Horticulture unit under the department of Model Training Farm (MTF), College of Agriculture at Sokoine University of Agriculture, deals with production of vegetables, spices, fruits and grafted seedlings of various fruits, among the fruits that are produced at Horticulture unit is Macadamia nuts.
macadamia nut at the early stage of germination in nursery
Macadamia comes from the family Proteaceae,They originated from Australia, there are about two types of macadamia which are macadamia intergrifolio and macadamia tetraphylla, Macadamia intergrifolio can be distinguished from macadamia tetraphylla by flower colour, they have white flowers, young shoot are green in colour, they have round leaves with no distinct leaf apex, they have smooth skin while Macadamia tetraphylla have rough surface, red flowers, young shoot are red in colour.
Grafted Macadamia seedling
At Horticulture unit we produce Muranga 20 variety from Kenya which comes from Macadamia intergrifolio, its a temperate fruit. Muranga 20 macadamia variety is best suited for marginal coffee growing areas with an altitude between 1400 m and 1550 m, and average annual rainfall of over 850 mm and a mean temperature of 20℃ to 21℃. In these areas, a mature tree produces quality nuts with a yield reaching 100 kgs per tree.
Students doing management in macadamia fields during their practical training
Forget the days when you would have to wait for more than 7 years to see your first few nuts. With grafted and certified seedlings of this variety you start harvesting in the third year, each tree giving about 20 kilos of nuts.
The recommended spacing for macadamia trees is 8×8 m with which an acre accommodates about 70 trees. However, due to the fast maturing nature of grafted Muranga 20 seedlings, some farmers plant them with a spacing of 4×4 m, getting about 260 trees in an acre.
Macadamia farm at Horticulture unit
Such farmers enjoy 4 times the yield compared to those who start off with the recommended 8×8 m spacing, for about 10 years. During this time, the farmers must maintain the trees’ productivity and health through regular pruning. When the trees grow very big forming canopies that prevent proper orchard aeration, the farmer then should thins off the trees by removing the weak, diseased or unproductive ones.
Model Farm would like to welcome the general public and farmers at Horticulture unit for learning and you may all place your order for products especially our grafted fruit seedlings and other horticultural produces
Contacts: 0766646733
