If you have any trouble or challenge on your farm, send it here. Let's brainstorm together. Let us make 2021 better than 2020. Scammers, stay away! Haters, buzz off! "I too know" enterprises, Stay away! I have decided to listen to many cries and private messages, here is the opportunity to get solutions again. I want even haters to learn. 2021 will be great!

Aderr:
This is brilliant. You've made your research. You said something about tomatoes and how the price suddenly crashed. I am sure a lot of tomato farmers would right now not know what to do. But can the same thing happen to cassava because i am looking at cassava farming with serious interest.

Hope you do not mind bringing you here. Actually opened this thread for the purpose. The subject you asked is not related to poultry. Though, I mentioned veggie there, but was to buttress a point I want making.

Now, to your question. The best strategy for cassava is to turn it to granules, powder, or paste. Fufu (paste) can be made, but subjected to low shelf life. Starch (powder) is the most profitable, but can be too expensive to set up. Therefore, granules (garri) is your best bet. This way, you will avoid the tension of low or high market price. Just set up your mind towards processing it. Not too expensive. You can even make arrangement with local farmers (ask around, you have 12 months grace before harvest to prepare for it) and use their equipment instead of buying yours. Just find those women who are good in it and they will navigate the way for you. This is the best advice I can give you. If you sell raw, they can give you high blood pressure. Only farmers who live in villages know about selling it raw well. And they harvest gradually. But if you ask them do it for you, they will do it in a way to favor them and cheat you. Therefore, process your tubers into granules, bag them very well, and sell at your convenience. You dictate the price. When processing, dedicate a time to sit down with the women processing them. Tackle them very well. Carry your bags of garri and leave there with a smile on your face. Settle down and sell your granules at the market value. If you hear the price may go up, hold on and see what comes up. Garri doesn't get spoilt easily.

Goodluck!

Attit:

Hope you do not mind bringing you here. Actually opened this thread for the purpose. The subject you asked is not related to poultry. Though, I mentioned veggie there, but was to buttress a point I want making.

Now, to your question. The best strategy for cassava is to turn it to granules, powder, or paste. Fufu (paste) can be made, but subjected to low shelf life. Starch (powder) is the most profitable, but can be too expensive to set up. Therefore, granules (garri) is your best bet. This way, you will avoid the tension of low or high market price. Just set up your mind towards processing it. Not too expensive. You can even make arrangement with local farmers (ask around, you have 12 months grace before harvest to prepare for it) and use their equipment instead of buying yours. Just find those women who are good in it and they will navigate the way for you. This is the best advice I can give you. If you sell raw, they can give you high blood pressure. Only farmers who live in villages know about selling it raw well. And they harvest gradually. But if you ask them do it for you, they will do it in a way to favor them and cheat you. Therefore, process your tubers into granules, bag them very well, and sell at your convenience. You dictate the price. When processing, dedicate a time to sit down with the women processing them. Tackle them very well. Carry your bags of garri and leave there with a smile on your face. Settle down and sell your granules at the market value. If you hear the price may go up, hold on and see what comes up. Garri doesn't get spoilt easily.

Goodluck!

Wow! This is expert advice. I know a good place to find such women, cheap land and cheap labour. Ikire in Osun. Thanks, man.

Sir! I have always been a fan of yours though I joined nairaland not quite long. I am an aspiring farmer and I must confess that I hate chemicals and fertilizers which makes me pro-organic kind of . The issue is that I planted maize last year but the farm got ravaged by rats because I didn't want to use chemicals on the farm. The worst part was when I decided to plant just leafy greens and jutes. These rats came again and invaded my farm to the extent that I couldn't pick anything out again after the few times I uprooted few (almost a plot of land). I must confess that I'd never seen this level of destruction before as they were just cutting them off for fun.

I intend to plant dry season vegetables again soon. Please how can I secure my farm from these rats without the use of chemicals?

IamAsiri:
Sir! I have always been a fan of yours though I joined nairaland not quite long. I am an aspiring farmer and I must confess that I hate chemicals and fertilizers which makes me pro-organic kind of . The issue is that I planted maize last year but the farm got ravaged by rats because I didn't want to use chemicals on the farm. The worst part was when I decided to plant just leafy greens and jutes. These rats came again and invaded my farm to the extent that I couldn't pick anything out again after the few times I uprooted few (almost a plot of land). I must confess that I'd never seen this level of destruction before as they were just cutting them off for fun.

I intend to plant dry season vegetables again soon. Please how can I secure my farm from these rats without the use of chemicals?

Oh! I'm happy you find my posts helpful. Remember, immediate profit is not your immediate goal; rather, eliminating all hindrances. This rats invasion is one. But the greatest and most dangerous pests are humans - your manager, your workers, neighbours, fellow farmers, etc. You will struggle with them before you are able to handle them.

There are many methods I can think off, but the easiest is that you release cats on the land. But you should have started before now because the cats need to be trained to be the security at night. Anyway, not too late. You just need to set up a garden again there and get a worker to start training the cats and releases them at night to secure your farm. Even 1 single cat will send rats away from 2 ha. They will never near the farm again. The only issue is that avoid breeding of cats. Get males only. And make sure there are no strayed cats around; else, they will become nuisance around your farm.

Attit:


Oh! I'm happy you find my posts helpful. Remember, immediate profit is not your immediate goal; rather, eliminating all hindrances. This rats invasion is one. But the greatest and most dangerous pests are humans - your manager, your workers, neighbours, fellow farmers, etc. You will struggle with them before you are able to handle them.

