₦airaland Forum

Psalm4kute:
I just discovered the tomatoes variety from the above video (Wanda f1) sustainable for both greenhouse and open field

unless you have a specific (expatriate) market for this, pls thread d path of this Wanda carefully, open market women may not accept grape tomatoes cos of its extremely tiny sizes, even the 8% brix may nt convince them

Adegbem01:
Please has anybody successfully apply for loan with Bank of agriculture and get it, I need help or guidance on getting a loan from them to start my rabbit farm. Any help or information will be appreciated or you can pm if necessary. Thanks

rabbit farming is one of the least capital intensive initiatives. for whatever reason that made u think of obtaining a loan for rabbit husbandry, i sincerely wish you good luck!
do u have an existing rabbit farm?
have u reared rabbits b4?
have u surmounted d marketing challenge?

LoFarms:
Be careful sir, he may give you an article to read or maybe because of this post he may just answer your question directly! I hope pride doesn't go before him.

I understand u sir! but did u notice dt not all ur teachers/lecturers explained concepts nd ideas through d methods u loved, they expected u to pick up from where they stopped nd research further! pls forgive nd understand wt him if he z gone astray, he z only human! abeg no vex
Oga pistotita, as class rep wey I be, try carry some of my colleagues along nd no quick dey vex 4 dem, not everyone appreciates ur methods, abeg try adjust carry dem,abeg no vex

Pistotita:
1. Getting seeds to South South is easy. There are many seeds we cross border to get to Cotonou or Togo to get from Lagos. Calarbar is sharing border with Caneroon. I have people there. My point is that we face the same challenge no matter where we live. I buy seeds from Kano, and what stops you from doing so? The challenge you have is not where to buy, but what to buy? When you know what to buy, and you can guess what you are getting from it, you will buy it..

2. State and FG departments/ministries: My opinion is that you can still learn from them. There are genius people there. Do not close your eyes completely. The challenge is that you must equip yourself too. When you.start speaking at a certain level, they listen and give you what you need. For example, I know many professors who speak with me. And my first encounter always makes the difference. They always want to talk to me after every first encounter. Let wisdom and knowledge come out from you, and they will start releasing deep secrets and connect you. My brother, Nigerians do not want to do much for themselves again. They just want to copy someone else. They will not listen to you. I know the kind of help I have got from FUNAAB, IITA, NIHORT, etc. These guys have links with professors abroad. I know what I have got bro. I got the managing director of Hazera'?s office in the US through a doctor in NIHORT. And that door that was opened was so magnificent.

3. Trials:
Buying 50 grams because you want to use 20 stands. My brother, I got to the stage that I bought 50 seeds for $500. Oh yeah! The package comes with what is more than $10,000 in terms of help and info. Most of my.serds that I dont use again, I gave them out on nairaland. Even till date, I still give out seeds. Someone got 1400 burpless cucumber seeds and I gave him 600 seeds extra. In addition I gave I gave him about 1,000 tomato seeds and 2,000 (not sure) sweet pepper seeds. That is over N100,000 I gave him. Why? I saw something in him. He is on NL.

My recommendation
Perfect a crop. Let that crop give you very good cash flow. Start getting reasonable income before you launch into it. If its cucumber you can perfect do it, and start making money. Use part of the money to develop yourself. This is my suggestion. I also started from slicing cukes. I grew Tokyo cukes from Technisem very well in those days.

Most seed companies do not sell in grams or oz these days. Except you want to buy in bulk. Or you are a regular customer.

I am learning a lot from u guys, hope 2 get 2 level where I can share advice on more veges like all d profs in d house!...dz excessive tomato talk is making me have second thoughts abt my pepper trials( make una no make me change mind o). ur recommendation is highly appreciated and considered. if u were to start all over again as a 'beginner', which vege would u begin with

EMMAACHILE:
Are you saying the taste of the Hausa Roma variety is better than the hybrids? I doubt that. The people are just not use to change and not taste as you just said.

