How to Start Commercial Pawpaw Farming In Nigeria
With the unpleasant Economic recession in the country, many now embrace agricultural farming as a lucrative source of income. However, amidst this number, majority still give little or no consideration to commercial pawpaw farming for profit. Pawpaw Farming in Nigeria for long has been seen only as an integral fraction of our farms; many farmers only plant one or two pawpaw tree either for personal use or for family consumption.
Resent research shows that we have for long neglected a lucrative source of income due to our negligence to pawpaw farming business for profit.
Pawpaw plant is a tropical plant usually found in tropical climates which bears pawpaw fruits also known as Carica Papaya.
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The papaya fruit is highly known and consumed due to its medicinal and health benefits. Papaya fruit has low calories content, contains no cholesterol and is a rich source of photo-nutrients, minerals and vitamins. Papaya is usually preferred over other fruits because of its soft, easily digestible flesh which have high amount of soluble dietary fiber that assist in normal bowel movement thereby reducing constipation. Ripe papaya provides high vitamin C than any other fruits (orange or Lemon) and thus regarded as an immune booster and anti- inflammatory agent.
The medicinal and health benefit of eating Papaya are such that leads to high demand of this delicious fruits by many, also pawpaw is demanded in fruiting company, beauty products company, hotels and restaurant and this high demand turn to be profit for the Commercial Papaya investor.
Are you looking for a farming business to invest into with little or no startup capital and have a high return on investment within a short period? Then you should consider pawpaw farming business. Pawpaw farming has a huge market in and across all tribes, states and countries. Startup requires little or no capital and surprisingly easy to start up and manage.
HOW TO START-
The First Step to start this lucrative pawpaw Farming business is to get a land composed of the right soil for pawpaw cultivation. A good preferred soil is a mixture of sandy and loam soil [but generally, Nigerian north eastern soil is also good], however, avoid water logged areas and rocky lands.
Get Seeds- Propagation
Propagation of papaya tree is via seeds. There are options to explore at this stage- either to buy already prepared agric pawpaw seeds or prepare them yourself. Preparing or getting a pawpaw for planting simply involves getting seeds from ripped and fully matured pawpaw fruits then sun dry them. Either option can be explored but in each case ensure getting good species for planting.
Varieties/Species-
There are many varieties of pawpaw, but mostly cultivated variety is the Red flesh and the yellow flesh. The ones with yellow fresh are regarded to be the best due to its big size, taste and long shelf life.
Raise Seeds
Due to some reasons in addition to the fact that pawpaw tree is a delicate plant, one is advised to plant seeds directly to the intended place while leaving a 5 meter gap in between holes. But with good knowledge of transplanting and nursery, one can initially and temporary create a nursery bed prior transplanting. The best practice is to use big nursery bags, packed full with mixture of sandy soil, loam soil and manure, and then introduce two seeds per bag. Ensure seeds are located at the center of each bag to avoid damage of the roots during transplanting. Mulching, Watering, fertilizing is done for the first two month after which they are due for transplanting.
Note: Chemicals needed at this Early stage
· Vegimax- a fertilizer for healthy growth
· Dudu cyper- insecticide to killing insecticides.
Transplanting –
Assuming you planted firstly in nursery bag/nursery beds follow the below steps to ensures safe transplant, proper growth and maximum fruiting.
To transplant- dig 10ft holes inline but 5 meters or 10ft apart. Please note this spacing is highly recommended to ensure good exposure to sunlight and to avoid pawpaw trees from just growing tall with poor fruiting. 250 pawpaw trees are recommended for one acre of land.
Inspection and Weeding-
Just like most farming, weeding and inspection of the farm is advised. Weeding is of high importance at this stage to avoid competition for food, space, water, sunlight between the pawpaw tree and the weeds which may cause poor fruiting.
Harvesting-
Pawpaw matures very fast, harvesting commence exactly at 9 months after planting. Though at this stage, harvest is still low or scanty, as they are yet to reach full production. But when trees are between 12 months to 18 months harvest is high and at its apex.
Sales-
As early mentioned, the market for pawpaw is very huge and the demand is high, sale of harvest can be guaranteed. Also one can start a fruit processing factory too, to make even more from this business.
Challenges-
The challenge of this business is minimal. However, one that must be noted is the need for good preservative means to avoid perishing of harvest as pawpaw are prone to perish.
Pets and Disease
Major disease of pawpaw is the fungal diseases which are known to damage the leaves.
Control- Spray with Dythene or Dudu Cyper.
Conclusively, Paw paw farming is a lucrative business for any investor.