There are many methods I can think off, but the easiest is that you release cats on the land. But you should have started before now because the cats need to be trained to be the security at night. Anyway, not too late. You just need to set up a garden again there and get a worker to start training the cats and releases them at night to secure your farm. Even 1 single cat will send rats away from 2 ha. They will never near the farm again. The only issue is that avoid breeding of cats. Get males only. And make sure there are no strayed cats around; else, they will become nuisance around your farm.

Okay sir. Thanks for the advice.

IamAsiri:


Okay sir. Thanks for the advice.

By the way ma, there are so many resources here you can follow, but very few ones are on point. Majority are useless, especially the chemical filled threads. I had to stop at a point with chemicals as it got to a stage, I said no to chemicals. 2 years ago, I gave a powerful chemical to someone who imported it, and really I had been using the chemical for many years without it entering Nigeria. From that one person, many people started asking me if it's ok. I just smiled. Yesterday, I saw someone advertised the active ingredient, but with another blend of chemical. And I showed some people that if I don't release chemicals, they will say I am wicked. Look at this. The person went to China and got a cheaper version blend and brought it here. And what is this? It is carcinogenic. I just say ...well....this is why I don't release chemicals.

It is good you started with non chemical, but I must be frank with you that you need deep experience before you can survive 100% organic. I have advice for you:

1. Do not jump into technical veggies with too many troubles if doing organic since you are just starting- cucumber, watermelon, tomatoes etc. They are highly sensitive crops. You can go with eggplant and still make it huge. Carrots, lettuce, and local veggies.

2. Though I mentioned local green veggies, becareful with it as rainy season is approaching and it can flood market anytime. But really, if you had started in October, believe me, you dont even need any other troublesome crop. You will make it big. Just get the market right, and make sure you sell on farm. Avoid moving local veggies to market.

3. You may need NPK and urea since you may not be good with composting at this point. There is nothing wrong with using fertilizer. Anyway, I don't eat anything grown with fertilizer again. Lol. But your customers "no send you". They dont care. So, if I am doing huge commercial, I still dont go 100% organic. And i still use chemicals sparingly. Why? I have to protect my investment, and those buying dont care about my cost of production. Even i produce two kinds and say buy organic N10 per kg, and inorganic N9.9 per kg. They will go for inorganic because of that 0.1 reduction. Not to talk of saying inorganic is N3 per kg while organic is N10. They will just curse you with your organic. So, what is important is that you avoid spraying chemicals too often. But trust me, these farmers here are "yampions" (not champions) in bombarding plants with chemicals. At times, I get so scared eating anything I dont grow. Ha! I cannot take the risk anymore. Nope.

4. Integrated farming is the way forward. Mixing livestocks with vegetables and grains. Honestly, this is the way forward. So, celebrate small wins. Do not go big immediately. Learn the rope. The rope of organic farming is long. And organic required well planned logistics. You need a van to survive it. You will see the reasons later. Otherwise, find a portion near you and learn from there and even make cool cash.

5. If you are a small farmer, please, forget about employing experienced manager or worker. You are the manager of your farm, meaning, you must be there always. And it is why your farm must be very close to your home. If not, forget it.

I wish you best of luck, and my 2021 be your year of fulfillment and success in vegetables production. Amen!

Attit:

By the way ma, there are so many resources here you can follow, but very few ones are on point. Majority are useless, especially the chemical filled threads. I had to stop at a point with chemicals as it got to a stage, I said no to chemicals. 2 years ago, I gave a powerful chemical to someone who imported it, and really I had been using the chemical for many years without it entering Nigeria. From that one person, many people started asking me if it's ok. I just smiled. Yesterday, I saw someone advertised the active ingredient, but with another blend of chemical. And I showed some people that if I don't release chemicals, they will say I am wicked. Look at this. The person went to China and got a cheaper version blend and brought it here. And what is this? It is carcinogenic. I just say ...well....this is why I don't release chemicals.

It is good you started with non chemical, but I must be frank with you that you need deep experience before you can survive 100% organic. I have advice for you:

1. Do not jump into technical veggies with too many troubles if doing organic since you are just starting- cucumber, watermelon, tomatoes etc. They are highly sensitive crops. You can go with eggplant and still make it huge. Carrots, lettuce, and local veggies.

2. Though I mentioned local green veggies, becareful with it as rainy season is approaching and it can flood market anytime. But really, if you had started in October, believe me, you dont even need any other troublesome crop. You will make it big. Just get the market right, and make sure you sell on farm. Avoid moving local veggies to market.

3. You may need NPK and urea since you may not be good with composting at this point. There is nothing wrong with using fertilizer. Anyway, I don't eat anything grown with fertilizer again. Lol. But your customers "no send you". They dont care. So, if I am doing huge commercial, I still dont go 100% organic. And i still use chemicals sparingly. Why? I have to protect my investment, and those buying dont care about my cost of production. Even i produce two kinds and say buy organic N10 per kg, and inorganic N9.9 per kg. They will go for inorganic because of that 0.1 reduction. Not to talk of saying inorganic is N3 per kg while organic is N10. They will just curse you with your organic. So, what is important is that you avoid spraying chemicals too often. But trust me, these farmers here are "yampions" (not champions) in bombarding plants with chemicals. At times, I get so scared eating anything I dont grow. Ha! I cannot take the risk anymore. Nope.

4. Integrated farming is the way forward. Mixing livestocks with vegetables and grains. Honestly, this is the way forward. So, celebrate small wins. Do not go big immediately. Learn the rope. The rope of organic farming is long. And organic required well planned logistics. You need a van to survive it. You will see the reasons later. Otherwise, find a portion near you and learn from there and even make cool cash.

