Plantain
is one of the most widely consumed food around the world and the most exciting
aspect of plantain farming is the fact that there is little or no need for
replanting year in year out. Due to high population and availability of market
in Nigeria, it is easy to sell the harvest and generate income with little or
no stress.
The
following tips are necessary for an easy plantain farm execution-
Good land:
Availability of a rich soil land for optimum growth
Good land preparations:
Either manual means or mechanized means of land clearing could be used
depending on the size of the land proposed to be used.
Acquisition of good suckers:
good suckers should be acquired from a good mother plant, peeling of suckers
are done to prevent nematode infection. This process is similar to peeling of
cassava. Storage of suckers for too long before planting can affect yield
adversely
Planting:
This can best be done after farm clearing, plantain is best planted during the
rainy season
Fertilizing:
Nutrients can be added in form of appropriate fertilizer to improve yield
quality of the plantain.
Land practices:
Weeding and pest control can be done either manually or with the use chemicals.
Harvesting:
This is done within the third month of planting. Optimum yield and disease free
produce is very essential for a quality market value
Plantain production is very lucrative and has the
following advantages.
-Selling
into the market directly
-Exporting
to other countries
-Small
scale production with little capital is possible
-Processing
into other consumables is possible e.g plantain chips, plantain flour which can
also be sold on a large scale.