₦airaland Forum

Davido is a kid. He just shows it here. I like him tho. But he has to learn diplomacy.

osca123:
I have searched for d watsapp number but cant find it. Can u repost it here pls.
God bless

+22961206962

osca123:
@ Jasper my stuffs are ready like you requested ooo. How can someone get in touch with you apart from this forum. Am just asking for d sake of fast response from you.

I have posted my whatsapp number and pin here before. Check, you'll see it

You can't help but appreciate God for the lives of men like this. Men who break ranks, class and difficult situations to make sure they are counted. Shows that everything in life is possible.

Nice one o. I like this. But who will sit and allow himself to become boko barbecue? Abi is it now a sin to run for your life

Back in Nigeria, I have missed the fresh Nigerian air. We continue immediately, keep the questions coming in. I'll be in Ogbomosho, Oyo state on Friday, Saturday. For the WABI project. Hosted by oga world 1 and Hotmas11. I will personally be training some 50 young people on cucumber farming. Young farmers are indeed changing the game. I see a revolution coming on Nairaland. Agriculture section is about to top the relevance chart.

mercylicious:
@jasper, am still trying to understand the pic of ur farm.
how did u get the soil u put in the celophane/ mulching bag? Does the bed have a specified height , weight and depth? what is the spacing between 2 bed? i noticed u 2 round opening at the sides of thw bwd, what is the distance. Did u mix the organic manure with the soil b4 u planted?
I saw some pipes used for the irrigation, how did u route it inside the beds? So many questns!

Plz summarise the bed preparation.

The spacing between 2 cucumber seeds is 50cm or 1metre if you dont plan to stake. The furrow is 80cm. The irrigation can be done anyway. Mine isn't perfect, I'm still updating and upgrading everyday. So... I won't advice anybody to model my irrigation system. The black nylon you see on there are not bags, they are just flat, open nylon. The technology is not alien or difficult. Once you see it once. You'll understand how it works. Even the local women I've taught are doing it excellently.

dragon2:
I think the bag is laid out flat on the earth to block sunlight from getting to the weed seeds and allowing them to germinate,which will lead to competition with the plant. It(the bag) also traps moisture that would have been lost by evaporation, and nutrients by erosion. The openings in the bag is for the target plant to grow from (it needs the sunlight the weeds won't get) and also for access to water and fertiliser.

I may be wrong,just my 2 kobo.

You're absolutely right sir. I couldn't have explained it better.

kendraloops:
I don't mind getting the seeds. Hope distance won't be a problem.

Where is ur location

Okay, Let me just post this. The key in agric from my own personal findings are patience and practise. No matter how much knowledge you have on paper or from an agric blog or classroom. if you haven't tried it out in a real farm, A farmer in the village is still a better farmer than you. Every amount of knowledge without practise in agric is useless so far as agric is involved. I believe the secret is in starting small. A plot, half plot. Use it to test seeds, market, agric practises and so on. Before graduating to one hectare or 2. And since not everybody can visit my farm, and not everybody has land and water. Just for the sake of learning and practise. We will plant 20 seeds of cucumber each, in 20 bagco sacks (remember the bags I asked you to buy?). I'll try and supply as many serious minded people as I can with the seeds. So, if you haven't gotten your bags, start buying them. Cos once I get back into the country the practical begins.

Please, if I haven't answered your question up till now, or replied your comment, suggestion or enquiry. Please no vex. And for those who sent me e-mails and bbm messages and they are unattended to. No vex. I'll try as much as possible to respond to all as soon as I get stable network here. Or immediately I return to naija. Also, if you sent bbm invite over the past 3days and it's still pending. Pls resend again. BBM: 7E2F9A4A. Whatsapp: +22961206962.

kendraloops:
First female "commenter", oya roll out the drums.

Op, if i start to pray for you ehn, e fit turn to curse cos I'll get carried away. Been following the thread with mouth wide open as in are you fir real? God bless u gidi gan!

I'll be back!

