Yield Per Acre of Kale: How To Increase It without Any Struggle

Interested in knowing the yield/acre of Sukuma wiki/Kale?

If that describes your interest, in this post, you'll learn the Possible yield from Sukuma wiki and how to achieve it.

You’ll find all you need to know about kale yields, and what so that you grow kale for a profit.

Ready?

Sit back, relax and prepare to dig deep into this comprehensive article on yield increasing strategies of Sukuma wiki/kale.

From the Desk of Haron Mogeni, Professional Horticultural Officer, and Horticulture copywriter.

I have grown Sukuma wiki from the year 2009 to 2019.

This year (2020) I decided to give it a break…

To try growing HASS avocado seedlings.

So far, things are working perfectly for me, nevertheless I miss kale farming.

I miss the weekly 20,000/= to 30,000/= cash flow from my 1 acre of kale.

Though I loved growing kale, I had to stop doing it since I moved counties and had to do a lot of travel.

The regular drive and commute of (600-800 km/week) could not allow me to give my Sukuma wiki farm the attention it deserves.

That said…

Let’s get to what brought you here.

“How many kilos can I harvest from 1 acre of Sukuma Wiki?”

For the Well, in my 10-year experience of growing kale in Kenya…

“1 acre of Sukuma wiki can yield between 8000 - 24,000 kilos of leaf during a growth period of 9 months.”

Now suppose you…

sell a kilo of Sukuma-wiki at Kenya shillings 30/= at the farm gate, Sukuma wiki has a potential of earning you a GROSS INCOME of Kenya shillings 240,000/= to 720,000/=

The above yield projections sound Too Good to be True?

They are not.

Just ask James Kamotho.

The daily Nation ran his story of how he earns millions of shillings from Kale farming.

Here below is a screenshot of the story. 

If you’d like to read it, follow the link.

I am so confident of the yields I have stated above, because I’ve been able to achieve them while I was a farm manager at Kamiti prison farm.

During my 1-year stint there, I grew—with the help of others, Sukuma wiki valued in millions.

The farm was approximately 4 acres, but it was sufficient provide Sukuma wiki every day for over 3000 inmates ENTIRE YEAR!

Believe it or not, the potential yield of Sukuma wiki per acre is far much higher than that of green maize, beans, cabbage or sweet potato.

TWO Myths the Academia Have on Sukuma wiki Growing in Kenya.

The myths are on the:

•  Recommended spacing of Sukuma wiki
• Time it takes to grow kale

How to Get Insane Harvests from Your Sukuma Wiki/Kale Farm

Step 1:  Choose The Right 

Kale Variety you grow plays a big role in the Yield per acre of Sukuma Wiki.

Here’s how to choose the right variety…

There are three popular varieties of Sukuma wiki/kale in Kenya.

1. The “A thousand headed Sukuma wiki variety”   
2. Collards Southern Georgia
3. Collards Mfalme F1.

I have grown ALL the three varieties and can state without blinking, “Collards southern Georgia is the best variety for Kenya.

Before I explain why I endorse Collards southern Georgia, let me tell you my experience with the other two varieties.

Collards Mfalme F1

The beef I have with this variety is “The cost of the seed.”

About two years ago, I bought 10 grams of the seed for Ksh 150.

Considering that you will need, “1 kilo of seed for every acre every acre of Sukuma wiki.”

The cost of the seed is exorbitant!

If you were to grow this variety, you’ll spend a whooping Kenya shillings 15.000/= for a kilo of seed.

That’s not all. I got a bad impression of the variety because of its poor germination percentage.

If something is that expensive don’t you think it should be rather so good?

The germination percentage of the seed sucked so I never seriously thought of doing this variety in large scale.

The “A Thousand Headed Variety”

Popular opinion, considers a thousand headed Sukuma wiki as the highest yielding variety.

When grown in the highland areas, that have regular rainfall and cool weather, you can harvest tons and tons of kale leaves from this variety.

Nevertheless, this variety has a major handicap.

It struggles SO MUCH during the harsh weather (when there’s peak demand for kale.)

If it could be a little tougher, I would have recommended this variety.

