MAKE GOOD MONEY WITH LADY’S FINGER/OKRA OR BAMIA

(ABELMOSCHUS ESCULENTUS)

Botanic Name: Abelmoschus esculentus L. Syn. Hibiscus esculentus

Family: Malvaceae.

Bamia is one of the popular vegetable in Tanzania. It is cultivated extensively all the year round for its immature fruits. Bamia fruits are used as a vegetable. The stem of the plant is used for the extraction of the fiber.

The best variety of lady’s finger/Okra is Alabama red; it is the best because it gets matured very quickly

Climate:

Bamia is a warm season vegetable crop and requires a long warm growing season.   In Tanzania it is grown is summer months and during the rainy season (summer and mild winter).   It is highly sensitive to cold temperatures. Seeds germinate poorly at ground temperature of 20 °C or less.

Never less, lady’s finger/Okra grows best in full, hot sun, if you try to grow it in a shady spot, it won’t produce much fruit if it lives at all. it should be planted in a location that gets at least 6 hrs of full sun every day.

Soil and its Preparation:

Bamia can do well in all kinds of soil. .But sandy loam and clay-loam soils are best for its cultivation.

The optimum pH range from 6.5 to 7.0, the land is prepared by giving 5-6 ploughing and till depth is 12 inches. Cartloads of FYM or Compost should be incorporated during land preparation and work in 4 inches of compost or fertilizer using a garden rake so that its evenly distributed. Neglecting to add nutrients to the soil may result in Okra plants that do not produce a lot.

Seed Rate & Sowing Time:

The seed rate for rainy season is 12 to15 kg.   The seed rate for summer season is 8 to 10 kg/ha.

Layout & Spacing:

Ridges & furrow type of layout is use. Sometime Bamia is also sown at the border of main crop & layout is same as for main crop. For summer crop spacing is 45x30 cm. & Rainy season crop spacing is 60 x 45 cm or 1feet×3feets

Pests, Diseases and prevention

• Aphids –are usually spread by ants and controlled by sprinting Turmeric powder/boric acid or pesticide chalk such as laxman rekha
• Stink bugs/Mealy bugs-can be controlled by mixing spirit (rubbing alcohol) and water 1:1 ratio and spraying. It controls aphids as well.
• Treated seeds-are those that are pre coated with fungicide (Thiram) to avoid problems like damping off.

Manures & Fertilizers:

20 to 25 tones well rotten FYM, compost, cocopeat and bone meal mixed with soil during field preparation. For rainy season, crop apply 50 kg; N, 50kg P2O5 per hectare. For summer season 40 kg N, 40 kg P2O5 should be applied.

Interculture Operational

Weeding, thinning and earthling up is the important intercultural operations of Bamia. Earthing up in the rows should be done in rainy season crop. Application of herbicides for controlling weeds in Bamia is found effective. Basalin (Fluchoralin 48 per cent) @ 1-2 liter per hectare, and soil application of Tok-E-25 @ 5 liter per hectare effectively controlled the weeds.

Irrigation:

Pre-sowing irrigation should be given in the soils having no sufficient moisture.   First irrigation is given just after sowing and then the field is irrigated after 4 to 5 days in summer and 10 to 12 days in winter season. Also irrigation is done on early the morning.

Harvesting:

Flowering begins from 35 to 40 days after sowing and fruits are ready for harvest four to five days after flowering Bamia pods may be harvested continuously at some intervals. The young fruits can be harvested in the morning. Delay in harvesting may make the fruits fibrous and they lose their tenderness and taste.

Yield & Crop Duration:

Rainy season crop gives 7,500 kg/ha. Summer crop gives 5,000 kg/ha. Duration is 90 and 120 days respectively.

Economic value:

At farm gate price, rainy season 1Kg TZS 800, thus Revenue will be 7,500 kg × TZS 800 = TZS 6,000,000/ha. At market price, rainy season 1kg is sold at TZS 1,000, thus Revenue will be 7,500kg × TZS 1000  =  TZS 7,500,000/ha.

This calculation could be done likewise as summer season for farm gate price 900 TZS/kg and market price 1000 TZS/kg

Cost implication per hectare is almost TZS 3 Million for irrigation production but for non irrigation production is almost TZS 2 Million. Thus the gross margin is almost TZS 3 to 4 Million.

It is a good venture, is it not?

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Going Agribusiness with Pawpaw

Lets take a look on ways to make money in the agribusiness. If you are thinking of starting an orchard it is not bad to think of pawpaw. Pawpaw is a fruit surrounded by a lot of misconception and many farmers shun from it. Today, let’s take a dive in the stream of knowledge and find out what facts are and what just mere fictions are.

There are four varieties of pawpaw trees in East Africa namely dew, Kiim Mountain, solo sunrise and finally Waimanalo. The pawpaw tree itself is in three different types

1.  The female (pistillate)

this plant has all the female part but lacks the male parts. It is pollinated through cross pollination ( it is fertilized by another male plant pollen grain)produces fruits that are the sweetest in all the varieties

2.  The male (staminate) 

this type just contains the male parts and doesn’t produce any fruit.

3.  The hermaphrodite

it contains both the male and the female parts on the same plant.

Climatic conditions:

Pawpaw tree does well in climate that has a rainfall of about 1000mm with attitudes ranging between 0-1600 m above sea level. Temperature should be between 21-30 degrees centigrade. Soil is not a big issue as long as it can’t be water logged  and has a ph of between 6.0 -6.5.

Propagation:

You can buy seeds from your local seed vendor but if you are a do-it-yourself then it’s simple. Take seed from an already eaten pawpaw; remove the seed coat (sarcotesta) so as not to prevent it from germinating. Make holes of 1cm deep 15cm apart and put your 4-5 seeds then cover it. Give the seedlings 2-3weeks to germinate, you can reduce the seedlings to 3-4 after germination and give the seedling 4-5 weeks. At this time the seedling will be about 20cm tall.

You can now transfer it to your orchard. Here, put the seedling in a 60cm deep 60cm wide hole at a distance of 3m apart. Mix 18kg of manure and 60g of double phosphate fertilizer and add it to the soil and then top dress the seedling with 40g 0f CAN fertilizer. Remember, you will have to always add 200g of CAN or ASN each year for the next 4-5 years. (Although pawpaw has a life span of 10 years their economical value only spans for 4-5 years)

Nutritional value:

Pawpaw is a fruit with low calories, lots of potassium and vitamin A and C. it also helps in digestion and control of colon infection and cancer.

Economic value:

Assuming we are having 1hactare of land (2.5 acres) then, we will have1000 pawpaw trees each producing 30 paw paws. My simple mathematics shows you get 30,000 pawpaw fruit per season. At local market price of TZS 500, that’s an income of TZS 15,000,000 per season. The expenditure is approximately TZS 4,500,000 giving a profit of TZS 10,500,000 per season. Pawpaw produces twice a year but under irrigation it produces 3 times a year. 

This surely is a good venture. Don’t you think so?

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