Rongai constituency in Nakuru county is popularly known for maize farming. However, many residents are shifting to other crops due to factors such as climate change. Further, the fast-paced residential development in parts that are closer to the city such as Ngata has seen farmers embrace intensive farming.
Manoah Kilach is a resident in Ngata and is putting the estate on the map by continually producing uniquely heavy sweet potatoes. His recent achievement is the 11-kilogram sweet potato tuber with which he seeks to feature in the Guinness World Book of Records. The current world record is over two decades old, broken by a Spanish farmer who harvested a 37kg tuber.
Mr Kilach is not is in the limelight for the first time. In 2015, his name was all over after harvesting a 7-kilogram sweet potato. Less than a decade later, he still farms sweet potatoes and has obtained a tuber that is four kilograms heavier than the previous one. But how does he manage to produce such bulk-weighing tubers?
Manoah attributes his success to organic farming practices. During the 2015 season, he solely fed the plants with manure obtained from sheep and dairy goats. That is the year he got the 7-kilogram tuber.
Following this remarkable achievement, the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KARLO) sought to have his farm used as a demo field. The farm has educated more than 50 farmers on the appropriate agronomic practices for tubers.
Nine years later, Mr Kilach has upped his farming game to using a popular organic fertilizer which has seen his harvest increase in weight. He notes that while a 90-kilogram bag of sweet potatoes sells at Ksh 3000, buyers are willing to give him more. The superior size and high quality give him an edge over other local farmers.
Mr Kilach grows more than five Ipomoea batata varieties including the famous yellow flesh sweet type. The tubers mature in about six months, thus allowing him to harvest twice in year.