Another problem, it takes a long time to respond to irrigation, and when it gets too hot.

That handicap is pretty awful since a Sukuma wiki farmer gets the most profit when it is hot and dry.

The other handicap has to do with the color of the leaves of this kale variety.

Its leaves are pale yellowish green in color. This is a disadvantage since people associate yellowing with low quality.

The Collards Southern Georgia Sukuma Wiki/Kale Variety.

The collards southern variety yields slightly less yield per acre compared to the “A Thousand Headed Variety” and the Mfalme F1 variety.

However, when you consider a combination of other factors of Collards Southern Georgia Sukuma Wiki, it trumps all the others kale varieties.

For example, Collards southern Georgia variety produces pleasant dark green leaves.

Its leaves are tough yet tender when cooked—which is an important quality when transporting it over long distances.

The kale variety is also resistant to hot weather and it’s an all zone performer unlike the others.

Should you maintain your farm well, you can harvest cash from this variety for over 1 year!

From that experience of growing the Collards Southern Georgia variety, I strongly recommend it to any prospective or even experienced farmer.

Step 2: Use the correct spacing to maximize yield Sukuma wiki/Kale per acre.

This is where I have a problem with many academia.

They often recommend that you space Sukuma wiki at 60 cm X 60 cm.

The problem of adopting this spacing is that you get a plant population of 11,200 plants for 1 acre.

That plant population is too low to get high yields from Sukuma wiki.

Let me tell you why…

When you transplant Sukuma wiki at that spacing, as the growing season progresses, some plants die.

They may die due to pest attack, rotting or injury as you do your farming operations.

When that happens you’ll end up having even more wider spacing within the plants.

I know you are asking can I replant the spaces with new kale plants?

You could do it, but it’s not worth it.

The older plants tend to suppress the younger plants to the extent they won’t give any economic advantage.

On the other hand, if you adopt a spacing of 15 cm X 40 cm, you get a plant population of 59,000 plants.

The close spacing has several yield boosting advantages.

1.      You get more plants per acre than the spacing of 60 cmX60 cm.

2.       Should any plants die during the growth period, you’ll still have an economical

 pplant population left behind—you won’t have big spaces in-between plants.

3.       

The close spacing helps the plants to form a thick canopy that suppresses weeds and prevent excessive evaporation thus increasing your yield threefold.

Step 3:  Ensure that Organic matter in your Sukuma wiki farm is high to Increase Your Yield per acre of Sukuma wiki.

Sukuma wiki loves well a drained soil, rich in organic matter.

Proper drainage is absolutely vital because excessive water leads to:

1.       Yellowing of leaves

2.       Development of phosphorus deficiencies

3.       Thriving of the black rot disease that can exterminate a Sukuma wiki farm in days!

Besides increasing your yield per acre of Sukuma wiki, soil rich in high organic matter well-rotted farmyard manure, compost and other plant vegetative matter, will make your kale tender, sweet when cooked, and resistant to how weather.

You’ll see the outcome in the way people will be rushing to place orders.

Once they taste your kale, they will never want to go anywhere else.

Sukuma wiki responds well to fertilizers and foliar feeds thus increase yields significantly.

However, the extended use of such fertilizers is detrimental to your kale farm.

Continuous use of fertilizers will make your kale bitter and highly perishable—especially when used in the dry weather.

If possible, use organic matter such as manure and compost in kale production while supplementing them with inorganic fertilizers. 

Never make inorganic fertilizers the foundation of your kale production especially in the dry season as that is the recipe of producing bitter kale.

Step 4: Don’t commit this abomination if you want your Sukuma wiki to Produce High yields consistently

During the dry season kale is often is short supply.

What is available is usually bitter and tough when cooked.

For that reason, potential customers wander to and fro looking good sources of sweet kale—and they are ready to buy it at a higher price.

Farmers therefore are tempted to overharvest their kale farm in a bid to make an extra coin.

Never do that. Don’t do it even if you are offered money.

If you do it, your earnings will be short lived.

Why?

You’ll over-stress the plants.

The plants are already overstressed due to the heat and drought. When you add overharvesting, the plant will be true stressed to regenerate new growth faster.

