Key steps to know before going into plantain farming

Why should you go into plantain farming?

Plantain farming can generate three sources of income at a time, below are the three sources;

(i) By selling the plantain itself

(ii) By selling the excess suckers

(iii) By processing the plantain e.g processed into flour to make 'elubo', a local meal consumed in Nigeria with soup, and also serves as industrial raw material in firms producing sanitary pads, fabrics and also for the food and beverage industry for making baby foods, biscuits, bread and cakes, plantain chips.

Benefits of plantain farming is as follows;

*It adds contribution in eradicating poverty in Nigeria

* It eliminate idleness and create job opportunities.

* Self-independent

* And most especially it reduces financial crisis.

Risk involved in plantain farming is low and can be controlled with the right agronomy practice. For you to have a successful plantain farm, follow this steps below;

Get healthy and treated false Horn sucker: they produce very large fingers at maturity, please don't plant French suckers, they may have many fingers but their fruits are very small. Off takers/consumers would prefer a plantain with huge fingers and has a reasonable amount of fingers to that of a plantain that has small fingers, you can get bunch of false Horn suckers that weighs twice the weight of a French suckers it's a fact and you can as well make your research on that.
Avoid suckers infested with fungi and nematodes, although if you have already gotten a sucker and you are not sure if it's treated, you can do it yourself by getting yourself ridomil gold and furadan then mix with water and use it to treat your suckers or you can as well add the furadan as basal to the planting hole it would serve as a systemic fungicide and insecticides and can last in the system of the plantain for a year.
If you’re low on funds for the irrigation system on your plantain farm you can as well be on a safer side by planting at the beginning of the rainy season in the plantain to get enough water for it to survive during the time of drought.
If you are planting in a swampy or waterlogged area please make sure to get a drainage system done in order to avoid flooding during the rainy season.
If your plantain is suffering from nitrogen or potassium deficiency you should apply a felizers that is rich in potassium and nitrogen that best to use in npk 15-15 the plantain would recover in a week, or you get poultry waste e.g cow dung it's rich in potassium then apply to your plantain if your are into organic farming. Make sure to burn your land before planting. This process adds more nutrients to your soil.
Apply your manure to your plantain after 8-10 weeks when the plantains root is solid because if you apply earlier the possibility your plantain could die because manure generates heat which the plantain may not be able to withstand at an early stage.

Key things to note;

You cannot do hundred percent uniform harvest on your plantain farm due to NON-uniformity of the soil component.
Harvesting sessions gives different months' interval before another session of harvesting can take place.
Continuous harvest can take place for duration of 6 months before end of harvesting seasons.
Plantain farming business is like building a house and installing tenant which give you annual income.
Plantain is still one of the most profitable farming sectors in Nigeria because plantain is always in demand.

In Summary, these are the best guide for small scale and commercial plantain farming in Nigeria. Start your plantain farm now and avoid procrastination. This is one of the best agricultural business for investment.