I am nt an expert in d criterion market women use in goods selection bt trust me, they can screen goods for d best possible deals, don't knw abt Roma, but I knw they don't have issues issues with hybrids if it meets their specz!
I saw one extremely pungent red pepper early dz year dt was retailed @ 500 4 d avg #100 quantity for d normal peppers. the woman admitted it z nt a local variety.I learnt she pays 50% extra jst to monopolize access 2 d source she guards so secretly.
the key word for them z quality and market appeal

tpben:
DHL people are charging me 37,120 to get seeds from kenya that's not up to 750g

That's 70% of actual amount of the seed.

Am feeling that they are overcharging

Is their any other option

it is easier to import from Asia nd other continents than within Africa! I jst hope things will get better

Pistotita:
Bro, very correct feedback. Hehhehe. Like I said, I will just drop comments when I read any real truth and good comment. Excellent feedback. Those two cultivars like I told you are 4th - 10th grade. I know what I am saying. Please, put eat Roma, and eat those two, you will dump those cultivars. See, they dont care about W. Africa. They figure it out that we eat rotten tomato....lol. Those cultivar cannot make it to the US, Canada, or anywhere in Europe. Never. I repeat Never.

When I take my tomato to market, "dem no born dem well....they must buy and take my mobile number....na me dey hide my number". You must just look for a very good cultivar. I know what to ask seed producers to get how sour, sweet, or flavoured a cultivar is. Yeah.. it is about cross breeding.

Let me go further:
Very tough breeds which can resist terrible diseases are tasteless. So, they crossed those kind with very productive breed. High yield + terrible taste. But getting High yield + Good Taste + High Resistant is a lot of work. Deep research. You are getting it now.

Also to get 70g small fruits is very easy because those breeds with disease resistance are usual small fruits. But how do you get 150g plum (not beefstakes) with lots of fruits and then they get ripe without going bad on the vine? Real research. And not GMO. Lol. Of course GMO would be cheap and would have great characteristics.

All Technisem and all East West tomatoes for W.Africa = Ogun or Lagos tomato in mile 12. Buyers look at them and hiss when better market dey. Restaurant owners do not use them because they arent sweet. Mama Nneka who sells along the road will never buy them, she prefers rotten Roma. Lol.


Lol bro. You got it wrong. Those ones are not new improved cultivars. They are improved disease resistant cultivars.

Maybe I should send you some seeds when my new seeds arrive. And return to give feedback here cos I do not like trying to force people. Bros, you will dump those ones you always recommend. You will dump RZ. I am very confident. RZ has some great and nice stuff....but I know what I am saying.

If I get BHN and Hezera cultivars meant for some other regions (not for W.Africa), you too will shake head and pity W.Africa. Well, RZ is great. I know if I get hold of the parent company, I can strike better deal with them. But once there is an importer, they will always refer one to the importer if such is representing them here. I have talked about my experience with Hazera. And I gave spoken to one of the RZ guys one time. Very terrible and unconcerned person.i just "waka" away. He doesn't even understand what I wanted to do. Lol. I just left him with his own stuff. And when one of them tried to woo me on my thread, I did not do as if I know them. It was why that Tomato Jos american woman moved to Kaduna and she brings her seeds direct from BHN. I know the exact cultivar she uses. Very excellent. But that is still not my choice. But she fat it right. She is a smart woman. Very intelligent.

Even with the comments here, will seller wants to sell to Nigerians? Of course not. Just imagine. You want to buy 50g of around 16,000 seeds you can use on 1 ha to get minimum of 80 tons of sweet tomato (which they are sure if you do everything you will get it right). Check the calculation at end of this post.

40,000 naira for 1,000 seeds is just $111 seeds. Ha! Poverty na real bastard bro. Even there are mice 1,000 seeds at N15000 ($42). E no go better for poverty ooooo. Poverty craze.... no be small. Walahi.

From 1,000 seeds with 99% germination rate, and 950 survives. You perfected it and you get 6kg per plant. Of course I get up to 10kg or more. Just 950. And you space them very well. Less work, less stress, and you do pathogen soil test (not talking about nutrient test). You know exactly the right chemicals or organic to use. And you have a plan. Of course, with soil test, two farms can never have the same spraying formula. Never and never. It's like sensitivity test of antibiotics. The best tests will even show you the active ingredients to use. And almost all the most sensitive chemicals are not in Nigeria. Maybe you start getting sensitivity of like 50% here. Lol. Tell me, how you will not make it. No guess work. Poverty na bastard. Before I reach 1/4 of the procedure, NL farmer don pick race.