The recommended harvest rate is 3-5 leaves per plant starting with the bigger bottom leaves.

If the plant exhibits luxurious growth, (during the rainy season) you can harvest more than 5 leaves.

When it’s too dry you may have to harvest 3 leaves per plant.

One last precaution about harvesting…

Never harvest the young tender leaves that are near the top.

Start with the mature lower leaves. If you harvest the young top leaves, you’ll be harvesting tomorrows harvest today while leaving todays harvest to go to waste.

Step 5: Don’t harvest the same portion daily otherwise you’ll get poor yields of Sukuma wiki.

If possible, harvest the entire farm once, irrigate it and let it stay for a whole week before you harvest again.

The advantage of doing this is, “You allow the plants time to recover from the stress of harvest.”

If the farm needs weeding, pest control and other activities, you can do that after the harvest.

Should you be unable to harvest the whole farm, divide it into 7 blocks.

Harvest each block each day of the week. Once you harvest a block, don’t harvest it again until one week is over.

Step 6: Irrigate your kale farm regularly. Sukuma wiki loves a Lot of water

To maximize your Sukuma wiki yields, ensure that you irrigate your farm regularly. Without regular irrigation, the vegetables will grow slowly and will be bitter.

The yields that I have mentioned at the beginning of this story will be a pipe dream.

The most preferable time to irrigate is in the evening.

Irrigating at this time is advantages as evaporation is lower, thus you save on water.

The best type of irrigation system for Kale is overhead irrigation. 

Though it uses a lot of water, overhead irrigation creates a micro-climate for kale during the hot weather.

The good news about it is that Kale will respond in kind by growing luxuriously.

Conclusion:

Kale can be a profit maker crop. All you need is to have the right information, attitude and you'll make it big in kale farming.

What are your thoughts on this?

Share them below.

This post originally appeared on https://pangonionlinemarketing.com 

Hass Avocado Seedlings for Sale Contact 0715609418

Hass Avocado Seedlings for Sale Contact0715609418

If you are looking to buy Hass avocado seedlings, you’ve come to the right place.

We sell Hass avocado seedlings for Kenya shillings 150/= per piece/plant.

But that is only one part of the story:

I want to tell you everything about Hass Avocado…

so that when you make your purchase, you have the guarantee that you’ve made the right decision, and that your investment will PAY itself MANY TIMES OVER.

Before we proceed, below are some of the photos of our Hass avocado seedling nursery:

Why Buy Hass Avocado Seedlings to Grow in Your Farm?

1.       High demand of avocado as a local and Export crop

In Kenya and across the world, there’s high demand for Hass avocado fruit. During the avocado season traders race to every corner of Kenya looking for farms to buy from so that they can fill their purchase orders.

For that reason, if you have high-quality Hass avocado fruits, your bank account will be crying chim! chim!  chim! because of the deposits that will be hitting it.

That’s not all…

The price of Hass avocado fruits is set to skyrocket as China joins the global Import Trade of avocado.

Just over a year ago President Kenyatta signed an MOU with China. That agreement will allow Kenyan avocado to access the highly lucrative Chinese market.

My crystal ball tells me we won’t be able to satisfy the Chinese demand!

For that reason, in a few years Hass Avocado will be rarer than the Gold of Ophir.

When that day comes where will you be?

“Will you be profiting from the Hass Avocado Mania or you’ll be crying I wish I knew?”

2.       Growing Hass Avocado fruit seedlings are better than saving a for a retirement income.

Though trees take a couple of years to grow, when they finally mature, they will feed you, plus your grandchildren.

They will outlive any retirement package that you are currently saving.

I am saying this because I know of a family who harvests thousands of kilos—year after year— of Macadamia nuts that their long-dead father planted in the 1960’s!

Trees are a true inheritance.

Even in the bible during times of war people were cautioned against harming trees.

They were allowed to destroy buildings, walls, altars, idols, and other things but not fruit trees.

Why?

Fruit trees feed generations. So I you’ve got some land to grow Grafted Hass Avocado seedlings, do it now!

3.       You won’t be waiting for 6-7 years to get for first Hass avocado fruits.

In fact, in 3-4 years you’ll start enjoying your first harvest.

