By Joseph Mugenyi
Gnuts are one of the most important leguminous crops grown and consumed in Uganda and world over.
They are second widely grown after the beans.
They are unique in that after pollination, it’s flowers bend until the ovary touches the ground where the pod develops.
That is why during weeding they emphasize you heap some soft soil onto the gnut crop for easy penetration of the developing fruit when bending to the soil.
Many farmers had never noticed the science behind this logic of heaping soil onto it during weeding not like the other crops like beans.
They need moderate rainfall and are usually planted starting in late March or April or mid October and November.
Most soils are suitable for their growth.
It is advisable to plant during the rainy season
Sow 2-3 seeds per hole at a depth of 4-6cm and then cover with soil.
You can apply fertilizers to boost their growth.
Weeding is done at 3-5 weeks after planting to control pests and diseases.
Gnuts take 120-130 days to mature.
At this point leaves turn yellow and drop.
Recently G. nuts prices have risen to Shs6,500-7,500 per Kg.
Meaning that a 100kg sack of G.nuts is now sold at between Shs650,000- 750,000.
This implies that if you can harvest 10 sacks (100kg each) you will be able to fetch out between Shs6.5m-7.5m, which is good money depending on the capital input.
Get all the agricultural information here bi-weekly. Mugenyi Joseph (MJ Farmer) is a practicing Agribusiness entrepreneur based in Kibiito and a software engineering student at Makerere University. He can be reached on 0701-443309, Email: mugenyijosemj@gmail.com
