How To Start A Vegetable Farming In Ghana

Not all businesses require buying and selling, vegetable farming is arguably one of the most lucrative businesses in Ghana, regardless of how you see it.
Vegetables are a major aspect of virtually every soup in all the different tribes of the country, they are also seen as major condiments used in preparing both local and continental dishes.
Mostly, farming is associated with unsuccessful, illiterate and poor individuals, overtime, this has proved to be a wrong notion as most farmers today are the direct opposite. If you must knowing, farming is a honorable occupation with great prospect for the future. By now you have noticed that several economies are seeking ways to return to agriculture as their main stay, Ghana inclusive.
Vegetable farming happens to be one of the easiest forms of agriculture to engage in as it requires little or no expertise just a willingness to be involved and an ability to learn fast on the job.
HOW PROFITABLE IS VEGETABLE FARMING IN Ghana
Vegetable farming even though it is really overlooked in this part of the world and seen as an occupation for the non-elite, is quite lucrative and highly rewarding when it comes to profit yield. The reason for this being that the farmer can start with the lowest of incomes and with diligence and consistent hard work and innovation build on this to turn it to a mega business.
What Are The Nutritional Benefits Of Vegetable
There are several kinds of vegetables and each of these different kinds possess their unique nutritional values, even though they all have certain nutrients present in all of them.
Several people are in a grey area about the fact that the different colors on different vegetables are existent because of the predominant vitamins present in such vegetable.
Greenish color in vegetables signifies that they are rich in vitamin B9 or vitamin C, while red or orange color signifies abundance of Pro-vitamin A. Leafy vegetables like spinach, lettuce, cabbage, chard are known to contain high levels of vitamin B9 as well as vitamin C and Pro-vitamin A, even though they have low energy content. Root vegetables on the other hand, like carrots and radishes carry large amounts of Pro-vitamin A, they also rich in fiber content and they possess very low calorie content. Seed vegetables are high in calorie content but are very rich in iron, magnesium and fiber content, while pods are rich in fiber content, vitamin B9 and vitamin C with low calorie content. Other vegetables like flower or bud vegetables are equally low in calories but are fibrous in nature, examples of these are broccoli, artichokes, cauliflower, etc.
Observing the nutrient content of vegetables, it is little wonder that they are major part of virtually every meal. It is evident that one of the major ingredients one can consume to stay healthy is vegetables, and that should be done frequently.
How To Start A Vegetable Farm In Ghana
1. Progress Your Market
We are very sure that you must be wondering why this is the first step, because usually, you create the product before looking for where to sell it.
In the case of vegetable it is quite different, this is because vegetables grow very fast and at the same time are highly perishable food crops, which means they get spoilt very easily. It is therefore important that the farmer seeks out people he is intending to sell to before production. He needs to decide whether he wants to sell to middlemen or directly to the end consumer, if he is selling to middlemen, he should seek them out and strike a deal with them.
On the other hand, if he wants to sell to the consumer directly, he should put into consideration a market that will ease the sale of his crops fast enough before they start to spoil.
2. Capital
Just like most other businesses, the capital required to begin vegetable farming is largely dependent on the scale the farmer wants to operate.
3. Land Selection
It is imperative that the farmer takes proper care in studying the land he wants to use to cultivate, especially if he has an intention of going beyond backyard vegetable production.
Several soil attributes like the topography, water content and retention capacity, soil type, etc. should be studied intently before delving into production.
The topography deals basically with the physical outlook of the soil such as the presence of slope, how prone the soil is to erosion, presence of rocks or other underlying materials, presence of tree cover, etc. These can in one way or the other affect the growth rate and survival of the vegetables.
4. Kind Of Vegetable To Start With
This is one of the most important factors to consider and a prior feasibility study will help the farmer answer this question.
There is a plethora of vegetables that the farmer can invest in but he must put into consideration his ready market, his resources and most of all the kind of diseases that affect vegetables in his environment. Vegetables are highly susceptible to pest and disease outbreaks.
The farmer must consider which vegetables are most resistant to the prevalent pests and diseases in his location and invest in such, except if he is ready to spend heavily in trying to combat such pests and diseases.
Once all these are sorted out, you are ready to start your farm, have patients and start making tremendous profit.