Why?

We graft all our Hass Avocado seedlings.

The grafting process greatly REDUCES THE WAITING PERIOD for fruits by up to 3 to 4 years thus enabling you to enjoy your fruit sooner.

What we do, we collect scions from mature Hass Avocado seeds, then graft them on rootstock of other varieties like Puebla.

4.       Get consistent yields from Hass Avocado seedlings.

Of course there are many variety of avocado trees.

You are at liberty to grow any of them.

However, none of those varieties show consistency in producing fruit year after year than Hass avocado.

The other avocado varieties alternate their bearing. During one year they bear fruit. The next year they don’t bear ANY fruit.

Why grow the other varieties when you can grow Hass avocado that bears season after season?

What can be a better variety than Hass?

Its regularity of production earnings is like “Earning tax free interest from a government bond!”

5.       Obtain High yields from Mature Hass avocado Seedlings.

The scions of our seedlings come from the Original Hass Varieties Imported from Mexico and Florida.

That means, they are TRUE TO TYPE.

Our avocado produce creamy sweet avocado for use in any dish.

Once customers taste your avocado fruits, they’ll love them the way children love yoghurt!  

You’ll never miss people willing to buy your fruit…

I could go on and only expounding the merits of Growing Hass Avocado Seedlings now rather than later.

Can Hass Avocado Grow in My Region, Province, County or Country?

The answer to this question is simple:

Avocado can grow anywhere in the Tropics and Sub tropics.

Actually Avocado can grow in almost every country in Africa (With the exception of those in the Sahara and Namib desert), South America, And Australia.

So if you leave in Kisii, Kakamega, Butere, Nyanza, Rift valley, Nakuru, eldoret, Kitui and many other places—you can grow Hass avocado.  

That said, there are some certain local conditions that will determine whether you can grow Hass Avocado seedlings.

1.       Temperature

Hass Avocado grows in the range of 21-28 degrees centigrade and at an altitude of 900-2100 Meters above sea level.

Too cool temperatures considerably slow the growth of Hass Avocado Seedlings.

For that reason, people living in Kinagop and others areas of similar temperatures and elevation can’t grow Avocado.

Conversely, too hot temperatures result to fruit and leaf burns.

Yield Per acre of Mature Hass Avocado of Seedlings

It takes 3-4 years before your Hass Avocado seedling starts giving its FIRST FRUITS.

During the first fruiting years a tree can yield 200-300 fruits.

That low yield is a problem to commercial farmers.

To solve this problem, farmers REDUCE the SPACING avocado trees to increase the plant population per acre.

Instead of growing the recommended 150 trees per acre, farmers grow 3 times that.

As the years’ progress, and the trees increase production, the farmer thins them.

He does so that the mature trees can have a spacing of 6M X 6 M.

At that spacing, 1 acre can have 150 trees.

A fully mature tree can yield up to 3000 fruits.

So if you have 150 mature Hass fruit seedlings, you’ll get 450,000 fruits which translates to 50 tons per acre!

It takes a Hass Avocado tree 8 years to fully mature to the point of yielding 3000 or more fruits.

Buying Hass Avocado Seedlings Is Easy!

Just Call 0715 609418 to place your order. The call recipient on the other side is friendly and courteous—and he is at your service.

As you place your order we will agree on the

1.       Amount of seedlings you need.

2.       Payment terms

3.       Date of delivery

4.       Place of delivery

5.       Delivery charges

6.       And any other issue.

Once all that is settled and availability of seedlings is confirmed multiply the number of seedlings you want and send the money via MPESA to 0715609418.

Once that amount is received, you’ll receive a call where we will agree on the place of delivery and delivery method.

Through courier services we can deliver to every part of Kenya.

How We Address The Damage of Seedlings During Transport

1.       First we will transport the seedlings in carton boxes.

2.       We will clearly mark the carton with the words, “Plant material. Handle with care” The purpose of this is to notify the transporter that he is handling fragile goods that need lots of care.

3.       We will put 2% extra seedlings so to minimize any losses arising from transport and handling.

I have sent My Money but I haven’t Received my Products.

We will ensure that we deliver the seedlings as agreed.