Pro farmers are not magicians. They conducts tests like doctors. NL farmers are like those local herbs sellers. They just put together different herbs....bammmmm! And they start spraying. But what if you sit down and let soil test and tissue tests guide you? Why will you fail? Why? It is almost 100% guaranteed. Only natural disaster can destroy such investment. Who born disease? Never and never.

Back to my calculation 950 plants of 6kg each will give 5.7tons. When you buy such seed, try just 10 to perfect it till get get it right, or partner with someone who knows how to grow it. That's 142 baskets over 9 - 16 weeks harvest. You must get it right. If you do not last up to that duration, harvest will reduce drastically. Meaning you need minimum of 5 months on th field. 142 baskets at N20,000 (1st grade) reported by that mile 12 guy is what? Let's even say 5 baskets dont make it to market. That's N2.7million on just 1 plot.

If you like believe me, if you like doubt me. Those doing it arent stupid. Those really perfecting their work arent foolish. Multiply that by 15 and see what the fellow is gonna have. And you are saying the seeds are expensive. Na poverty go kill you, I swear. The person who spends over N250k for soil test isnt stupid. He is not daft by using $150 to DHL it. He is not foolish by paying to the government permit to move out soil from Nigeria. And the receiving country wants to be sure what is entering too. Bo one says Nigeria should not develop to have laboratories for these tests.

So, would you do 1 plot if you want to do such? If you are the consultant in charge and you are breaking grounds for these people, and they leverage on your experience, you will charge them N20,000....right?

Ogas and madams, pray to God to bless you so you can do better project. Those doing burpless cukes and selling at N400 - N600 per kg do that the same bag you sell at N4,000 presently in mile...they sell at N16k- N24K arent stupid. They are not foolish buying 1,000 seeds at above N40,000. They are smarter than you (not talking to the two people I quoted above)

Of course your market determines what you do. Maybe I should use a portion of my garden at home to go on a pilot. But really, I am not a person who just likes posting pictures here and there, cos I dont believe in proving myself right. Even I do, 99% will still not be able to afford it. MeHn! "Poverty Mentalo yamayama". "Poverty dey mess up brains."

getting high quality seeds nd agro input in this country z hard and getting them in d south south z almost impossible at times. getting info from state ministries of agric nd related agencies on quality inputs z jst a waste of time as they are nw referral agencies! jst because 1need 2 trial 20 stands of any crop, I will need 2 buy 50-100 grams of seeds as d 1 nd 5g packs are rarely found...d input from everyone on nairaland z priceless and highly valuable. God bless of u!

EMMAACHILE:
Which city are these women? That's why Nigeria will always not have new improved varieties of food in the market.

akwa ibom people are very demanding when it comes to traditional taste and shapes. they may be forgiving when there z high demand, but when alternatives presents itself, u go suffer!
all dz cu999 nd d rest dt don't have local taste and shape are bought pitifully.
if ur ugu(fluted pumpkin) z grown mainly on fertilizers, pray we don't knw, as people go jst shun ur goods. only food items brought mainly from other states without alternatives are exempt....
high yield and disease resistance should ideally not substitute good taste and quality though

Psalm4kute:
Pls sir, I'd like you to help me identify.. what type of pepper is this?? Rodo or tatashe

I think dts atarodo

ANOCETS:
Thanks to everyone who has contributed.
Now that things are at cross road what is the way out for farmers ...especially southwest (Osun, Ogun, Oyo)..

