Vegetable farming is one aspect of farming in Nigeria that is capable of bringing quick cash to a farmer in any season. When we hear quick cash, we equate it to a Ponzi scheme. However, Vegetable farming is one way you can see your capital/investment flourish and yield 100% ROI in less than 3 months!
Fluted pumpkin (telfairia occidentalis) or ugu as we popularly call it, is one of the best leafy vegetables to plant if you want a farm business that grows fast and on short duration.
Here are 4 reasons why you should plant Ugu
IT REQUIRES LITTLE TO NO EXPERIENCE
Due to the notion that farming is for the poor. Quite a number of us have lost the basic farming skills we ought to know. But you do not need a special school to learn how to plant Ugu. How about you get a seed or two and practice planting it in your backyard.
IT YIELDS 100% RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Who wouldn't like to see their hard work doing good on the first try? One reason I love Ugu farming is that you get your returns in the shortest period possible. Coupled with that, you are sure to get 100% profit out of this investment. How? Let's take an acre of land as a case study.
You would need an average of N350,000 – N400,000 to cultivate an Ugu farm for the initial cultivation on an acre. Eventually, you'd need less than that as you'd be producing your seeds for subsequent cultivation.
Each harvest is done every 3-4weeks and you'd yield at least 80bundles per harvest. A bundle is sold at N5000 depending on the area you live in.
80×5000 = N400,000 per harvest. That means on the first harvest you've already made your initial investment.
Here's the fun fact, continuous harvesting every 4 weeks helps your crop to grow more. So you would most definitely get more yield in your next harvest!
MARKET DEMAND
Ugu vegetable is by far, the most consumed vegetable of any kind in Nigeria. All year long, consumers purchase this vegetable as it goes into any meal. The good thing is that no tribe or culture is against the consumption of fluted pumpkin. As such, you are sure to make sales in any part of the country.
NO WASTAGE
Every part of the vegetable is profitable. As we found out earlier, a bundle of fluted pumpkin is sold at N5000 depending on the season; it is more expensive during the dry season. How about the pods? you can always sell off the pods!
A seed is sold at N50 or N100 depending on the season and the area.
Each pod contains about 50-150 seeds depending on the size of the pod.
An acre of land produced about 500 pods. So let's do the math.
Say we have 50 seeds per pod.
50×500= 25000 seeds.
25,000 seeds × 50 Naira = 1,250,000 Naira. This is Just an estimated Average.
So in a year, you are getting N1,250,000 just from selling the pods!
The benefits far outweigh any disadvantage you can be told. Apart from the reasons listed above, you would also be contributing to the economy by giving employment to marketers and laborers.
Conclusion
Finally, what better choice of vegetables would use to improve the niche your country occupies in the agricultural sector and also create your space in the green market I guess your answer is UGU!
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