Lol. Okay you got me laughing here. How does prayer turn to curse? Good to see a lady interested in agriculture. Thanks alot for the compliments tho. More grease

Agbe4Life:
Hello brow, i commend you on a job well done. So glad to be yoour stuen. I will gladly consider coming over to byour farm for Hands on training soon. T

Yours is about the most insightful and educative thread on this platform so far. Thank you for that. I will love you to give contact details and costing breakdown for setting up cucumber farm on 1 hecter of land . Also , does cucumber have specific planting seasons or does the irrigation takes care of that?

God bless you as you shed light on these dark areas. Thanks a million.

Thanks sir. I appreciate the compliment. There's no particular season for planting cucumber. Once there's sufficient water, the cucumber will do well

Porscheshek:
Thank you very much for this thread..
Pls i want to know the cost of starting up the farm on a 1 acre land.

Yeah... that depends on availability of water, cost of labour and materials

1stUnique:
Bro jasper7.. I av some question sir.. After planting and i av harvested for d first time? When else will i b able to harvest and till when will i be able to harvest frm that same plant b4 planting new seed?

That depends on the seed you planted and the amount of nutrient in the soil. But with the right seed and sufficient nutrient, you shud harvest every 3 days or twice a week. For a month. Before the leaves naturally fades and dries up. Then you can replant. Hope this answers your question?

Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been away from the country for the past 3days. Currently at songhai farms in port novo, benn republic. Once am back by the weekend I'll give a detailed report.

mercylicious:
Beautiful. While buying, note that they have different kg. The full one goes for 2500 at building material ogidi, while the half goes for 1400. I had to post this as i have made the mistake of buying half thinking i got a big bargain only to realise its half.

@Jasper, am eagerly waiting to see how you use this. Weeding has become a very big issue for me.

wow! that's cheap o. will come and buy from ogidi soon.

Ufeolorun:
Quality response, thanks boss.

I am not contemplating a longwinded course just a workshop-like training to learn the technical details in Agric from people with industry knowledge . I don't want to under estimate the huge knowledge gap I have right now although, I have greatly improved my awareness .
‎
You staffing issues reinforced the complaint of a family member whose business is  just 5-month old. One would've thought with unemployment at rooftop level people would hold whatever they get with both hands but this seem not to be the case , and this makes simplifying my operation and process not just a cost issue but also to ensure I engage less hands so I don't have to deal with same experience  .‎

I am not considering cucumber at least for now but your detailed explanations makes it an attractive option. Whatever I eventually decide on would be driven by my passion and the market
‎
More questions:
‎
How and why did you decide on cucumber? ‎

Can I go completely organic?‎
If so, can I still compete on volume (output/harvest)

How did you go about building your small 
Greenhouse? ( would love to see the picture) 
‎
Do you live on the farm if not, how do you secure the area ? ‎

I wouldn't mind leasing at all if I could  get a deal that would give me a right to buy the space at a later date.
Cost is an issue for me. I want to absolutely justify  any outgoings cos getting stuck isn't an option.
‎
How much work did you put in to make people come buy straight from the farm rather than you taking it to them? 

‎Thanks for your help.

Sir, good and intelligent question coming in again. I love this! My aim in agriculture is achieving high yield from little land. Because, unlike some people, I do not have access to land in abundance.
Before you go into farming a particular crop or animal husbandry. You have to check how many of this boxes the crop ticks.

Is it a marketable crop?
Is the ROI above 100% per anum?
Is the farming technicality low enough for an illiterate worker to practise, without constant supervision?
Can I beat or at least meet up with the market pricing?
How low is the crisis level on the crop or animal (talking pests, disease, infections now)?

Cucumber ticked most of the boxes for me. Believe me when I say I have planted majority of the vegetables (tomato, pepper, green pepper, cucumber, water melon, okro, sweet corn e.t.c) and I stuck to cucumber because it gave me more ROI. There's hardly a time when I had crisis of diseases and pest. Unlike my pepper and tomatoes that you have to monitor and pamper. But the major attraction to cucumber was that within a month and a week (40 days) you'll start cashing in.

The issue of marketing, I just have one principle in life. Make your product above standard, guve it a competitive price and you don't need to bother about purchases. Customers will naturally find you out.