We will send you copies of the delivery receipts given by the transport company as evidence that we have sent the product.

In case you don’t receive your order of Hass Avocado Seedlings by any chance, we will make an effort to contact the courier company ON YOUR BEHALF.

If the seedlings can’t be found, we will send OTHERS.

We will bear all the risk of delivery.

Therefore, if you don’t receive your goods after doing the tracking, we will refund your money.

We are the Only Avocado Seedling Seller in Kenya That Offer 100% Money back Guarantee

If by any chance you don’t receive your goods as promised, we will refund back your money 100%.

Why wait? How many Hass Avocado Seedlings Do You Want?

Take action today.

Prepare yourself to conquer the avocado market and earn insane income in the next few years.

The Low price of Ksh 150 is low compared to the insane returns Hass avocado Is capable of giving.

Hurry.

Contact us today and place your order.

PS: We have a supply capacity of 10,000 seedlings. So no matter the number of Hass Avocado Seedlings you need, we’ll supply them—but you’ve got to hurry as other farmers as rushing to buy them.

 

How To Manage Your Passionfruit Farm So That You Can Earn More Money From it

Proper Passionfruit farm management, is vital for passion fruit growing in Kenya. It all starts with the variety you choose to raise. Depending on your farm's locality, you can decide to plant either yellow or purple passion.

When it comes to growing yellow passion fruit, your job is simple and straightforward.  All you have to do is germinate the passion fruit seeds in a nursery, transplant the plantlets in polythene tubes filled with soil, let them grow until they attain a height of 15-20 cm before you transplant them to the open field.

However, if you decide to grow purple passion fruit, you MUST first graft purple passionfruit scion on yellow passion—if you hope you have a high yielding passion farm.

Why is grafting purple passion fruit scion on yellow passion fruit a critical factor in managing your passion farm?

Purple passion fruit variety is highly susceptible to a fungal disease called fusarium wilt. This fungal disease can clear a whole farm within days. To minimize the risk of your entire farm dying of fusarium wilt and spending lots of fungicides in controlling the disease, we graft purple passion fruit on yellow rootstock. We do so because yellow passion is resistant to fusarium wilt.

Another reason why we graft purple passion on yellow passion rootstock is that the latter is hardy, drought tolerant, and vigorous. The yellow passionfruit will, therefore, pass these good traits to the purple passion scion.

If you decide to grow yellow passion fruits, you don’t need any grafting because the yellow passion plant is already resistant to drought, fusarium wilt, nematodes, and other diseases.

In brief, whether you grow yellow or purple passion, routine management your passionfruit farm comprises the following through the various growth stages of the plant.

•    Trellising the plants
•    Soil fertility
•       Managing Pests
•    Keeping the orchard clean
•       Regular watering
•    Managing Nutrient deficiencies
•       Passionfruit fertilizer requirements.

After the choice of seedlings, the next important factor of passion fruit management is soil fertility.

The soil condition must be right to support the plant through its various stages of growth. From a young age—when the plant multiplies, maturity stage which is characterized by reproduction of flowers and fruits, vegetative growth, budding, flowering, ripening, and senescence—the soil condition must be right.

How to Manage your Passion Farm when the seedlings are at the Young vegetative stage

At the time of transplanting, your seedlings should be about 15-20 cm high. At the young vegetative stage, they passion plants need to a healthy root network, put up foliage, multiply, grow a sturdy stem to support future fruits.

Let us first start by discussing how to make your seedlings have an extensive root network.

For your passionfruit plant to have a secure network, you will need to prepare the transplanting hole correctly.

Here is how to do it.

• ·         Dig a hole that is 2feet wide, 2 feet long X 2 feet deep.
• ·         Fill the hole halfway with farmyard manure.
• ·         Use the soil that you've removed, to top up the hole you've just filled halfway with manure until it is three-quarter full.
• ·         Using your hands, or a hand trowel, mix the soil and the manure thoroughly.
• ·         Transplant your seedling.
• ·         Apply 10 grams of DAP fertilizer around the plant ensuring it does not touch the stem of the seedling to prevent fertilizer burn.
• ·         Fill the remaining space with the remaining soil and firming up the soil around the plant.
• ·         Water the passion seedling.

