Garlic farming agribusiness is quite lucrative.Garlic herb is a relative of bulb onions. One acre of garlic will yield about 7 tons of garlic bulbs. At a farm gate price of 150/= per kg, the gross income per acre will be about 7,000×150=ksh1,050,000.The crop has a good and growing market in Kenya, due to it's culinary and medicinal value. This crop has pungent taste and smell and it’s used for flavouring food particularly soups, meat and fish. This medicinal plant has been used successfully for pimple and boils removal from the skin, relief of rheumatism, colds, coughs and sore throats, management of diabetes and HIV and AIDS complications. Garlic herb growing is suited for medium to high altitudes of 500-2000M. High temperatures of 30ºC are necessary for optimum bulb development. Cooler temperatures in the early stages are required as they favour vegetative growth required for plant establishment. Optimum temperatures for growing the crop are 12-24ºC. Excess rainfall and humidity are detrimental to the plant’s vegetative growth and bulb formation. Growing of garlic herb is carried out in low rainfall areas where irrigation can be used in the early stages when water requirement is highest.
The plant requires well drained fertile soils. Avoid clay soils as they may result in malformed bulbs. Soil Ph should be 5.5-6.8.flavour development of garlic herb is best in sunny weather. Deep land preparation is required to ensure adequate rooting depth. Individual cloves are used for growing of garlic herb which is carried out vegetatively. Bulbs for sowing from the previous crop should be stored at 10ºC and a relative humidity of 50-65%. Stored bulbs should be fumigated if mites are present and inspected periodically for storage rots.
Garlic herb growing is carried out on raised seed beds, on ridges at a spacing of 30cm between rows and 15-20cm between plants, giving a plant population of 150,000-200,000 per hectare. The cloves should be sown 2.5cm deep in well firmed soil. The seed clove requirement is about 300kg per acre or 750kg/ha.
Seed garlic is harvested while more mature since it is allowed to stay in the fields for a atleast six months consumption bulbs for consumption are harvested as early as four months. Planting garlic intended for consumption results to poor germination. There is need to take extra care to get seed garlic from reliable sources only. Some imported garlic bulbs are treated with growth inhibitors to prevent sprouting on the grocery helves and they cannot germinate.
It is advisable for starters to start with about 100kg of bulbs and do bulking for one season to get adequate high quality bulb seed. The crop responds well to organic manure and 20tons/ha can be ploughed into the soil before planting
Fertilizer requirements for growing the crop vary with soil fertility .The standard fertilizer rate of application is NPK is 150:55:40kg/ha applied as 1/3N:1P:1/5K. N and K topdressing should be applied 6-8 weeks after sowing and final N application at the beginning of bulb formation. The most common pests and diseases in growing garlic herb include purple blotch, downy mildew, rust, bulb rot, nematodes and onion thrips. Control measures include long crop rotations (4 years), Field hygiene, good drainage, removal and destruction of infected and crop debris, spraying suitable insecticides and fungicides. The crop matures 6-8 months after sowing, when leaf tops turn yellow or brown, then the leaves bend over and dries out. Dig the bulbs carefully to avoid damage. Light and sprouting bulbs should be discarded. Cure the bulbs in open air under shade for 8-10 days until the plants are thoroughly dry. Market or store the garlic herb bulbs. Dry storage of the bulbs for two months is sufficient to break dormancy. The length of crop growing period before garlic herb plants starts bulb formation determines yields which ranges between 12-15 tons/ha-more.Read also
http://www.globalsuppliersonline.com/Kenya/Garlic
Garlic/Bulb onion Farming e-manual
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Garlic/Bulb onion Farming e-manual
We sell detailed Garlic/Bulb Onions e- Manual.The document is a good source of information and covers details about Garlic/Onion Farming including: -
1. Varieties suitable for growing in Kenya
2. Capital investment &Returns per acre
3. Nursery Establishment
4. planting onions
5. Planting Garlic
6. Pests and their Control
7. Diseases and their control
8. Post-planting field management
9. Plant vigour maintenance for high yields
10. Yields of onions
11. Yields of Garlic
12. Post-harvest handling
13. Business plan preparation
14. Farming Records and accounts.
15. Farm salaries and wages Records
16. Farm Cash register
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We offer the following products and services at affordable fees.- Agribusiness plans preparation
- Agribusiness information e-manuals
AGRIBUSINESS PLANS PREPARATION
An Agribusiness Plan is the road-map to success in any farming business. An Agribusiness Plan preparation is therefore crucial for success of any farming business. This is the document which will support your agribusiness to grow, seek funding from financial institutions and/or donors, and monitor performance over a period of time for continuous improvement. Agribusiness plan is a management tool which will help you to avoid expensive mistakes in your farming business. FAILURE TO PLAN IS PLANNING TO FAIL. MAKE SURE YOU PREPARE AN AGRIBUSINESS PLAN BEFORE STARTING YOUR FARMING BUSINESS.The second important milestone is to get the right technical information.
AGRIBUSINESS INFORMATION E-MANUALS
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n) Value addition and Agro-processing e-manual:The e-manual contains Manufacture of Fruit juices, yogurt, Fruit Jam, Small scale ice-cream making ,Tomato sauce processing, bread baking & cakes baking, cake decoration, vegetable solar drying, Banana crisps and flour processing, cassava fermenting and flour processing, Soya milk and peanut butter processing.
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SOYA YOGHURT DELIVERY TO OUR NAIROBI CLIENTS
We are now delivering our freshly prepared, hygienically packed Soya yoghurt to our Nairobi clients on Thursdays between 9.30am to 10.00am, at Ngara stage. We have three fine flavours of our soy yoghurt namely strawberry, vanilla and passion fruit. We deliver a minimum of 5 litres. Some clients send motorbike couriers to collect their package and it has worked well.If interested, kindly Email yagrein@gmail.com.