5. If you are a small farmer, please, forget about employing experienced manager or worker. You are the manager of your farm, meaning, you must be there always. And it is why your farm must be very close to your home. If not, forget it.

I wish you best of luck, and my 2021 be your year of fulfillment and success in vegetables production. Amen!

Thank you sir. It's a small farm, so I am definitely my own manager . I normally spray the vegetables with neem oil to repel insects. I am also thinking of making homemade organic fertilizers like soaking Tithonia leaves in water and using the liquid as foliar fertilizer instead of using urea fertilizer. I just don't have the heart for it.

But sir, what do you advise towards using fish water waste as foliar fertilizer? Especially if the fish is being fed with BSF? Can it take the place of fertilizer?

IamAsiri:


Thank you sir. It's a small farm, so I am definitely my own manager . I normally spray the vegetables with neem oil to repel insects. I am also thinking of making homemade organic fertilizers like soaking Tithonia leaves in water and using the liquid as foliar fertilizer instead of using urea fertilizer. I just don't have the heart for it.

But sir, what do you advise towards using fish water waste as foliar fertilizer? Especially if the fish is being fed with BSF? Can it take the place of fertilizer?

Good options.
If the stress of making Tithonia is not too hard, it's fine. As long as you know it's mainly eliminates urea. No matter what you feed fish, just assume it replaces urea also. So, if I were you, I will choose either fish water or tithonia. Fish water has other nutrients more than ordinary leaves, but the leaves you plan using can serve as pesticides to an extent just like neem also. Fish fed with enough bsf (as main protein source) will give good water waste quality.

But no matter the situation, use manure or compost to amend your soil. As in load enough. Invest seriously in it. Bombard the land with manure/compost. If you have enough cash, invest in manure, you will be shocked that your soil will develop natural microorganisms without you adding them over time. But if you dont use mulch, your effort will not be optimized. The secret is consistency and avoiding using too much inorganic fertilizers. Of course, there is a way to still add inorganic and your natural microorganisms will flourish. Add calcium and phosphorus to your soil. Organic sources are very limited, so you may still go with inorganic...trust me. I have been there. Except you have a van and you can go to the extreme end like me. But the harvests are for I, me, mine, and myself only.

Where are you sourcing tithonia from? Can you grow it?

Attit:


Good options.
If the stress of making Tithonia is not too hard, it's fine. As long as you know it's mainly eliminates urea. No matter what you feed fish, just assume it replaces urea also. So, if I were you, I will choose either fish water or tithonia. Fish water has other nutrients more than ordinary leaves, but the leaves you plan using can serve as pesticides to an extent just like neem also. Fish fed with enough bsf (as main protein source) will give good water waste quality.

But no matter the situation, use manure or compost to amend your soil. As in load enough. Invest seriously in it. Bombard the land with manure/compost. If you have enough cash, invest in manure, you will be shocked that your soil will develop natural microorganisms without you adding them over time. But if you dont use mulch, your effort will not be optimized. The secret is consistency and avoiding using too much inorganic fertilizers. Of course, there is a way to still add inorganic and your natural microorganisms will flourish. Add calcium and phosphorus to your soil. Organic sources are very limited, so you may still go with inorganic...trust me. I have been there. Except you have a van and you can go to the extreme end like me. But the harvests are for I, me, mine, and myself only.

Where are you sourcing tithonia from? Can you grow it?

Tithonia grows as bushes around my area.

mitchelle16:
Hello guys please I know this is out of line someone wants me to raise broilers birds for him from dob to maturity his going to provide everything needed financially while I handle the rest please how many percent should I take from the profit will appreciate your response thanks

I did not want to derail the man's thread and since no answer came, I want to see if I can give you good suggestions.

Actually, Nigeria is a country where you bargain, and I am sure it is why you are here. I'll go with the following:

1. What is the chance it will be a continuous production? If not, is it a one time thing?
2. You should look into the total number of birds at this moment. And then try to investigate if there is any possibility of increment or continuity. Is it a pilot? Or is it something for his family? Or for a small business where it may be hard to really have batches of production more often?
4. Has he proposed anything? Or what? Where did you end negotiation before coming here?
5. What is your own level of experience? Is he the one teaching you?
6. What kind of breed? Do you know how long it will take?

There are many issues involved. If you can explain in details the conditions surrounding it, I may be able to offer you suggestions.

Attit:

I did not want to derail the man's thread and since no answer came, I want to see if I can give you good suggestions.

Actually, Nigeria is a country where you bargain, and I am sure it is why you are here. I'll go with the following:

1. What is the chance it will be a continuous production? If not, is it a one time thing?
2. You should look into the total number of birds at this moment. And then try to investigate if there is any possibility of increment or continuity. Is it a pilot? Or is it something for his family? Or for a small business where it may be hard to really have batches of production more often?
4. Has he proposed anything? Or what? Where did you end negotiation before coming here?
5. What is your own level of experience? Is he the one teaching you?
6. What kind of breed? Do you know how long it will take?

There are many issues involved. If you can explain in details the conditions surrounding it, I may be able to offer you suggestions.

