Ramesh Gorasia grows dates on a 400-acre farm in Masongaleni, Makueni Country, Kenya named Kutch-Kibwezi.
“We have 772 mature date palms and 1,200 young ones. Our main specialty is fresh dates, which we grow for sale both locally and abroad,” says Gorasia.
“I have other similar farms in India,” he says, explaining that he named the farm after the Kutch District in Gujarat State in Western India. “But this is the largest farm in my business and the one where I grow fresh dates.”
His main market is in Nairobi and Mombasa where he sells the dates at US $4.84 a kilo to Asians but some of the fruits find their way to markets in Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and in Asia.
Dr Simon Nguluu, the Dean, School of Agriculture at South Eastern Kenya University, says date farming remains untapped, despite the huge potential of the industry in arid lands.
Presently, he says dates are especially consumed during the Muslim fasting months, adding that the market potential among other consumers remains huge.
source: dailytrust.com.ng
