On the right: Peter Murimi, owner of Mult grow Investments, holding the award. At the IFTEX in Nairobi.
Enhance flower quality by using best practices
Mult grow Investments, is increasing the quality of their flowers and has been awarded with the Silver Best Flower Quality award for its eryngium called Magical Anita at the IFTEX in Nairobi, Kenya. They received this Silver prize because the Magical Anita has a long vase life (16 days) and is disease and pest-free, and has a low residue level.
The eryngium: Magical Anita
"The eryngium prefers direct sunlight" says Peter Murimi, director of Mult grow Investments. And is therefore grown outside. The most common pest in eryngium crops is leaf miner. According to Murimi, there are strict rules for the Maximum Residue Levels (MRL's) of Eryngium when exporting them. "If you want to export these flower from Kenya, you even need to be certified by Kephis on good pest management" says Murimi.
Mult grow Investments uses best agricultural practices to protected their summer flowers against diseases. Next to the leaf miner which mainly occurs in their eryngium crop, they also have to deal with blackspot and botrytis in their other crops, namely Agapanthus, Craspedia and Alstroemeria. In order to combat these diseases and pests, they use sticky traps, and a combination of biological and chemical crop protection products.
Increase export market
"The IFTEX is a good opportunity to meet direct buyers" says Murimi. At the moment, Mult grow Investments mainly exports to the Dutch auction: FloraHolland. "In the future, we would like to expand our export market and supply to the consumers more directly, with strategic supply to the auction. In order to achieve this, we want to attend more exhibitions. The IFTEX was a very good show for us and at the moment we are evaluating the possibilities to attend the IFTF in Vijfhuizen, The Netherlands, that will take place in November 2015."
Mult grow Investments
Mult grow Investments grew rapidly over the last years. "In 2008, we started with an acreage of 0.5ha and now, 7 years later, we own a site of 20ha" says Murimi. In the future, they are eager to expand but, according to Murimi, this is not that easy, space is the difficulty. "Land is very expensive in Kenya and especially the good land." Therefore, they will focus on the improvement of the quality of their flowers and the expansion of their export market.
For more information
Mult grow Investments
Peter Murimi
T: +254 724 977 259
Email: 5growers09@gmail.com