Please I also need recommendation on
Sombo and tattasai


CC okoroemeka , emmaachile cocoboms , FMCASH , Pistotita , and others

don't worry we will surmount this challenge by all means possible...d rains in akwa ibom z something else

FMCASH:
germination sometimes are 50/50

I get d idea nw, I just hope I can get through this first hurdle cos everyone arnd here want me 2 trial tomatoes and I am not interested in dt 4 nw. if I don't do pepper, then I'm facing Nantes carrot

Pistotita:
I have had batches of habanero Avenir with over 95% germination rate despite all the complaints above. You are not suppose to soak treated seeds. It does not make sense because they have been treated. But handling and storing weakens these seeds. It means the seeds are of low quality due to poor storage, or the seeds were not matured before they were harvested. And soaking in water has like 5% - 80% effect on the seeds. But you risk having fast infected seedlings if you do not treat the seeds or the young seedlings. If I have to soak seeds, I do not use just water, I use different solutions and retain seeds in them. Duration seeds are soaked in the solution are determined based on what I want to achieve. There are concepts for seed treatment. These things are really wide that I dont know where to start.

All these seeds, you cannot predict the batch which is going to be ok because they dont "send" you. After all, they are subsidized seeds. There is no way you will buy assured batches and have problem with germination rate. There us no way RZ seeds for N.America will not have over 95% germination rate. The company representing RZ here is also hustling, and not real RZ. It is only East West that has strong affiliation with the parent company. Even Agrotropic representing Technisem cant be compared with East West. I can still vouch for East West.

It depends on your mission. Is your time valuable?
If you have enough time to spend on your farm, you can continue trying many of these local seeds. If you have a real project and you have a target, you better start looking beyond that.

Brother, when you get to a stage, you will understand the value of time. When you see tomato money spinning within a period of time, you just want to get on the vehicle and roll along. For example, you know that you have to sow seeds consistently every 2 weeks from November to March so you can cover acres and produce all through rainy season till August. If you buy any batch with poor germination rate, you are screwed. You will never take the risk of patronizing these brands. In fact, do you know what I do? I go further to get the main guy in charge of my seeds and ask for the latest batch. It has to be 99% to 100%. And I ask for organics seeds because I want to treat them myself with powerful natural enzymes and not chemicals used by these seed companies. I prefer to pay more for the service of getting me most recent batches, and I do not mind spending on DHL to move mg seeds in. And I also pay for tax or what ever. My seed come with certificates.

Will these local companies listen to me if I make special requests? Of course not, "dem no send me". So, I have decided not to send dem too.

It depends on what you want to do. For now, get your pilot right. I can bet it with you that after perfecting it, and you know how much you are going to make....no one will tell you to ditch these local seeds. Mark my words. It is because you arent sure of the outcome you cannot make up your mind now. If you see any farmer who uses expensive seeds, you better hold to that farmer if he allows you to learn from him. That which is making him use those expensive seeds says a lot about him.

But when you see a farmer hustling and trying to manage what is known to give headaches; hmmmm......perhaps, that fellow has not perfected the act. You may even be better than the fellow. Lol. Nairaland is funny bro. So, instead of just listening to me or to anyone, pick every kind of seeds you can. Buy all if you can. Split them and see which one is good for you. Compare all. And you return here to give recommendation. From what I am reading, almost everyone here (maybe including me) cannot help you. Why? Some can give you assurance that may not work with you. Like me, I can assure you of a cultivar, and it may not make sense to you now because you have not seen the reason to spend so much. Another person may be telling you to use this and that.....but the truth is that the fellow is also not sure of what he is saying. Why dont you take your destiny in your hand? Go ahead and do it. Just do it.

I want you to create your own thread and teach people from your mistakes. I encourage you to be a leader too. But I know where you are likely to end. I have read your past posts and I know how you think. It is why I have used this approach to respond to your question.

Good luck bro.

thank u sir, I v picked up a lot from wht u v said though may not b financially independent to implement some of those ideas 4 nw as construction of new rabbit cages will cost a lot ...I will surely open a thread when I start, jst need 2 get d setup right

okoroemeka:
I don't think I can fork out ₦23,000+ for 1000 pepper seeds,we will stubbornly try avenir if it falls to germinate our backup will be efia@₦1500 for 1000 seeds,if it is topped and managed properly it will give close to similar yields like hybrids,we are harvesting it now and we are seeing the potential,if you want to plant 5000 pepper stands and must do nursery of 8-10,000 seeds you can now see the reason why many farmers cannot simply afford RZ seeds

its not like I am only interested in expensive seeds, even if I see seeds of #100 dt fits into my plan nd objectives, I wd gladly purchase them. d avenir 5g pack has d worst review of all times nd d 50g pack z far beyond my needs!...if u knw a gd seed even if local dt is extremely pungent and high yielding for d rainy season, I am willing 2 purchase

