A group of Apple fruit growers in Makete District in the Njombe region has expressed their frustration following high post-harvest losses in the last season due to lo a lack of market amidst other reasons. The farmers had invested their hard-earned capital which in the end did not bear any good fruits.
The growers mentioned inadequate farming skills, absence of better packaging materials, poor trading modules, fickle markets, and inaccessible funding as the major challenges preventing the fruit industry development despite available opportunities.
One of the growers Mr. Kambarage told the Citizen news that he incurred a Ksh 8million loss from his five-acre frame consisting of 3400, apple trees in the last season. “I expected to earn sh20million last season but I only managed to get sh12 million”, said Mr Kambarage.
Among other complaints received from the farmers was that the heavy rainfall caused spots on the fruits making them unappealing to customers and leading to the loss.
