Hello steemians! Happy weekend from Southern Nigeria. Hope you're enjoying your moment there. This is my second post in this great community. In this post I am going to tell you how to raise plantain and how you can earn a living from it. Stay tune, let me take you on an exploration.
Plantain is one of the crops that is planted almost in all parts of the globe. Plantain is rich in many nutrients especially iron and carbohydrate. How to raise plantain could be labour intensive but the benefits derive from it outweigh its effort.
CHOOSING A SOIL
Generally, plantain survives in any soil but a soil that is rich in nutrients can support a better yield. In my area, we plant plantain mostly on loamy soil. Most local farmers in my community plant this all important crop close to the house. Plantain needs moderate amount of rainfall to grow well.
PLANTING
The right planting season of plantain is during the onset of rainfall, around May till August at the peak of rainfall. Plantain does not survive well in the dry season except you are ready to water the crop regularly. For it to be firmly rooted in the soil, it should be planted when rain is still in the sky.
This crop can be planted with sucker extracted from the mature one. If you are a commercial farmer, a plantation could be raised. In this form, a distance of 2m to 3m should be used for spacing for proper ventilation.
PRUNING/MANURING
After planting, the holes shouldn't be covered to prevent heat from the soil, not to destroy the young crop. Leave it open for a month. After about 40 days of planting, you need to weed around the crop. You can manure it with compose or chemical fertilizer, preferably, NPK. This will facilitate growth and produce good yield. But make sure as a farmer, keep pruning, removing dead leaves, giving room for fresh ones to germinate.
HARVESTING
Plantain is a biennial crop that can be harvested between one and a half years after planting. A farmer must make sure, a good variety and specie is planted. You can harvest many bunches if you cultivate many suckers. Not much energy is required to plant and maintain plantain. You can use it for family consumption or for sale. I have made much money from plantain as a farmer. Here, a bunch can be sold for about N5000 depending on the size.
What do you learn here?
Plantain farming is very lucrative especially in the areas where soil is readily available. Plantain can give you extra income and food to feed your family. Aside, it can be processed into different food forms like plantain chips.
Thank you for reading through this post. You can drop comment in my comment box @okokon