FMCASH:
Only buy expensive seed with your spare cash,

pls sir could u throw more light on this nd d reasoning behind ur assertion

Cocoboms:
I'm currently trailing Loleza f1 and it has poor germination rate as well - about 25% (At least the batch of seed I bought from d company). So only buy if you can afford to cushion lose from expensive seeds.

what is going on na! dz seed germination issue z a serious turn off. so after soaking in warm water,growing them in protected zones, suffering to fumigate, nd wasting my money, I can't get up to 60% on hybrids? nd funny enough, I can surpass dt % on local seeds extracted and dried for planting!...my major concern z germination, extreme pungency, good plant growth nd yield. can anyone help out?

ideepaul:
for the trial i was planning 2 do on avenir, i changed my mind due to reported germination issues. as emmaachile recommended, i contacted a major rz zwaan seed seller some days ago abt their hybrid habanero seeds, he recommended loleza f1 and lengai! pls anyone with practical experience on d pro and con of rainy season cultivation of these varieties should help 'the boy'. I nor wan play unnecessary bet9ja with my money abeg! cc emmaachile, okoroemeka, pistotita, funsoul, fmcash, wizs2019 , ogbongenet

Oga delarue, ur advice is also needed o abeg

EMMAACHILE:
Go for the afadja (red) and loleza (yellow) instead. They are good for open farming. I am expecting some prices from a dealer this evening.

thanks for d advice sir, hoping 2 get info abt prices from u 2 as I was told somtin slightly above 2k per 100 seeds. is d loleza nd afadja as hot as they hype them 2 be?

Olaleyeabdullah:
got the guy number here gabbyfarms 0803 223 7244 be careful tor. I have never deal with the guy before. He said the 14 inch by 14 inch is 20 per one

thank you sir! I will go for something smaller than 14 inches though

Olaleyeabdullah:
thanks for this. I just got the info from grow bag seller that it is of different sizes

pls did u get prices of some sizes coz what I am getting from producers here in Uyo is not funny

for the trial i was planning 2 do on avenir, i changed my mind due to reported germination issues. as emmaachile recommended, i contacted a major rz zwaan seed seller some days ago abt their hybrid habanero seeds, he recommended loleza f1 and lengai! pls anyone with practical experience on d pro and con of rainy season cultivation of these varieties should help 'the boy'. I nor wan play unnecessary bet9ja with my money abeg! cc emmaachile, okoroemeka, pistotita, funsoul, fmcash, wizs2019 , ogbongenet

FMCASH:
fresh, easy to manage and continuous cash flow

I just hope I am not bothering u with 2 many questions! but i went 2 a nearby market I intend 2 sell d produce 2 and discussed wt d market women, they were all surprised 2 hear abt fresh chillies! dried chillies nd fresh habanero are d popular options here. pls could u explain hw u market them

FMCASH:
why are this retailers milking you like this, 5g etna its not more than 2,200, 50grams @16,200.

Bro stay away from habanero, I can feel your imagination of getting rich quick from it.

Try chili pepper easy to manage and the market price its of same range with habanero during peak.

sell ur chilli fresh or dried?
any reasons apart from disease vulnerability why u feel he should prefer chilli?

EMMAACHILE:
I would have said east west if they had a hybrid habanero. Their products always have good resistance. The new Diva f1 tomato for example has a lot of resistances to diseases where other variety will not survive.

