In this era where artificial intelligence (AI) is threatening human labour, farming and agriculture is one of the jobs AI can't replace humans.
Plantain farming, processing and marketing have become lucrative ventures in recent times due to increasingly demand for plantain and its products. Plantain is highly sought after because of its nutritional values and medicinal effects — it is a good source of Iron, Potassium, Magnesium, Protein, Vitamins etc, and it is highly recommended food for diabetic patients, and a good preventive for health conscious individuals.
Almost every household consumes plantain in different forms. Plantain pulp can be eaten by cooking or frying it. It can as well be processed into flour. When processed into flour, it can be eaten as gruel and used in making biscuits, cakes, puff-puff etc.
The market is large, expanding and sustainable because it’s a basic food item, its demand increases with scarcity especially during rainy season, which is its off-season. One dozen of plantain is sold between N25,00 - N90,000 depending on sizes, seasons and locations. During the off-season, the prices go as up as N35,000 - N90,000 depending on sizes and locations. The demands and prices are highest in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. So if you live in this areas and their proxy states, you have largest local markets.
Nigeria produces about 2.8 million metric tons of plantain per annum.
Nigeria is the 6th largest plantain producing country in the world but not among the top 15 plantain exporting countries. There is therefore, is opportunities for Nigerian plantain producers at the export market.
Once planted plantain can continue to yield exponentially for next five years. After five years you can cut down all the plantain, burn the plantation, to improve the soil fertility and there will be new sprouts of the plantain crops.
Plantain farming will not require your attention all the time — you will have time to do other jobs and businesses.
If you are intending to venture into plantain farming, avoid the following mistakes that can ruin your efforts.
- Choosing wrong site
- Buying unhealthy suckers
- Planting at the wrong reason
- Expecting 100% yield
Choosing Wrong Site
Plantain is adaptive to wide range of environmental conditions from freely drained upland ecology to lowland ecologies. The lowland could be irrigated land or swampy land. But then, you need to be careful in chosing land with the right soil suitable for plantain. Choosing the wrong soil will affect both growth and yield rates of your plantain.
What's the right soil for plantain farming?
Plantain requires about 300cm annual rainfall, therefore, select loamy, clay or loamy-clay soil with water retention capacity, and 7-14 pH level. Plantain does not like drought and wind, therefore, uphill and slant land is not suitable for plantain farming.
Another factor to selecting land for plantain farming is to ensure you do not choose infected land. most times when you experience poor plant performance and growth, it's not usually caused by the suckers you purchased no matter how healthy the suckers are, if your land is infected with either nematodes or fungi, the plants will be affected too therefore transferring the disease to the plants and any other sucker that will be transplanted in the same farm will be infected too.
As a precautionary measure, make sure u fumigate the land before planting if you are not sure that the land isn't contacted with diseases.
Unhealthy Suckers
Quality of plantain seedlings (suckers) contributes to the success or otherwise of your plantain farming business.
As a beginner ensure you get well treated, healthy and disease-free suckers to avoid losing your money and plants to diseases like pathogens, weevils and nematodes..
Untreated suckers or plantlets causes stunted growth, poor seed production and small size fruiting.
Always get suckers from a reliable source.
Planting at the Wrong Season
Planting during the wrong reason can affect performance of your plantain farm, as well as the revenue. There are two panting seasons for planting depending on the land.
What are the Right Plantain Planting Season?
Planting season for upland is between May – September, when the rains are established. If you intend to have you first harvest during the off-season, plant May – July because the expected date of first harvest of plantain is 1 year, and plantain is usually costly between April- August, which is the off-season. For irrigated plantation, you can plant anytime including October-April. But for swampy land, planting is done between November-March, when the rains have stopped and before the rain sets in for the next season. See best seasons to plant plantain, harvest and make profit.