Thanks for your concern,he just said that the capital he has to put in the business is 1m so we will be working with whatever 1m can afford
2_we are going into broilers raise and sell at 2months we are going to do it like that for a period of one year, might likely start with 500birds
3_ he has not said anything about negotiation yet but I want to be ready when he does, he doesn't have any idea about it at all so he will be learning from me actually
Thanks will be expecting your response

mitchelle16:

Thanks for your concern,he just said that the capital he has to put in the business is 1m so we will be working with whatever 1m can afford
2_we are going into broilers raise and sell at 2months we are going to do it like that for a period of one year, might likely start with 500birds
3_ he has not said anything about negotiation yet but I want to be ready when he does, he doesn't have any idea about it at all so he will be learning from me actually
Thanks will be expecting your response

A newbie is very hard to deal with. Madam, you can see everyone is complaining about the cost of feed, and it's not making the business lucrative. And not only investors complaining but also farmers. Since this person is not experienced, I assume he knows nothing about sales. This is your first concern. Go and check the cost of production VS the price you will sell. If the person does not make profit, how do you want him pay you anything? If the profit is low, how do you want him recover his money and pay you. It is like you are after your selfish interest. In this case, explain to the person and remove your hands that you cannot be fully involved as it is not profitable for you. Propose training the person or a worker the person will employ, and let the person talk to you from time to time. Collect cash for set up and training (be gentle and dont kill him with high price), but let the person know that he must be able to work on feed to be able to make profit. This is the area you even need to solve for him. And that he must maintain it, otherwise his worker will cheat him. If you see paying salary will affect him, let him know he is the one who is going to handle it, let him know there is no room for him to leave it and employ someone else later. Paying salary may not make him breakthrough. Collect money for training his worker or him, and discharge him. But assist him from time to time, till he is fully on his feet.

Part of how you can do it is that you reduce the cost of start up drastically if you are the one managing it. Do not go for expensive cages or buildings. I do not even support deep liters except he is the one managing it. If you can make wooden cages or cheap metallic cages (not the ones sold at killer prices), go for them, and make a cheap shelter. If you use high cost building or cages, you will not find it funny.

Be opened to him and let him see sales and projected profit. Use quality feed and dont ever reduce the cost of feed by choosing inferior alternatives. When he sees your expertise and he also realise that the profit in it is not that much, you can shoot at 50 - 50 profit. Then, negotiation can start. And you look at it and decide what you want to make. Start at 50 - 50.

Remember, the lower the cost of set up, the better for the two of you. After 1 year, perhaps you would have stepped up too, and who knows what next?

My point is that when people see your sincerity, and your zeal to make the business prosper, they will not hesitate to give you 50%. This is from my experience. And make sure you highlight properly the risks. Mind you the person will want you to carry all the risks. Make sure you know all so that when the time comes you will be able to insist that you mentioned the risk before you touched it. This is very important. I dont make such mistake. Of course it always happen, and I always insist that I will never be responsible for the risks I have told before hand. And be very honest and transparent. These are the KEYS.

Many people want to prove smart by hiding some areas they have calculated they will make more profit without the knowledge of the owner. Lol. These are the traps that eventual hook them.

Attit:

A newbie is very hard to deal with. Madam, you can see everyone is complaining about the cost of feed, and it's not making the business lucrative. And not only investors complaining but also farmers. Since this person is not experienced, I assume he knows nothing about sales. This is your first concern. Go and check the cost of production VS the price you will sell. If the person does not make profit, how do you want him pay you anything? If the profit is low, how do you want him recover his money and pay you. It is like you are after your selfish interest. In this case, explain to the person and remove your hands that you cannot be fully involved as it is not profitable for you. Propose training the person or a worker the person will employ, and let the person talk to you from time to time. Collect cash for set up and training (be gentle and dont kill him with high price), but let the person know that he must be able to work on feed to be able to make profit. This is the area you even need to solve for him. And that he must maintain it, otherwise his worker will cheat him. If you see paying salary will affect him, let him know he is the one who is going to handle it, let him know there is no room for him to leave it and employ someone else later. Paying salary may not make him breakthrough. Collect money for training his worker or him, and discharge him. But assist him from time to time, till he is fully on his feet.

Part of how you can do it is that you reduce the cost of start up drastically if you are the one managing it. Do not go for expensive cages or buildings. I do not even support deep liters except he is the one managing it. If you can make wooden cages or cheap metallic cages (not the ones sold at killer prices), go for them, and make a cheap shelter. If you use high cost building or cages, you will not find it funny.

Be opened to him and let him see sales and projected profit. Use quality feed and dont ever reduce the cost of feed by choosing inferior alternatives. When he sees your expertise and he also realise that the profit in it is not that much, you can shoot at 50 - 50 profit. Then, negotiation can start. And you look at it and decide what you want to make. Start at 50 - 50.

Remember, the lower the cost of set up, the better for the two of you. After 1 year, perhaps you would have stepped up too, and who knows what next?

My point is that when people see your sincerity, and your zeal to make the business prosper, they will not hesitate to give you 50%. This is from my experience. And make sure you highlight properly the risks. Mind you the person will want you to carry all the risks. Make sure you know all so that when the time comes you will be able to insist that you mentioned the risk before you touched it. This is very important. I dont make such mistake. Of course it always happen, and I always insist that I will never be responsible for the risks I have told before hand. And be very honest and transparent. These are the KEYS.

Many people want to prove smart by hiding some areas they have calculated they will make more profit without the knowledge of the owner. Lol. These are the traps that eventual hook them.

