resident grows them.
Overall, Ssemanda has six and half acres of land. By any standards, this is an intensive farm given the fact that Ssemanda’s major source of wealth is orange growing.
Very few farmers can earn such amounts from an acre of land.
Ssemanda has three other enterprises; coffee, bananas and livestock. But it is orange growing that carries his major signature. As the retired teacher emerges out of the inner compound, one notices that age is catching up with him.
But according to him and the enterprises around his home, there is no doubt he prepared very well for old age.
He is walking like any civil servant emerging from his office. The difference is that while the civil servant would be dressed in a suit and tie, and shiny shoes, Ssemanda is wearing a blue overall and gum boots.
Moments ago, he was helping one of his workers, who was spraying weeds in a water melon garden.
“This is my work place,†Ssemanda said, extending his right hand for greetings. He respects his ‘office’ irrespective of all the prejudices against agriculture.
“I started agriculture in 1973,†he says. But then, he was not growing oranges. He was growing vegetables like tomatoes.
“I grew tomatoes for 15 years until 1988,†he says.
He would harvest tomatoes three times in a single season, with each season producing 3,500 tomatoes. “Tomato was profitable because competition was very low at the time since there were very few tomato farmers against the high demand,†he explains.
It was age that forced him to stop growing tomatoes. “I was growing old, and bending over with the sprayer on my back was difficult. I looked for a crop that I would grow without bending over. My mind went to oranges and coffee,†he says.
However, he was not able to get enough resources to start off the enterprises until 1998 when he got money to buy seedlings. “My dream had started to become a reality.â€
When he started, it was all bliss and success. He sought expert information from the district agriculture officials before zeroing on the two types of oranges, harmlin and washington navel. These orange breeds produce big, seedless fruits, which grow faster and survive in bad conditions.
“I have 300 trees and each of them produces an average 300 fruits every season,†he says.
It took two and half years before his orange trees matured.
“Oranges take 18 months to flower, but to start harvesting, one has to wait for two and half years,†he explains.
Once they start producing, there is no looking back.
At the moment, he sells a kilogramme of oranges at sh750. A kilogramme has an average of four oranges.
Ssemanda, however, explains that if well looked after, these orange breeds can produce over 700 fruits per season per tree.
“I tested this with one of my trees, which I looked after very well and it produced 600 fruits,†he says.
Oranges have a good market, especially in urban areas. Ssemanda has already utilised this market.
“There is a ready market for oranges in Mityana town. In fact, we cannot sustain the demand at the moment,†he says.
He uses only organic manure to enhance soil fertility in his farm, but sprays the orchard to wade off pests. But this was a problem. “Carrying that 15-litre sprayer on my back for was hard and took days to complete the garden,†he says.
This, he said, forced him to invest in a 200-litre motorised sprayer that he bought at sh4m.
“With this, you just bring it here, put it in one place and then start spraying using the long hose pipe,†he says.
Ssemanda also has some animals at the farm, including cattle and pigs.
“I keep a few of them because I do not have enough labour to look after them,†he says. Nevertheless, he sells milk from the cows and piglets from the pig farm.
FACTFILE
Name of farmer: Elisa Ssemanda
Location of farm: Nanyonga village, Busimbi sub-county, off Mityana Road in Mityana
Enterprises: Oranges, coffee and livestock
How he started: As a tomatoe grower, before switching to oranges
Winning formula: Staying focused and taking agriculture as his major job
Contact: 0752639499