Plantain Farming: Multimillion Naira Business

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 Plantain farming and growing plantain are eas­ier and less complicated than any other planta­tion. Although growing plantain still require ones attention, the level of skill required is not as intensive as other trees.

You might be wondering how Plantain Farming can make mil­lions of naira yearly and we say, with a very little capital, if you are serious to make serious money, how to plant plantain and market it with ease here in Nigeria and Abroad is an opportunity you have to cash in.

Plantain plants are grown through suckers. Suckers are those that grow from a dying, mature plantain plant that can be trans­planted and re-grown. They may be considered as baby plants that are used to start new plantain plants.

Choose suckers from plants that are vigorous. They should have small, spear shaped leaves and are about four feet high (high bred). Plant these and cut or de­capitate the sucker to facilitate good evaporation. Keep around two to five meters between plant­ed suckers. In the early days of your plant, keep them moist but not too wet as they don’t have leaves yet to evaporate the water.

The Opportunities In Plantains

Farming Plantain: Plantain farming is a very lucrative busi­ness as a bunch of plantain sells between N650 and N1, 500 depend­ing on the size. When you buy the suckers you will not buy it again anymore because you will be get­ting them from the ones that grow from your farm onwards.

The beauty of this business is that you can sell it directly to the market people at a higher price from your farm. You can also ex­port it to other countries in Africa and the rest of the world. You can start with a plot of land and that depends on the capital you have.

Plantain Sucker Sells/Plant­ing: As agriculture has become a business there is division of la­bor/specialisation now that gives room for any Agribusiness entrepreneurs to make money, you can sell and plant plantain suckers to prospective farmers who wants to farm plantain but it has to be improved species.

Plantain Chips Production: A plantain chip is one of the easiest businesses you can start in Nige­ria if you want to generate quick cash right at home.

Plantain is readily available in the country especially in the south/middle belt regions of Ni­geria; you can buy from the open market or from an agroproducts broker.

Plantain Floor Production: Plantain flour has become a pop­ular food today as a result of the increasing number of diabetics’ patients in the country.

Plantain is the only raw mate­rial needed and machineries for processing and packaging.

Plantain Selling: This selling directly to final consumers in the market who uses it at home for food (frying, cooking and roast­ing).

Financing

You can start this agribusiness with N150,000,.00 to N10,000,000.00 depending how you want to start. You can be a plantain broker or plantain sucker seller etc.

Planting Plantain On A Three Acre Of Land

Land With Good Soil: Loamy soils are the best producing soils for plantain farming because they contain a good organic to inorgan­ic ratio. Organic materials, such as decaying plants and insects, pro­vide soil with air, nutrients and water-retaining matter.

This combination of ingredi­ents, when combined with miner­al particles, allows soil to remain loose and fertile.

Prepare The Land: Clear the land and cut some of the trees if any, Plantain plants also grow best in bunches or groups because they protect each other from the harsh rays of the sun.

It is important to create an envi­ronment where the plantain plants are sheltered either because they are bunched up together or there are other trees to protect them. Don’t use chemicals in clearing the land because it will affect the growth and yield of the plantain.

It is important to maintain the humidity of the plantain planta­tion by allowing some of the trees to remain for the purpose of pro­tecting the plant from excessive sun and to enhance the humidity. This is very essential in plantain farming environment.

Get The Plantain Suckers: Consid­ering that a plantain plant is not a tree but a type of herb, they cannot actual­ly be grown from seeds like most trees.

Plantain plants are grown through suckers. Suckers are those that grow from a dying, mature plan­tain plant that can be transplanted and re-grown. They may be consid­ered as baby plants that are used to start new plantain plants. Choose suckers from plants that are vigor­ous. They should have small, spear shaped leaves and are about four feet high. In the early days of your plant, keep them moist but not too wet as they don’t have leaves yet to evapo­rate the water. You need about 1,250 plantain sucker for 3 acre of land.

Organic Fertilizer : This is what boost the growth of the plantain for maximum yield. You have to apply liquid organic Fertilizer two week after planting but you have to use soil conditioner first before plant.

Control The Weeds: The weeds control is very important if you want your plantain to do well, the cost of weed management could account for up to 45% of the total cost of plantain plantation man­agement in Nigeria. Use tradi­tional weed control of employing laborer to do the weed cutting.

As the plantain grows, it is import­ant to protect it from strong winds. It is also important to keep it well wa­tered. Throwing the plantain dead leaves back into the plant is enough to sustain the rich quality of the soil.

Unlike other trees, plantain do not need complicated pruning. Just remove dead leaves and dead plants near the plantain.

Also remove suckers from the plant keeping only one or two that have spear shaped leaves.

Within 8-10months your plan­tain should be ready to produce, and as one is getting matured for harvest, another one is replacing it; they continue in that circle removing any stress expenses of planting again. All you do is to harvest and reap your profits all year round. 

Read Original Report Here By Independent

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