I love learnt that 25kg bag of cucumber in lagos is about 3k. That is less than 150 per kg but more than 100 per kg. 120 precisely. With over 1tonne per harvest, you can comfortably sell 100naira per kg. With that price, if your products are above the standard of the conventional product they get for 120 or at least, up to tge satandard. People will rush it. And your supply will not be enough. Very soon you'll see some marketers trying to book before it arrives while the sharper ones will inquire where your farm is, so that they can come and carry from there. Am speaking from experience bro.

About organic farming, like I said, I practise organic farming, it increases cost of production, but there's no difference in quantity of harvest. Cause I apply my organic manure in overdose.

christian11:
Thank u...

But how can I get this mulching film, I stay in the east. Enugu to be precise... Thank u.

Forget about the big name, it's just roll of black nylon. Building material people sell it. Should be around 3k a roll

Pls, you guys should understand my reluctance in sharing the contacts of my seed suppliers from Thailand. I have to get approval from them first. And it's also important that practise, tests and exercises are carried out first before seed will be purchased in larger quantity. But I buy at the rate of 80k per kg. And a kg covers one hectare. About 20k seed inside or so.

EXERCISE UNO: We need tools, so step out to the market between now and next weekend.
20 BAGCO SAC (should cost like 30naira for one)

You need soil, loamy soil, organic manure or NPk. If you have a poultry around, just get bird droppings.

Another thing, water is not negotiable, there should be available water. When all these are ready by the next weekend, I'll supply seed to interested candidates for free. (From my personal, depleting stash). Those seeds are just for test use. Not for commercial purposes.

Is it possible to get these done? Before next weekend? And am talking to interested parties only

Heanry:
Mr. Jasper7, please how were you able to set up the mulching film so firmly to the soil such that wind and running water will not be able to wash the film and soil away.

It's a bed, the mulching film is bedsheet. Use a shovel to open the sides and tuck the film in. Shikena

@Ufeolorun. Brilliant questions! Been waiting for such questions. Like I say always, am still on a learning curve. Mine farm is not perfect, yes. I still believe there are ways to increase profit margin and I am deeply researching on them. Meanwhile, one of those is automation of most of the cultivation process.

Right now, I use tractor to clear, plough and harrrow. But that's it. The making of beds and covering with mulching film are done manually. The cost is high for this. And there's a machine for all these.

Also, weeding cost, there's a machine for weeding too.

If you aurltomate, you cut down cost drastically, thereby increasing profit margin (that's if the machines are readily available to you).

Yes sir, am very aware of poly tunnels and green houses. In fact I have 2 50x50 green houses. (Although the land they were mounted was repossessed by state government). I do find it unnecessary for cucumber farming tho. But I strongly recommend it for tomatoes, pepper and Green pepper. I would have uploaded pics of my little green house experiment with tomatoes but I am on a trip.

The bus thing, it depends on ur capital and the availability of the bus. Many factors come to play here. I have never had to rent transport to carry my goods because I have an available sienna mini-van and a hilux. The hilux needs to go on 6 trips to be able to carry the whole products from a hectare to the market. So, yes maybe if I had a bus, I might go 2 times or 3 times only.

Concerning the crash course, am not an advocate for schooling, I am more interested in education. If you are intelligent and you follow up with the thread this december, you'll be able to cultivate yours by yourself. But the growth has to be exponential. You have to manage a plot first. Before advancing to acres or hectares.

Land leasing is never a bad idea, especially if the money to buy is not readily available. If the area is secure and accessible by you. Please do lease the land. Good thing about cucumber is that in 35 days, you are harvesting.

I encourage people to staff up as possible, have staff available to you at all times. Wethee in the farm or in the shop. I think any shop you are going to have will be more of like a distribution center. You cannot understand the quantity of harvest, from a hectare. About 700kg per harvest is no small feat at all. You cannot sell all to end users. But you can have a wholesale and retail department. Because the profit from retail supersedes all. But the bulk should go out on wholesale.

