₦airaland Forum

stint:
Thanks boss, I still have at about 1.5acre that is empty. Think I'll start with that. pls how much do you think I will need to cultivate this size including borehole. and where do you get your seeds.

1.5 acre is enough to earn you decent income since the land is in use. The estimate for sinking borehole varies in topography and different locations, different topography. You should ask around your area to find out the estimate cost. I buy my seed from Thailand. CHIA THAI. Biggest seed company in asia. I use their seeds because their climate is very similar to ours. So productivity is almost the same, unlike US or european seed

stint:
pls do you plant directly in the open or do you use plastic bags first in the nursery?

I use plastic nursery trays. Ill find one around my house and show to you

Obascoetubi:
what they use cucumber for?

It's useful for servicing mental disorder . Peace bro

Denn:
Visit irrigationtutorials.com

Your pump, sprinkler and land area must be properly matched.

Your machine seems to big for 1 hectare.

Thank you sir. Very very useful info here

world1:
Am ready to learn what does it entails?

Just follow up on the thread. Me and you get talk sef, I'll contact you soon

Okay, I just met with representatives of a farm technology company in Thailand. And they said they can solve my current irrigation problems by supplying me a GUN SPRINKLER. A sprinkle water like rain with a 45metre radius. That is an impressive one, considering it will cover one hectare in 30mins.

It's supposed to work hand in hand with my hydraflo machine. This machine is a beast. It can fill up a geepee tank in 30 seconds. An average sumo pump releases 50 psi at a go. This beast can go up to 2000 psi at a go. That is 40 times an average sumo pump. I havr not been able to use it because the pressure at which it releases water can cause erosion and even leaching if not checked.

Please does anybody knows any other machine or mechanism that can be used for irrigation in my farm? Thanks

Let me just deviate a little. I am fighting a war with irrigation. One of my customers complained of slightly bitter taste in the last supply. It means my workers have short-circuited the irrigation routine. And am not happy about it. I love my customers to always be satisfied. They deserve it. Now I have to water day and night, to make sure the bitter taste experience don't happen again.

Okay my soil experience. Now, the young cucumber seedling needs a strong boost of soil nutrient for rapid early growth. Very important.
How do you enhance their nutrient at early stage? By doing top dressing before planting. What is top dressing? No be wearing of cloth o or shirt o. . It's the application of manure/fertilizer to the top soil before planting. It's very vital that this is done. To guarantee healthy seedling like mine in the pics

Nice one boss, I plan on setting up maybe one or 2 hectares of plantain plantation. We'll discuss further on that later

Kalusam:
It will be a sin on my part if do not comment on this wonderful practical farming procedures. I should visit your farm when I enter O-town in December/January...God's willing! I am indeed following this your posts religiously, Thanks so much!

That will be great boss! Just make sure you visit me o. Make I give you personal tour of 1 or 2 farms

stint:
Thanks a bunch for the vital information you are sharing freely. I have a 2 hectare farm that I just planted plantain on. do you think I can put cucumber on it too. The major thing is the borehole that i don't have.

Yes sir, you can plant if your plantains are still young because cucumber likes correct contact to sunlight. If there is shade, the performance will dwindle. But if there's a portion secluded from the plantain, you can just test run. But water is needed o.

Okay, time for evening class. Let's talk of NUMBER FIVE is SOIL. The type of soil is very important vital to the performance. Basically, you should look for a soil that absorbs and retains water. (Loamy and semi-clay).

Soil preparation is also vital, top dressing should be done with NPK 15:15:15 or organic manure. (I am pro organic farming so I use manure majority of the time)

After the initial top dressing, you need to apply manure/fertilizer during the vegetative stage and mega super continous manure/fertilizer during the flowering/fruiting stage. This is to ensure continuous harvest for a longer period.
In my next post, I'll share my personal experience with fertilizers and manure and also bad soil. Stay tuned

Just left the farm... will be updating as soon as I get home and eat

amarawa:
The farm looks well maintained and organized. I'm impressed.