Thanks very much for this, I think I will just come out plain to him about the risks and other things involve , I can just assist him for 3 to 4 months and he can give me anything he seems worthy I think that's the best just teach him about it thanks alot I really appreciate

mitchelle16:

Thanks very much for this, I think I will just come out plain to him about the risks and other things involve , I can just assist him for 3 to 4 months and he can give me anything he seems worthy I think that's the best just teach him about it thanks alot I really appreciate

I do not think you understand the meaning of the bolded part. I suggest you take cash for your training, and award monetary value to the assistance you want to render. You want to collect pay for it; therefore, it is not just an assistance. If he doesnt pay you, it is possible you might keep malice with him. So, you may delay training fee payment till after the first sales so he can have cash to pay you. And if you decide to go on round two, recover all the agreed compensation before you quit the business, else, he may start telling you stories. This is when I can say you assist him - by delaying paying the cost of training, and gradual payment of supervision. If the business does not yield good return, what you think you deserve may not be possible. Do you still expect him to pay what you really deserved? Therefore, sit down and put monetary values to the training and supervision. Then look at his sales and see if the values are justified and can be met.

Tomato and Pepper high sales is around the corner again. I am not sure what the weather will be this year, but get ready for a jamboree of SW, SE and SE farmers taking over the market as my colleagues from the North are no more preparing nurseries. Do not make the mistake of depending on rain. Go and get your drip. And to compete well, go for 120g and above fruits, if not, you will sell at second or third grade quality in the open market. Disease resistance is vital too. Space your plants very well. Gone are the days they tell you to use 30cm emitter spacing for tomato and pepper open field. Most farmers have realised that it is not high densely populated farm that gives high yield. When you give basal fertilizer application per hole, you dont need nutrient soil analysis. In fact for small scale, it is waste of time and resources. When soil test is mentioned, newbies think its NPK and other Macro and micro nutrients analysis. Lol. It is not only this analysis. In fact, you dont need it.

Goodluck to everyone who is trying to step into the market when supplies from the north will be low.

Attit:
Tomato and Pepper high sales is around the corner again. I am not sure what the weather will be this year, but get ready for a jamboree of SW, SE and SE farmers taking over the market as my colleagues from the North are no more preparing nurseries. Do not make the mistake of depending on rain. Go and get your drip. And to compete well, go for 120g and above fruits, if not, you will sell at second or third grade quality in the open market. Disease resistance is vital too. Space your plants very well. Gone are the days they tell you to use 30cm emitter spacing for tomato and pepper open field. Most farmers have realised that it is not high densely populated farm that gives high yield. When you give basal fertilizer application per hole, you dont need nutrient soil analysis. In fact for small scale, it is waste of time and resources. When soil test is mentioned, newbies think its NPK and other Macro and micro nutrients analysis. Lol. It is not only this analysis. In fact, you dont need it.

Goodluck to everyone who is trying to step into the market when supplies from the north will be low.

Boss,

Please can you state the ideal spacing for both tomatoes and pepper? Also, please what is the best disease resistance tomatoes and pepper varieties that you would recommend at this period?

Many thanks sir.

gokpoechi:


Boss,

Please can you state the ideal spacing for both tomatoes and pepper? Also, please what is the best disease resistance tomatoes and pepper varieties that you would recommend at this period?

Many thanks sir.

I have written on this issue in details, but your consultants and mods destroyed the info so you people do not have access to it. One of the mods was so bold to even close the thread when he could have hidden all irrelevant comments. These are reasons you should know they aren't happy I am dishing out free info. Watch out, they will launch out again. Anyway, a no send them and I am ready for anytning they bring out. We will trash it out.

Listen, you cannot compete with the hausas during dry season. In fact, someone contacted me just last week for 36 acres of tomato. But by the time I finished with him, I told him that he needs 96 acres and I did the calculation for him. He saw it clearly. And my calculation was based on his spacing preference. He listened to the seller, and I made him see reasons why the seller quoted densely whatever. Sellers just want to sell. One company I appreciate now is East West. They have started showing Nigerian farmers the right spacing. I saw 3 columns on a bed for veggie for a crop which needs staking on NL, and I was amazed. Just cos the farmer wanted to minimize the cost of mulch.

Dry season spacing is different from wet season. Again, commercial spacing is different from small scale. These are issues many do not understand. When you are on 500 acres tomato, you want to harvest fast so you have super high density and you move to harvest fast many fruits due to high density, and destroy the plants, or use labor and harvest all fast. Some even do 3 times harvest. "Sharp sharp", and that's it. I dont think we have such farm in Nigeria. But for small scale, you want prolonged harvest, else, you will just make seed sellers smile while you struggle to make profit. Too many plants, too much money spent on fertilizer and chemicals, too many stakes to make cos leaves load is wahala itself, too much to pay workers cos of many plants to attend to, etc.

If you are in the north, you do not need to stake. You do dry season, and you stop. Of course 30cm spacing is ok. Cheap labour, no staking, bla bla.bla.. Flood the market with tomatoes. Choose varieties that are normal and cheap. Even use OPV. You will scale through. No wahala. Do 20 acres and just harvest each section twice maximum. Cheap land, cheap fertilizer, tractor or bulls to prepare land, less chemical cos you aim at just 2 to 3 harvests. You cannot get this in other parts cos cost of labor itself will kill you.

But you want to move from dry season to rainy season as a small scale farmer, that is where work is. A popular seller here has stopped double columns on beds. How can you have double columns on beds and have 30cm spacing, and you survive rainy season easily? You have created problems for yourself. Free flow of air so your leaves can dry fast. Someone consults me and bought 20cm spacing emitters. For tomatoes? Rainy season? That is failure before starting. The leaves will nog dry fast and the more they are prolonged, the more you face diseases. Look at the vigour of the plants to decide. Look at the seeds that are common, just take a look at the pictures mostly posted on nairaland and you will see that the leaves are scanty. Not to talk of some with many leaves.