The purpose of the manure is to make the soil well aerated, provide nutrients, provide a room for suitable micro-organisms and room for roots to thrive.

The purpose of the DAP fertilizer is to make the nitrogen nutrients available sooner because manure releases its nutrients slowly but over an extended period compared to DAP that is fast over a short period.

Don’t forget to water the seedling regularly. The passion fruit vine cannot be able to access nutrients it needs for rapid growth if the soil is dry.

Once the seedling is well established and has new growth, you can apply about 5 grams of urea for every passion fruit plant.

In about two months of regular watering, the plant will have moved to young plant/ seedling stage to the vegetative stage.

How To Manage the Passion Plant During the Vegetative Stage.

In this phase, the plant multiplies producing side shoots and vines in preparation of flowering and fruiting. At this stage, various experts discourage the use of fertilizers rich in nitrogen because that will encourage the growth of leaves at the expense of fruits.

Because the plant will be producing many vines, it will need trellising. To maximize on passion fruit production, you ensure that you have one main stem that provides three main branches.

You will also need to apply hormones at 5-6 months to stimulate flowering.

How To Manage of Passion Plant During the Flowering Stage

The flowering stage is the most sensitive stage in a passion fruit plant. Any water and nutrient deficiencies will lead to flower abortion and eventual low yields. Likewise, any pest attack will lead to reduced production.

At this stage, you will need to apply high levels of potassium fertilizer and micronutrient fertilizers to avoid flower abortion. You will also continue to use appropriate fungicides and insecticides to prevent damage to flowers.

The most significant pest to watch at this stage is passion fruit aphid which leads to passion fruit woody virus that results in misshaped fruits.

The plant will need regular watering.

Managing Passion Fruit During The Fruiting Stage

The plant will need regular watering pest management. You will also need to protect your maturing fruits from animals like monkeys, birds, squirrels, and people who are likely to pick your mature fruits and lead to losses.

Share with us how you manage your passionfruit farm

 free passion fruit guide

How to Choose the Right Crop for Your Farm so that You don’t lose money growing the wrong thing!

Crop Selection In Agriculture

Your land has been lying idle for some time. 

You’ve finally decided to grow something on it so that it can give you much-needed extra income. 

But you are in a dilemma. 

You don’t know, which crop to grow, how to grow it, and whether it is worth growing.

If you have ever found yourself in this situation, you are not alone. Most people—who want to grow something on their idle land—so that they start earning money—don’t know what to grow, where to start, or what they need. They don’t know the right crop for their farm, the amount of money they need to grow it, and where to sell the harvest once the crop is mature.

If you’ve ever been in this fix, consider this article godsend.

Why? 

You will never-ever struggle to decide what to grow on your rich farming land. 

Instead of choosing what to grow, will be easy ad drinking water. 

After reading this article, you’ll equip yourself with the right knowledge to help you choose the right crop for your farm.

Investing your cash in a loss-making crop will be distant the way the sun is far off from the earth.

So where do you start?

What do you grow so that success is assured the VERY first season you grow something on your idle land?

Remember choices have consequences. 

Growing a crop that is too common will put you in direct competition with hundreds of thousands of other farmers. 

You’ll be too many people struggling to sell to a few customers. 

On the other hand, choosing a crop that is too rare—is risky.  

Such a crop may not have sufficient demand. 

The risk of it rotting in your store or warehouse is sky high!

Does this little analysis make you feel like completely giving up on farming? Please don’t give up. Done well, growing crops often have a high rate of return— far higher than the rate of return of the stock market, and the real estate. 

You can get up to ten times your investment. For every dollar invested in farming get you ten to twenty more.

That’s why I am writing this to you. I want you to come to the right decision—on what to grow—easily and fast. The process of choosing a crop to grow, shouldn’t be a mind-boggling job. It should be a wonderful experience, just like spending time with a loved one…

How to tell if a crop is worth growing

•   The prospective crop should have a Predictable and Reliable market

Whatever you grow MUST have a wide acceptance and demand. People must be eager and ready to buy ALL or a substantial portion of what you desire to grow.

