How to grow spinach the easy and profitable way

Dear farmer,

You can earn 250,000 shillings per month growing spinach on one acre. Yes! This is very possible. Here is a little story of a multinational company with interests in agriculture all over the world.

That company is Unilever. Spinach contributes 28% of Unilever key crops. Tea contributes 16%; peas 13% while tomatoes and palm oil contribute 7% respectively.

One thing I do know, the big boys like Unilever know where the money is. It is nowhere else other than the production and processing of spinach.

Growing spinach is a golden goose, often misunderstood. Once you discover its secret, it will lay golden eggs for you — FOR A LONG-LONG TIME.

IF you are searching for fresh ideas that will help you earn more…

THEN, read on. After reading this article, you will realize spinach production is VERY-VERY profitable.

Your bank account will overflow with money. Raising school fees will be easy like rowing downstream. In fact your neighbors will be green with envy as they see you drive the latest Toyota model.

They will wonder as you drive past them, the source of your new found wealth.

If only they knew your secret…

Here are experiences of organizations and people earning a living from spinach.

After retiring from service in 1985, I ventured into poultry farming. My 12,000 broilers died in 1997 and left me desolate. I pooled resources and planted spinach on an eighth of my land as spinach grows very fast. In a short time, I started selling the vegetables. In a month, I earn up to 60,000 shilling from 1/8 acre Major retired Francis Mutua Ndolo Landless estate, Kiambu County Spinach is one of the key crops that Unilever is testing under its sustainable agriculture initiative. Growing for the future Spinach: for a sustainable future, Unilever. One acre of spinach yields 6 tons#Kenyans4Kenya project in #Moyale 64 acres on drip irrigation A tweet by The Kenya red cross

Here are some basic facts why spinach is increasingly becoming popular.

According to Dutch scientists from the University of Leiden, spinach contains tyrosine an amino acid that stimulates the production of dopaline a hormone enhancing mental abilities. The basis of Steve Jobs success was he ate foods rich in tyrosine like spinach, bananas almonds and peaches.

Source: fresh plaza.com

Spinach is rich in calcium, phosphorus and vitamin A.

So, what is the key to successful spinach production?

Here is what John Navazio an agricultural consultant says:

“To appreciate why spinach misbehaves, one must recognize the plants humble origins. It is a cool season crop originally grown in fall and winter in the Middle East.”

To grow spinach profitably you must understand its likes and dislikes. Spinach is a cool season crop. Temperatures above 27 degrees can retard its growth.

Second, spinach does not like an acidic soil. It prefers a soil with a PH of 6-7.5

It also requires light showers accompanied by periods of sunlight. Heavy rains lead to attack of spinach by downy mildew disease.

That is why there is a shortage of spinach in the months of April through May and October through December in Kenya. This is because spinach is devastated by downy mildew, a disease prevalent during the rainy season.

Downy mildew disease is very difficult to control once your spinach is attacked. This results to a biting spinach shortage during the above said months.

So, how can you take advantage of the weakness of spinach and earn good money from it?

FACT: Selling the vegetable in the months of shortage earns more. Therefore, you must time production to match peak market and shortage. To do this, establish your nursery at MID March for long rains season and MID October for short rains season.

Doing that ensures that the spinach is at the nursery in the time of heaviest rainfall. The seedlings will be ready for transplanting when the rain is subsiding. And will reach maturity when the rain is almost ending.

The reason why it’s best to establish a nursery during the rainy season is “you can easily control diseases in the nursery”

At the nursery, you can easily monitor diseases and spray suitable fungicides regularly.

Cover the nursery with a plastic sheet to avoid the plants getting excessive rain and avoid an attack by downy mildew disease.

Further, the nursery acts as storehouse of your spinach plants. They await there for the opportune time for transplanting.

Avoid growing spinach in low lying areas that are prone to flooding as flooding increases the incidence of disease.