It is hard to say what to use, but the default of farmers here is 30cm drip. I always laugh. Why? Cos importers brought 30cm drip for them. And they think it is the right spacing. Lol. Well, if I see that you have 30cm, I may recommend prunning.

To just answer you, generally speaking, it is better to buy 40cm or 50cm emitter spacing. If open field, I always recommend 50cm for everything. It is not high population that will get the job done, but your experience. I made sellers to start getting you guys fairly ok quality with my posts. In those days, they import nonsense, but now it's getting better. You cannot see 30cm spacing in my collection except for some crops.

As for disease resistance, i do not do guess work. I always go for soil test. It is hard to do. Most move out their samples out. You cannot easily survive rainy season without soil test because you have too many issues to battle with. Of course, dry season is possible. Here are my observations: the bigger the fruits, the less diseases they can tolerate or resist. Those small fruits ones resist more diseases and it is why I see tiny fruits from most harvests here (I know your consultants are reading and they will soon start talking like they know ablut it well after getting ideas here ). If you want to sell well, get big fruits, but be ready to tackle diseases. If you know you cannot tackle diseases, just go for those safer ones and make little profit. Generally speaking, get the ones with resistant to almost all wilts cos they are all activated with high humidity. You can get away with blights if you space your crops very well. I doubt you can get any variety for this one here (scarce), though, there are.

Watch out for the deception of sellers. They cultivate during dry season, show you massive harvest. Tell them to show you the wonders during rainy season. I think East West is doing a nice job with that lady based in Kaduna. Technisem has a good one too, but they arent doing much work. Then, these new ones....really, I dont know what to say about them. The only one I can still suggest is Hazera, but you better know how to fight bacteria wilt. I think you must fight BW to enjoy these new ones too. If you arent God enough, stay away from all these expensive new ones. They cultivate what they show you during dry season. Do not be deceived.

Actually, most modern varieties in developed countries don't bother about BW anymore because there are other solutions to it. So, they concentrate on other ones. It is why the ones from Holand and the likes of syngenta may not always focus on BW.

With the level I am, I go for varieties with resistance for environmental or air borne diseases. And then, use other system for soil borne diseases. But most farmers in Africa cannot afford it.

Therefore, using this technique which is getting obsolete: getting all soil borne diseases variety is the African way. Know all wilts which can disturb tomato and see. Then, use chemicals to fight air borne and environmental diseases. This is the cheap option for local farmers. And this is why chemical producers are smiling. But if you want to move into advance stage, you will forget about soil borne diseases and focus on the other ones plus good quality of seeds. And use other methods to tackle soil diseases. It is an advance technique I will not want to dive into here. Use East West padma, platinum...and Technisem Cobra as bench mark for SW, SS, SE farmers who want to compete during dry-wet season (tiny fruits). But if you are in the north and you are into just dry season, you better throw them away and go for OPV northerners use. There are varieties by BHN which farmers are using there too.

I know everyone's eyes are on tomato after they have realised cucumber is hard (but still we thank God many have started producing it). Personally, I have dropped cucumber. Just work on the seeds available here as I will not want to recommend for anyone again. I have my reasons. One which stands out I have written about before, but some consultants reported me to my friend who is a professor in the institute in Asia that made it. And I was cautioned to not discuss it here again as they do not want "dubious" Nigerians to come after them. I was not happy, but then, I need to be extra careful.

Attit:


I have written on this issue in details, but your consultants and mods destroyed the info so you people do not have access to it. One of the mods was so bold to even close the thread when he could have hidden all irrelevant comments. These are reasons you should know they aren't happy I am dishing out free info. Watch out, they will launch out again. Anyway, a no send them and I am ready for anytning they bring out. We will trash it out.

Listen, you cannot compete with the hausas during dry season. In fact, someone contacted me just last week for 36 acres of tomato. But by the time I finished with him, I told him that he needs 96 acres and I did the calculation for him. He saw it clearly. And my calculation was based on his spacing preference. He listened to the seller, and I made him see reasons why the seller quoted densely whatever. Sellers just want to sell. One company I appreciate now is East West. They have started showing Nigerian farmers the right spacing. I saw 3 columns on a bed for veggie for a crop which needs staking on NL, and I was amazed. Just cos the farmer wanted to minimize the cost of mulch.

Dry season spacing is different from wet season. Again, commercial spacing is different from small scale. These are issues many do not understand. When you are on 500 acres tomato, you want to harvest fast so you have super high density and you move to harvest fast many fruits due to high density, and destroy the plants, or use labor and harvest all fast. Some even do 3 times harvest. "Sharp sharp", and that's it. I dont think we have such farm in Nigeria. But for small scale, you want prolonged harvest, else, you will just make seed sellers smile while you struggle to make profit. Too many plants, too much money spent on fertilizer and chemicals, too many stakes to make cos leaves load is wahala itself, too much to pay workers cos of many plants to attend to, etc.

If you are in the north, you do not need to stake. You do dry season, and you stop. Of course 30cm spacing is ok. Cheap labour, no staking, bla bla.bla.. Flood the market with tomatoes. Choose varieties that are normal and cheap. Even use OPV. You will scale through. No wahala. Do 20 acres and just harvest each section twice maximum. Cheap land, cheap fertilizer, tractor or bulls to prepare land, less chemical cos you aim at just 2 to 3 harvests. You cannot get this in other parts cos cost of labor itself will kill you.