Look our for Zwaan products if you don't mind prices as their germination rates are very good and produce solid products. The reviews from farmers is great especially from East Africa attest to them.

i tend to believe east African farmers do mainly chilli, bt I will checkout d zwaan seeds. is there a credible seller on nairaland?

okoroemeka:
many farmers are definitely confused now,which way forward ,the prime time for pepper nursery is fast approaching and there's no solution in sight,avenir is now out of consideration,what else can be used Etna f1,efia,or if there's any options available pls let's share how to source it

exactly what I was abt 2 say!...i was planning 2 trial half plot of avenir. but with these negative review on avenir and popular brands,i am confused. I need pepper seeds in order of very high pungency, then good disease resistance, nd finally good yield, any name irrespective of price?

okoroemeka:
that is a very big project and for perennial crops on a land that size you don't wait 4 days to harvest it will be harvested everyday,the farm will have 5 workers that their work will only be harvesting ripe pepper if you wait 4 days you will get roughly 65-70 bags and lots of damaged and spoiled fruits because no matter the type of labour used it can never be harvested in a day,but if you harvest daily 15-20 bags everyday 3-4 plots,we used that system on a 22 plot garden egg farm we did in partners hip with eagle foods,we harvest 5 plots daily before we cover the whole farm the first 5 plots we harvested are 4-5 days old and ready for harvesting again,steady continuous production,no stopping,from my estimates if you plant a mixture of avenir,big sun and efia habaneros on a land that size and got the management spot on,you will see daily revenue of #100,000naira easily,if you have contacts of bulk buyers in east or especially south south prices of veggies there are crazy.i know a marketer that comes with his Peugeot jumper bus to your farm and be taking the produce to PH,Calabar,warri,etc,

what are the features of d efia nd big sun?what feature compares to avenir? is any of them as spicy as avenir? also can monthly application of only chicken dung manure compare with varied fertilizer application?

FarmTech:
.
If the price is gud, then no problem. U dont pass thru a lot of pain for customers that want it cheap.

their prices are far better than wht u can get in the open market!

chigomiced:
What have you learned from excanny so far

chigomiced:
In others words

excanny should wash his vegetables instead of faulting our choice of manure and it's methods of application

chigomiced:
What have you learned from excanny so far

REALLY? someone just made me remember I am a Nigerian

okoroemeka:
what you will realize is that veggies grown strictly organic fetches premium prices and are desirable by oyibo people,that crop grown with manure is what they want.and also realize that this said pathogens in UM do not live inside the plant tissue,they stay on the outside and a good wash will take it off.

there are research papers that debunk this claim! they can be found in plant tissues as shown by research
https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2011/110815DeeringPathogens.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC126537/
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0110416
pls note that those buyers I mentioned earlier will insist on composted manure or u can't have a deal!

chigomiced:
Protecting ur interest Abi

It's all good

u wonder why d white develop at an impressive rate? they learn, they argue, they learn, then they improve! good luck 2 name calling nd abusing

okoroemeka:
let us not be false alarmists and understand properly the mode of bacteria/fungal movement , assuming you apply fresh manure that still have pathogens in it,like E Colin and salmonella,etc,there are bacterias attached to plant roots and also bacteria and fungis in the soil that feed on the pathogens in the manure,E coli ,etc cannot translocated systemically through plant roots, through the xylem /pholem and infect fruits,what infects fruits is splashs of water on manure and it will touch fruits that are close to the ground and if you don't wash it properly it may be a problem,that's why it's very advisable to wash fruits properly before consumption,so my brother don't run away because you don't know the one you are running to how it was produced,I have personally seen a system that farmers in nsukka are using the raw sewage from UNN nsukka sewers to plant their famous nsukka yellow pepper,wash your veggies throughly before use especially if it's to be consumed raw,it's not just pathogens but agrochemicals residues.

I understand ur side of the argument quite well, at least coming from a fruit veges perspective, but wht happens if ds same processes r applied 2 root and leafy vegetables like cabbage, beetroot, onion, cauliflower nd d rest ? are there no substantial risks involved in the above mentioned practices? can u get sell any of these fruit, leafy and root veges to standard shops, 5*hotels, nd export partners when they discover dt u r using dz soil enrichment methods?

excanny:
Obviously, the person doing that doesn't care about his health or those of others. . Na quick money him dey after. If you get cholera outbreak after eating his crops na you sabi.

I understand dt its difficult to compost chicken dung, bt dt excuse shd only work for beginners nd nt seasoned farmers who can buy poultry droppings in huge quantity and let them compost over time, while working on other projects

https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/diseases-humans-get-from-backyard-chickens

this is interesting! pls how does soaking chicken dung in water for less than a week destroy harmful pathogens?...
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in631