Yes ooo. I spend so much on taking care of my farm o. Makes it easier to manage.

haftob:
Nyc one! Anytym I enter some threads on the agric section, I always feel lyk dumping the course I'm studying now in uni for an agric course. I just av dis passion for agriculture but any how sha, I knw I'll bcom a farmer in the future no matter the course I study in the uni

Yes oo. Good thing about agric is that you don't need to spend 5 years or 4 years to practice professionally. I studied economics but I am practising farmer. So... be encouraged

I dey farm. Will update soon. Hope you guys are following. I need only one serious farmer to learn and make his first cucmber million by March

Denn:
Been following your posts.

Was about asking you on how you irrigate.

Can you please shed more light on this?

What methods do you employ.

In addition, I can notice mulching... More on these please

Okay, I employ sprinkler irrigation and furrow irrigation. In the next post, I'll upload pics to this effect sir

Back to class. We are at number 4 factor. NUMBER 4 is IRRIGATION. Over 80% of cucumber composition is water. Yes! Water... the need for constant water cannot be underestimated. And for this, irrigation is key.

Personally, wherever I am developing land, once the land is secure from pests the next thing I do is secure a constant source of water. Could be a nearby stream or I sink bore-hole in the land.

Please if you don't have constant source of water, cucumber farming is not for you.

If the plants are not well watered, the primary effect is that the products will be bitter. Have you eaten bitter cucumber before? Let's just say it's a combination of quinine and bitter leaf. Nobody will buy it from you, and bye bye to 1million Net profit.
Secondly, the plants won't last long before they wither. Which would not allow you to harvest as many times as you need to. So... bye bye 1million profit.

Juliana7:
Hi jasper, i'm keenly following dis thread, pls we are waiting for u, concerning factors dat militate against maximising profit, pls i want to go into cucumber farming

Follow up then, you'll find this thread interesting and educative

TAEpiphany:
LMAO .... You are too funny. Please continue with your narrative. It's good to see a farmer with humor. The bit about monkeys harvesting....lol didn't even know we still had monkeys in Nigeria. Last we heard they all left Idanre hills

Lol... Thanks sir. Keep following, more to come

ifex370:
oga ,thanks oo... what of other vegetables like cabbage, carrot and their brothers.

We'll get there later. I have experimented on most vegetables and even water melon but not on a commercial basis. I am specialising now on cucumber. thanks

jethro2:
Thanks so much for this. It very educative

No problem sir. I try my best

Was expecting facts and figures. Kinda disappointed

Another experience is with fulani cattle rearers who just decided to let their cattle feed on one innocent farmer's plot. I used to consult for the farmer and there was no just way to control those cattle so she had to shut down her little source of income . So... If you have goats and cattle parading your farmland and it's not fenced, cucumber is not just for you

Other pests wey dey destroy cucumber are goats, cattle, monkies e.t.c

Monkies? I know you would be laughing now, but it's true. And to me, they are the worst pests ever. Am talking from experience.

I once consulted for a farmer in Enugu state, In his community, they kinda worship monkies or see monkies as sacred, so they don't kill them or disturb them.
Due to this, monkies practically live among them. He had a big farmland of cucumber, but once it reaches harvesting time, the useless monkies will just go there and help him harvest everything lol. You'll just see them trooping in their hundreds, like say them send them .

He tried everything within his power to chase them away but none worked. Scarecrow and the rest were just futile effort. Not untill I introduced bio control of 3 local dogs that patrol the farm. So the monkies started to fear cos dogs don't know which one be gods or meat . But ultimately, the man had to close down the farm because of monkey wahala.

TAEpiphany:
Hahahahahahaah....we were just talking about this on another thread. I'm so glad you mentioned this. This culture of laziness tire me.



Impressive work you have done, this is more of what people would like to see. Extra grease to your elbow ....
Would you be consulting on this anytime soon?