If you don’t want what you desire to grow to end up in the compost pit, consider its market. Invest in a crop that you are sure will SELL; several such crops exist. 

Just to mention a few of ALL SEASON-HIGH DEMAND crops; For vegetables, we have Kale, Spinach, Potatoes, Tomatoes, and Onions. For fruits, we have avocados, mangoes, and oranges. People need these crops—from January to December, 24/7 days a week.

Something worth noting about the market is the competition. 

If you decide to grow the above-mentioned vegetables and fruits, you will definitely face ugly and stiff competition. 

Nevertheless, there are times when these vegetables and fruits are in SHORT supply. You can take advantage of such times to beat the competition. 

Grow high-demand crops during times of shortage, when the weather is unconducive to many farmers, and you’ll smile all the way to the bank.

As you think about what to grow, don’t limit yourself only to popular crops. There are other less popular crops, herbs, fruits, and vegetables that are very profitable—if you find a niche market for them. 

Before you venture into their production, do thorough research. Search for potential customers, and persuade them to sign a contract with them, so that you are always assured of a market.

•  2      The amount of capital you require

Second, you must decide how much you are willing to invest in growing the crops and whether you have the money to do it. 

I am saying this because most investors often don’t have a clear picture of exactly what they need to put in farming. 

Some people underestimate the amount required and they end up broke before the crop they planted is yet to mature. 

Running low before the season ends means you won’t have the cash for other operations like harvesting, storage, transport to market etc.

•         Managerial skills

Third, you must consider your management competence. 

Some crops like tomatoes, potatoes, and cut flowers require the grower to be highly skilled or experienced. 

Others like avocados, mangoes, papaya, and kale need a little experience to grow.  Don’t grow a crop you can’t manage. If you must do, start small. Learn from experience before starting a full-scale production project.

•  Consider all logistical challenges

Fourth, consider all the logistics associated with growing the crop. 

Consider where you are going to; 

1. Source for inputs and its effect on the overall cost; 
2. Distance from the nearest market, 
3. and its impact on operations or marketing, 
4. Time of harvesting and time of arrival at the market. 

When you put all these four things into account, you’ll have settled on the three most ideal crops to grow.

Once you have settled on one to three crops—you have to know if your farm is suitable for them…

Your job is halfway done once you have settled on growing one to three crops.

I am saying this because a crop can make economic sense to grow, but nevertheless be unsuitable for your farm. 

This is because every farm has its unique and localized conditions that make it suitable or unsuitable for a crop.

Let me explain…

A farm could be in an area, with a climate suited for growing carrots, potatoes, or onions, but still prove unsuitable for growing those crops. 

The soils—of the farm could be black cotton soils—soils that can’t allow the successful growing of the aforementioned crops or could be other conditions like flooding on the land, or even diseased soil.

Other factors that may prevent the growth of the desired crop is a history of soil-borne diseases fertility, the quality of water among others.

Type of planting material

The type of planting material should be considered carefully.  Depending on what the planting material is, your costs will go up or come down. 

If you want to establish your crop from seed, the cost of seed is much lower. But if you expect to either use corms, tubers, cuttings, bulbs, or rhizomes, brace yourself because these types of planting material are, costly compared to seed, and a little difficult to handle.

Source of planting material

If your selected crop is going to be raised from seed, consider buying certified seed from authorized seed sellers. 

The certified seed produces crops that are resistant to disease, vigorous, and display uniform growth. 

Things get tricky if you want to establish your crop from vegetative materials like cuttings, tubers, rhizomes, and bulbs.

Sometimes there are no certified distributors of these planting materials. 

Where certified material exists, consider using it. In instances you can’t get certified vegetative materials like tubers, cuttings and the rest, order them from a farm with a history of good agricultural practice, healthy crops, and proper management. That will ensure that your crops are free from diseases and pests.

Think of how you are going to harvest the crops, and how you are going to preserve them for the market.

After spending much time growing a crop, a time will come that it must be harvested. As you do so, think of what type are you going to sell them in the fresh form, or you are going to process them further?

Plan for success

Get the right help and workers

Keep proper records and track expenditures

Consider integrated pest management