By Spy Uganda
Fruit farming is the growing of fruit crops which comprises of all seed-bearing structure in flowering plants as well as nuts for commercial and consumption purpose. Here, this article is completely discussing fruit farming for commercial purposes.
In fruit business, it doesn’t matter if you are a professional farmer or still a novice, once you follow the guidelines below you will be able to succeed in any fruit farming business you chose.
1. Select A Particular Type of Fruit
It is better you know what kind of fruit that you want to take as your business venture. Some of the fruits are strawberry, mangoes, oranges, and cherry to name but just a few.
2. Study The Fruit You Have Chosen
For any fruit business that you want to start, make sure that you have the basic knowledge about that fruit and how to plant it.
Also, its best planting season, how to get the seedlings, care and maintenance processes required, when to add fertilizer, how to know it’s time for harvest and lots more.
You can get the proper training by working with a farmer that is basically specialized in the cultivation of such fruit in order to get the basic knowledge that will help you succeed.
3. Where To Start
As a beginner, it is advisable to get a small farming portion instead of acquiring a large piece of land until you have successfully passed your experimental stage.
When choosing land for fruit farming business, don’t just choose for farming’s sake but consider soil type and composition which is one of the main determinants for effective yield and growth of plants.
The soil should be composed of humus and other essential minerals which can be determined by conducting or carrying out a soil test. However, you can also add more vital nutrients to the soil when preparing the land for cultivation by adding organic manure or fertilizer.
4. Start With Less Quantity
The first trial of every business is always considered as the experimental farming stage.
Starting small will help in the effective management of the fruit crops, and will make you to easily face some challenges which might occur at the course of the farming process.
5. Good Starter Trees And Best Seedlings Matter
Get the best seedlings from other local farmers or from any ministry that oversees the affairs of farming and agricultural practice in the country.
Getting the right and the healthy seed will determine what you will gain in return when they fully develop and mature into fruits.
6. Plant The Fruit Trees
Fruit trees are planted at any season of the year. In a case whereby your location has hot summer or cold winter, you have to wait till spring to enable the plant to adapt to the soil.
You can buy a grafted fruit tree either in a bare-rooted form of potted tree form. The trees should be planted immediately they are purchased.
7. Disease And Pest Control
Fruit trees are attacked by certain diseases and pests. Therefore you should not wait till it starts before sourcing for ways to control them.
Get the right pest control such as fungicides and disease control chemicals on time and ensure to spread carefully to avoid damaging your plant or the fruits.
8. Source For Target Market On Time
Fruits are highly perishable, so while waiting for it to grow, use that opportunity to start sourcing for new and additional customers.
Once it is time for harvest you can confidently sell to already available potential customers to avoid perishing and discouraging the effort you have made so far.
9. Harvesting & Storage
Fruits are harvested a couple of months after planting depending on the type of fruit you are farming.
Generally, they are harvested when they are full size and the normal fruit color when ripening; the rinds should be glossy and firm at this stage.
Fruits should be kept in optimal storage locations. However, fruits are not to be stored for a long period of time because they can perish easily.