In my own farm, local sellers converge at the farm early in the morning to buy off the harvest. So I don't worry much about going to market or setting up a shop anymore.

I think that's all your question sir. I hope you find my answers useful. Please give me a feedback on that

plainmirror:
Permit me to ask my Oga@TheTop what happened to this 1daful thread »» www.nairaland.com/1330960/war-against-bookies-fellowship-advanced/14

»It was infested by kids, so we took it to bbm group. For mature minds only . soccer betting is still a great at hubby of mine, but we can only be as great as our imagination. So, I chose to imagine feeding the nation.

It's no longer a hear-say, believe it or not. We will carry out a small experiment here on Nairaland. And see how much we make. With that, we can project the income when the real farming season begins. Action plan would be shared 2moro

okay, I feel the need to tell a story before I retire for the night. A couple of years back, I was at the MM airport in lagos, heading to abuja. Just as we were waiting for our boarding time. Some big men In kaftans came in an entourage and bought the whole seats in our plane.

These dudes where not up to 20 but correct me if I'm wrong, a plane has a minimum of 60 passenger seats
Well, we were asked to wait a tard longer for their next flight. Trust Nigerians na, see pandemonium. People dragging shirts and singlets . I just sat at a corner, folded my hands, dumbfounded.

In my head I was just reasoning this out. The poor ones are here killing themselves, while the big men have boarded our flight and are half way to Abuja.
There and then, I consciously decided to be in the big league. That incident makes me stretch myself, keeps me motivated, keeps me going.

Now, I got your hearts in the right direction, it's time to get your hands dirty! And I mean that, literally. Tomorrow I share the action plan. I just need 10 farmers who have farmland hot and available to indicate interest. 2moro the real work begins.

Incase you don't have any available to you now, but you are going to be ready by march, still indicate interest.

This thread is about to get sweaty. Fun time is over

TheLight001:
Great thread. Learning a lot from this.

Have it in my plans to develop a 2hectare of land for cucumber and water melon by next year ending.

Cool. If you can start with 1or 2 plots first. To get the necessary experience. Unless you want to hire professional help like mine. And unlike me, others will charge you. Cos it is top stuff we are discussing here

Soloxam:
@jasper, these plant have really done well, but if u don't mind let me introduce a very good seed to you, have u ever planted MURANO 2 F1 cucumber, if u have interest we can talk on it, call, sms, whatsapp 08098256685. Thanks for ur teaching, so impressive.

Am very conversant with murano. Thanks

cashweather:
Jasper, you are blessed, am proud of you, i want u to be my mentor. I really appreciate, the knowledge you have shared. You have inspired me. These site is best site in Nigeria. I really appreciate the owner Seun of setting up this site. Jasper i wana be like you next year. I base in Rivers state, i will love to plant cucumber next year. I love to add u on bbm or on watts up. Hope u dont mind?

Thanks. Add me

Another example is my use of stakes, I use splitted bamboo sticks to stake my cucumber. The stakes help me utilize the land so much that I can have 10k stands of cucumber in one hectare. It also make it easy for me to monitor the progress of each individual plant.

If I had like 10 hectares and little capital and I still wanted to cultivate the whole land, I won't use stakes, because bamboo cost money and you have to pay those that will split and mount it. And for hectares, that will be alot of money, which I don't have. so I just let it lie on the ground neatly. Yes, my profit will reduce drastically but so will my capital intensity. Do you get my drift now?

Let me give you an example of how your location and capital can decide the Agronomy practise.

I use mulching films to cover my bed. The major reason I use this is weed control. Because cost of weeding is much higher than the cost of mulching film. Like weeding 1 hectare here in owerri cost 40k. And you'll weed 3 times in one cucumber season. That is 120k. While the mulching film for 1hectare cost about 150k and that mulching film can last for 3 cucumber seasons. So weeding manually would have cos roughly 350k for that 3 seasons, so am saving 200k by practising the use of mulching film.
But if in your area they use 7k or 10k to weed one plot of land, then a season will mean 30k and 3 seasons will mean 90k. So you see that your location does not need mulching film. Because by using manual labour, you save 60k.