My oga I greet you. Good to have you here. Am not sure I'll have time for physical consultation. If I leave my farm for 2days, those workers will turn it to wildlife

NUMBER 3: PESTS and DISEASES. Pests is usually a problem to contend with because it's a dicey situation.
The reason is, the major pests of cucumber are insects, and cucumber needs some insects for pollination like butterfly, bees e.t.c other insect will just eat the flowers and leaves and stunt the production of the crop.
I had this problem initially,
How do I spray pesticide on the crop without killing the useful insects. After much research and facts finding, I came to this wonderful conclusion.

Cucumber produces colourful flowers, and that is what attracts butterflies and bees(useful insects). While the other insects come to chop leaf and live on the leaf. So when the flowers are not bright the useful insects fly away.
When are the flowers not so bright? IN THE NIGHT!!! So the best time to spray insecticde/pesticide without killing the useful insects is in the evening or night.

Please don't spray pesticide speculatively, wait untill you notice presence of pests

This wahala of labour is a big deal o. For intending farmers, don't take it lightly.
One would believe that if you flash 20k a month (which is above minimum wage) to a hungry, Jobless Nigerian, he/she woulf be ready to work. But it's a lie.
I'll therefore suggest that you start small and build up your labour force gradually with trusted, hardworking personnel.

Right now, my 1 hectare has 10 workers. 8 corpers and 2 permanent staff. I add 10k ontop the allowee for the corpers while my 2 resident staff collect 25k a month. I still hire manual labour for the rigorous work tho. So labour dey chop at least 200k a month.

NUMBER 2: LABOUR. From personal experience. My first farm was a small one (about one plot). So, I handled it myself, only hired labour when making the beds. I made 100K in 2 months. I was shocked! That spurred me to look for more land. But when I increased to 4plots, I hired workers (2 workers). I was expecting to make at least 400k or 350. But to my greatest surprise, I made 250k. And had to pay their salaries of 80k. (20k each for 2 months). I was distraught, I began to check for what went wrong and discovered 2 things about Labour in Nigeria.

1. An average Nigerian youth wants to be richer than Dangote but is not ready to work. Very lazy to the bones.

2. If it's not their fathers business, they are ready to collapse and destroy whatever you are building.

The 7 decisive factors in successful farming of cucumber. (Most of these rules apply to farming in general).

1. The most important factor is the SEED you are planting.
Is it a local or a foreign seed?
Is it an open or a closed seed?
Is it a hybrid or General seed?
These and more are the things you find out before ever purchasing seed for planting. Some seeds can produce 1tonne of cucumber per hectare each harvest, others can produce 500kg, 200kg, even as low as 50kg. And some can produce up to 2-3 tonnes. Under the same agricultural conditions. (A kG of cucumber sells for minimum of N150 in wholesale).
Another role the kind of seed can play is in deciding how long you can harvest. Some 3-5 times some 5-10times while a select few can go 15-20 times before they wither. (Other factors contribute to how long harvest lasts)

So, you can see that the type of seed used is a very very vital factor

ifex370:
when d pics enter.... quote me

The pics don dey enter sir

1stUnique:
Nice one bro. following...

Which state is your located?
how about the marketing aspect, is there a readily market available for the produce?
which varieties did u plant?

Thank u sir. The farm in the picture is located in the south-east. Owerri precisely. But I have other micro farms around the south-east south-south.
And concerning marketing, it was not easy initially. Majority of these crops are supplied from the north and displacing them in the market is a huge task. So what I did was make a high quality regulation on my product.
I also discovered that due to the long distance the northerners travel before they cab supply, their cucumbers come in stale and never fresh. So I made surr mine was fresh, juicy and nice before supply. I started by selling in retail to offices, schools and churches. Supply to those who helped me sell. I was very favoured in that aspect. But as the farms grew bigger, I had to find market women who come and buy in bulk at a reasonable price. Now, no matter the quantity I produce, it does not last the next day. Right now I sell up to 200k per harvest and twice a week. Don't underestimate those local market women. They struggle and fight for the products. A single woman can buy up to 20k a day for supply. It's not as profitable as selling retail but the money dey come sharp sharp