I wish to establish a small scale farm that produces vegetables throughout the year. At the moment, nothing has been done on the farm. Shallow water table, nearby electricity, tarmac road and good soil. Advice and guide me please.
@Kenneth thanks for your good question. From your statement I can see you have in disposal most vital resources to make your dream a reality. Before I narrow down to other determinants which will influence and your activities and choices please I would wish you first establishe whether your "shallow water source " is sufficient to meet your irrigation needs throughout the production period when pumped direct from the main source to farm or you need a supplementary storage facility. You may use the following guidelines to ascertain this.
. type of crop/ vegetable to be grown ( different vegetables requires variable amount of water)
. size of the farm to be irrigated (the bigger the farm definitely more water need)
. type of irrigation system/method to be used (furrow/flooding method utilize large volume of water as compared other methods with drip method being most economical as far as water utilization is concerned)
. length of naturally wet period and corresponding dry spell length.
Having settled on a solution to the a bove, then you come to production questions that will also help you make a choice
(s) on what type of vegetable(s) to grow for maximum profitability.
Here are the questions to address:-
1 WHAT TO PRODUCE.?
2 HOW MUCH TO PRODUCE?
3 WHEN TO PRODUCE?
4 HOW TO PRODUCE?
5 OPPORTUNITY COST ?
What to produce seeking decision to be made based on cost to be incurred and possible returns expected from each enterprise also natural factors like temperature, soil type and PH( can be amended)
How much to produced determined by market demand, inputs resource available, farm size , labour availability etc
When to produce determined by market outlets availability and may be capital availability to run operations
How to produce seeking to address technical related issues eg green house production require specific skills as compared to open field. Growing tomatoes may slightly differ from growing kales ,cabbages or onions
Opportunity cost this is hypothetical financial analysis on each enterprise concerning cost saved and cost incurred as well as income gained vs income forgone when an enterprise is completely replaced with the other or prootheron level is reduced in one case and increased on the other
I believe at this point you'll be able to make an informed choice on what to do then you're still free to ask on agronomic guidance on any choice you make we will be more than ready to help
Thanks
