A majority of tea farmers, especially in Rift Valley and Western, are using machines to pluck the cash crop to reduce cost and maximise profits, a tea official has said.
Tea harvesting machines are now widely used after initial resistance when most farmers insisted on hiring casual labourers.
Tea Machinery Company Limited (Temec) general manager Michael Cherutich said there is a major revolution in tea growing regions as mechanisation takes root.
He said popularity of tea plucking machines is steadily growing, mostly among smallholder farmers, thereby cutting labour costs and putting more money in the growers’ pockets.
Cherutich said the machines are a lifeline for farmers who have been spending large sums of money to pay pickers. He said the high cost of hiring pluckers had squeezed the earnings for tea farmers under Kenya Tea Development Agency’s network.
“The tea plucking machines have emerged as a practical solution by reducing the need for large teams of workers and allowing farmers to keep more of their income,” Cherutich said.
He said Temec, a wholly owned subsidiary of KTDA, had designed the machines with smallholder tea growers in mind.
“The machines are simple to adopt and maintain, offering an efficient way to handle the demands of peak harvest seasons without breaking the bank,” Cherutich said.
He said the impact of using the battery-operated machines is evident in Kapsabet, Kaptumo and Kitale, where farmers are spending less on wages and harvesting is faster.
“This means more tea reaches factories and incomes remain steady. Technology does not just cut expense, it also gives farmers a stronger hand in managing their farms,” Cherutich said.
He said beyond economics, the machines supplied by Temec help farmers tackle challenges like unpredictable rains and ensuring consistent harvests even when conditions turn tough.
“This reliability combined with
lower costs has fuelled acceptance
among tea growers. For smallholders, it’s a chance to work smarter, not
harder, while still meeting production
goals,” Cherutich said. He said Temec is working in collaboration with
Greenland Fedha to finance farmers
and help them access the plucking
machines on credit.