But you want to move from dry season to rainy season as a small scale farmer, that is where work is. A popular seller here has stopped double columns on beds. How can you have double columns on beds and have 30cm spacing, and you survive rainy season easily? You have created problems for yourself. Free flow of air so your leaves can dry fast. Someone consults me and bought 20cm spacing emitters. For tomatoes? Rainy season? That is failure before starting. The leaves will nog dry fast and the more they are prolonged, the more you face diseases. Look at the vigour of the plants to decide. Look at the seeds that are common, just take a look at the pictures mostly posted on nairaland and you will see that the leaves are scanty. Not to talk of some with many leaves.

It is hard to say what to use, but the default of farmers here is 30cm drip. I always laugh. Why? Cos importers brought 30cm drip for them. And they think it is the right spacing. Lol. Well, if I see that you have 30cm, I may recommend prunning.

To just answer you, generally speaking, it is better to buy 40cm or 50cm emitter spacing. If open field, I always recommend 50cm for everything. It is not high population that will get the job done, but your experience. I made sellers to start getting you guys fairly ok quality with my posts. In those days, they import nonsense, but now it's getting better. You cannot see 30cm spacing in my collection except for some crops.

As for disease resistance, i do not do guess work. I always go for soil test. It is hard to do. Most move out their samples out. You cannot easily survive rainy season without soil test because you have too many issues to battle with. Of course, dry season is possible. Here are my observations: the bigger the fruits, the less diseases they can tolerate or resist. Those small fruits ones resist more diseases and it is why I see tiny fruits from most harvests here (I know your consultants are reading and they will soon start talking like they know ablut it well after getting ideas here ). If you want to sell well, get big fruits, but be ready to tackle diseases. If you know you cannot tackle diseases, just go for those safer ones and make little profit. Generally speaking, get the ones with resistant to almost all wilts cos they are all activated with high humidity. You can get away with blights if you space your crops very well. I doubt you can get any variety for this one here (scarce), though, there are.

Watch out for the deception of sellers. They cultivate during dry season, show you massive harvest. Tell them to show you the wonders during rainy season. I think East West is doing a nice job with that lady based in Kaduna. Technisem has a good one too, but they arent doing much work. Then, these new ones....really, I dont know what to say about them. The only one I can still suggest is Hazera, but you better know how to fight bacteria wilt. I think you must fight BW to enjoy these new ones too. If you arent God enough, stay away from all these expensive new ones. They cultivate what they show you during dry season. Do not be deceived.

Actually, most modern varieties in developed countries don't bother about BW anymore because there are other solutions to it. So, they concentrate on other ones. It is why the ones from Holand and the likes of syngenta may not always focus on BW.

With the level I am, I go for varieties with resistance for environmental or air borne diseases. And then, use other system for soil borne diseases. But most farmers in Africa cannot afford it.

Therefore, using this technique which is getting obsolete: getting all soil borne diseases variety is the African way. Know all wilts which can disturb tomato and see. Then, use chemicals to fight air borne and environmental diseases. This is the cheap option for local farmers. And this is why chemical producers are smiling. But if you want to move into advance stage, you will forget about soil borne diseases and focus on the other ones plus good quality of seeds. And use other methods to tackle soil diseases. It is an advance technique I will not want to dive into here. Use East West padma, platinum...and Technisem Cobra as bench mark for SW, SS, SE farmers who want to compete during dry-wet season (tiny fruits). But if you are in the north and you are into just dry season, you better throw them away and go for OPV northerners use. There are varieties by BHN which farmers are using there too.

I know everyone's eyes are on tomato after they have realised cucumber is hard (but still we thank God many have started producing it). Personally, I have dropped cucumber. Just work on the seeds available here as I will not want to recommend for anyone again. I have my reasons. One which stands out I have written about before, but some consultants reported me to my friend who is a professor in the institute in Asia that made it. And I was cautioned to not discuss it here again as they do not want "dubious" Nigerians to come after them. I was not happy, but then, I need to be extra careful.

Thanks a lot for the great insight. I plan going into tomatoes and pepper production next year and want to use this year to run a few trials on a very small scale, so that I will be very sure of the approach to follow by next year.

Please how can I get in touch with you privately to get seeds from you that I can try out Since you don't want to disclose them here?
One of your guys got in touch with me sometimes ago but only gave me your email address. I really love to talk to people first before sending or writing anything. We are humans first before anything else, so that human connection is really important to me. Thanks for your kind consideration.

gokpoechi:


Thanks a lot for the great insight. I plan going into tomatoes and pepper production next year and want to use this year to run a few trials on a very small scale, so that I will be very sure of the approach to follow by next year.

Please how can I get in touch with you privately to get seeds from you that I can try out Since you don't want to disclose them here?
One of your guys got in touch with me sometimes ago but only gave me your email address. I really love to talk to people first before sending or writing anything. We are humans first before anything else, so that human connection is really important to me. Thanks for your kind consideration.

Email via NL, and if you have an email already, I read the mails frequently. Send your number there. In my case, you will write first and say exactly what you want. If it's a case someone else can tackle, or just a contact that will solve your issue, why is it compulsory you talk to me? If I can give you a contact via email, why must you talk to me? I do not disclose my private numbers on forums.

Concerning seeds, I do not sell. And I have stopped getting for people. Someone imported seeds last week (he's on NL), and with the quantity he bought, I'm sure he spent btween N1.7 million to N2million+. I am not sure how many individuals can afford to spend such only on seeds. It is why I do not discuss them here again.

What is cheap and available is what you should buy and practise with. The option I used at a time was getting numerous buyers to share, but I have stopped it cos it's complicated. A beg make people use whatever is available here. If I need to spend N3million just on seeds, and I know I will get results, with all pleasure I will go for it without wasting time and still keep for next year...plus share with farmers who know the worth. And whoever wants to use local available seeds should. The cost of shipping and certificate alone is the cost of seeds for 5 ha of some varieties here. And I do mot disclose where I get my seeds and do other stuff....even including soil tests. This approach has saved me from merciless individuals who have tried to get sole distributor right from the sellers. Many people tried that but were not successful.

