Tomato business is one of the most lucrative business in Nigeria. This is because tomatoes is used in preparing a lot of food today. For instance, we use it in cooking stews, soups, salads, potages. Tomato goes with virtually every food imaginable. This article explains how to start a lucrative tomato farming in Nigeria.
Benefits Of Tomato
Health:
• It is an excellent source of vitamin C and beta-carotene.
• Vitamin C helps prevent scurvy.
• It’s deep red colour ensures it is a good source of antioxidants which helps clears junks that fasten aging in the body.
• It is a rich source of Vitamin E which helps the skin to stay fresh.
• It has Vitamin A which enhances eye sight.
Profit:
It has a very high profit margin because every individual in Nigeria consume the product. Well, this is an avenue for entrepreneurs to make money. So getting the knowledge on tomato farming business is very important.
How To start a Tomato farm in Nigeria
The following steps to follow are listed below:
1. Pick The Best Specie
Going for the best specie is best for tomato farming. The Roma variety is one of the best know for its redness and plum size in the Nigeria market. This specie can be used for canning and tomato paste. It has a long shelf life, hard back and low water content which enables it lasts longer even after harvest.
2. Prepare The Nursery
Planting of tomato is done while nursery planting which involves planting the tomato first in a small field them when matured, you transplant to the open field. Tomato seeds thrives in all soil and best in loamy soil. It needs adequate moisture after planting in nursery it begins to germinate after 5-7 days and are left for one month to mature before transplanting.
3. Transplanting
This is simply transferring the matured plant from the nursery to the open field. This has to be done with utmost precision and must be done carefully to avoid breaking of the tender plant. Translating has to be done that very day after uprooting from the nursery.
4. Weeding And Application Of Fertilizers
Weeding is done after 2 months of transplanting. Fertilizers are applied to replenish the soil and it is best advised to use NPK fertilizer for good tomato production.
5. Harvest Your Tomato
Once you begin harvesting of the tomatoes, you continue to harvest until the end of the season. A season begins in planting which is usually at the onset of the raining season and ends in dry season. If you plant by April then expect to start harvesting by june/july up till november/december.
6. Market your Tomatoes
Marketing is the key to make sales. After planting and harvesting you need to market and it is up to you to strategize your method for marketing. You can market anywhere in the urban areas as long as your tomato is of quality.