Fundamentals of Cabbage Farming

Hello farmers, today I want to show you some insights about cabbage production. I've seen many farmers asking about which crop I can plant at this time of year. which could give me maybe 10,000 a year or 10,000 a season. And it is a very good question, and it must be answered based on that. In terms of how much you would want to earn per season or per month. So right now I want to show you some of the steps that you can also take into consideration. before you start investing in a certain crop. The first and most important thing is market analysis. You need to understand exactly where you are going to sell the product and what quantities are required. Just yesterday I was discussing with another farmer who wanted to grow tomatoes. No, I want to do tomato. So I encouraged them that they need to understand which market they need to sell to. And he was saying, "I want to grow a very good crop that will give me large fruits." And we had to discuss what the market requires. And we head to Mbaru, which will be the main market and the key influence on what to do. And if you gain some insights into their requirements, You will be able to understand exactly what kind of fruit they need. In most cases, they require medium-sized fruits because they are supplying the fresh market. No one would need a tomato that can be used to prepare perhaps a dish. Perhaps four times to cut the tomato to prepare your dishes. You need just one tomato; you serve one dish, and then you're done. You go to the other one. The same applies to the onion. They need medium-sized so that you don't keep having to cut it. Then you put it in the fridge, you cut it, you put it in the fridge. And now look at what is happening in terms of electricity. So you need to be absolutely certain about what is required. Then you go to the quantities, what quantities are required. Do you know that if you run a company in Zimbabwe, you can manage five hectares? And you will be able to deliver all of them to the market. But do you think you could do the same to possibly take over beetroot? You can't grow beetroot on 10 hectares. Where are you going to sell it, and what time of year? But if you do 1 hectare, 0.5 hectares, the same applies to broccoli. Even those who are producing for export have to take that into account. What should I do so that you don't have any problems? But most importantly is the issue of creating blocks so that you can rotate your crops in cycles. We have always been discussing why it is important to have different cycles of a crop. Maybe you're just chopping cabbage, but you've got three cycles. The other one is at planting, the other one is at growth, and the other one is at harvesting. It doesn't help you only in terms of securing the market, but also in terms of consistency. Consistency, yes, it's okay. But even when it comes to cash flow management, many people are broke right now. They are out of business now. Why? Because they fail to manage cash flow. Imagine if you were dealing in tobacco, you'd only receive money after, let's say, every eight or nine months. So how are you going to support yourself for the next nine months? Where are you going to get the money to pay your workers to buy your chemicals for the entire year? That means you need to be very skilled at managing your cash. Otherwise, if you receive money today, the same money you receive today, you need to budget it so that you can use it for the next eight months. But if you now incorporate horticulture, you introduce different cycles, You'll be able to get money every day, every week, every month, so that you're done. Then we're done with the market, we move on to the issue of management. Management is extremely important. If you are to work on cabbage, for example, you look at the field in my background. It is a five-hectare field irrigated using spring lodges and overhead irrigation. And look at the plant population per hectare. It's plus or minus 55,000 per each single hectare. But if you are to do it yourself, you are told to do 33,000. Why? Because drip irrigation, which is predominantly used, It's one meter in terms of indoor or 30 centimeters, then you get 33,000. And what are you producing? You're making very large heads. And who needs those big heads? Probably those who are processing food or preparing meals for large families. Or maybe canteens—they need large heads. But if you're focusing on the fresh market, they require medium-sized cabbages. So how are you going to achieve that if you're putting in 33,000? Because your cabbages have more room to spread out. And if you add more fertilizer, it means you're going to produce very large heads. But most importantly, you mess around with your plant population. You put it at around 50,000, or maybe, if you're concerned about how you're going to manage, You can put it at least around 45,000. It will be better. You produce medium-sized. Then from there, you are now managing in terms of your scouting, You identify pests and diseases before they reach the maximum threshold. Then you will be able to say, no, I need to spray this chemical. And don't just spray it like you're goofing off in your field. No, you must make sure which pest you are trying to avoid. Which pest are you trying to prevent? If you do so, you will be able to produce a very healthy crop. And normally we talk about 60% informed. It is very important to achieve those figures. How do you manage it? Through your fertilizer, through your spraying? even through irrigation because we aim to minimize losses. You will be able to earn at least 10,000 per hectare. It's an acceptable number. Another important aspect is the issue of timing. When are you going to plant? It's not like you know that you grow cabbage in winter, Then you just say, "I want to plant it." What is the market like now? But consider growing cabbage during the rainy season. You aim to sell around January, February, March, and April. That market is excellent. Previously when I checked, One head of cabbage was being sold for about 75 cents, depending on the size, ranging down to 50 cents. And that's the wholesale price. Then if you are now going to the market, You're buying it at 80 cents, 90 cents on the dollar. But now the season we are entering, in one month or two months You will be able to buy cabbage at $1.44, $1.43. And who is going to be celebrating now is the farmer. Who was able to manage to establish a large plant population? Because if you're selling for $1.44, even $1.45, and you have your 60,000 heads ready per hectare, At the very least, you'll be able to generate something like 10,000. And it might differ by only 2,000 or 3,000 from a good season. It's how you manage your crop. Therefore, it is very important to manage all those things. Thank you very much for watching this video. See you in the next episode. Thank you.