Please, pardon me, I do not want to go into seeds and I cannot provide for anyone again. I'm very sorry. It's not just worth the effort again.

Attit:

Email via NL, and if you have an email already, I read the mails frequently. Send your number there. In my case, you will write first and say exactly what you want. If it's a case someone else can tackle, or just a contact that will solve your issue, why is it compulsory you talk to me? If I can give you a contact via email, why must you talk to me? I do not disclose my private numbers on forums.

Concerning seeds, I do not sell. And I have stopped getting for people. Someone imported seeds last week (he's on NL), and with the quantity he bought, I'm sure he spent btween N1.7 million to N2million+. I am not sure how many individuals can afford to spend such only on seeds. It is why I do not discuss them here again.

What is cheap and available is what you should buy and practise with. The option I used at a time was getting numerous buyers to share, but I have stopped it cos it's complicated. A beg make people use whatever is available here. If I need to spend N3million just on seeds, and I know I will get results, with all pleasure I will go for it without wasting time and still keep for next year...plus share with farmers who know the worth. And whoever wants to use local available seeds should. The cost of shipping and certificate alone is the cost of seeds for 5 ha of some varieties here. And I do mot disclose where I get my seeds and do other stuff....even including soil tests. This approach has saved me from merciless individuals who have tried to get sole distributor right from the sellers. Many people tried that but were not successful.

Please, pardon me, I do not want to go into seeds and I cannot provide for anyone again. I'm very sorry. It's not just worth the effort again.

Alright. Thanks a lot for your time.

gokpoechi:


Alright. Thanks a lot for your time.

Pls, send a whatsapp message. I will get across to you and I can give you tips. I believe its a private and personal discussion you want. Otherwise, I would have preferred you discuss it here. But, its fine....I will attend to you.

Attit:

Pls, send a whatsapp message. I will get across to you and I can give you tips. I believe its a private and personal discussion you want. Otherwise, I would have preferred you discuss it here. But, its fine....I will attend to you.

Great. I will do so. Really appreciate it

Mr attit what is this you write in my pepper post.

and please who is that you mentioned in my writeup thread?

i was even thinking of asking for your number so we can talk more on this ewedu farming

i have an empty plot i want to use for planting ewedu

lol,
maybe you see my profile is new here that's why you talk like this

anyways grounded pepper packaging business has been the sole business of my mum

please delete that stuff you wrote there i don't like it

potatoes farmers, how do you-all make sprouts for planting

ekerensima:
potatoes farmers, how do you-all make sprouts for planting

hello sir,

please help me tell attit am not the one he thinks i am.

my name is chioma and am based in festac town

i don't know why guys are always trying to get my attention for no reason at all

attit i was even planning to startup ewedu farming with you soon

my parents can carter for everything from the planting till its harvested

i know my mum will like you because you have great knowledge in agriculture

we are still in the period of Easter lets see how it goes after all this

cheers!

Chioma99:


hello sir,

please help me tell attit am not the one he thinks i am.

my name is chioma and am based in festac town

i don't know why guys are always trying to get my attention for no reason at all

attit i was even planning to startup ewedu farming with you soon

my parents can carter for everything from the planting till its harvested

i know my mum will like you because you have great knowledge in agriculture

we are still in the period of Easter lets see how it goes after all this

cheers!

Local man is confused!! how can I help cus Iyam not understanding you

Attit:
If you have any trouble or challenge on your farm, send it here. Let's brainstorm together. Let us make 2021 better than 2020. Scammers, stay away! Haters, buzz off! "I too know" enterprises, Stay away! I have decided to listen to many cries and private messages, here is the opportunity to get solutions again. I want even haters to learn. 2021 will be great!

I am planning to spray herbicides on my farm but the problem is that there hasn't be rain in ova Three weeks. will it be effective to spray now or should I wait for rains to come?

ekerensima:


I am planning to spray herbicides on my farm but the problem is that there hasn't be rain in ova Three weeks. will it be effective to spray now or should I wait for rains to come?

What is the name of the herbicide you plan to spray? Better...can you post a picture here? Post a picture of where the ingredients are written....I care less about the brand.

Attit:

What is the name of the herbicide you plan to spray? Better...can you post a picture here? Post a picture of where the ingredients are written....I care less about the brand.

it's a glyphosphate herbicide. 300grams of glyphosphate per liter. I.e one bottle

Attit:
If you have any trouble or challenge on your farm, send it here. Let's brainstorm together. Let us make 2021 better than 2020. Scammers, stay away! Haters, buzz off! "I too know" enterprises, Stay away! I have decided to listen to many cries and private messages, here is the opportunity to get solutions again. I want even haters to learn. 2021 will be great!

good day, please,I am a beginner farmer trying cassava production this year on two plots,if everything goes well, I intend to go up to fourteen plots next year, my major problem is getting a reliable labourer, please, can you help me with information concerning handheld tractors and power tillers? I'm hoping of getting a power tiller next year that creates ridges as it tills the ground instead of a full fledged hand held tractor since that is the only operation required in cassava cultivation.

ekerensima:


it's a glyphosphate herbicide. 300grams of glyphosphate per liter. I.e one bottle

Glyphosate works without rain. Spray in the evening and wait for 1 week and everything turns brown gradually. It should not be sprayed in rain. So you are lucky there is no rain. Good luck bro!