The rainy season is here once again. What most farmers have been waiting for. Some will take advantage and start planting their seedlings and various types of crops. Others who are new will be wondering about where to start.

Lots of people for the lack of knowledge on what to plant will just stick to animal farming. This way, they just worry about what to feed them and get it for them.

Yet still, they have huge acres of land going waste which if they should find the right crop to cultivate during this season much profit could be made.

Well, no worries, I will be taking you through some crops which are more advantageous to cultivate during the rainy season.

Mind you, there are different raining seasons in different part of the county.

In the northern part of Ghana, just one season is recorded which is from May to September.

On the other hand, there are two rainy seasons within the Southern sector. The major season which happens from April to July and the minor season which happens from September to November.

Now that we are aware of the various types of rainy seasons within each part of the country, let’s take a look at how to utilize this knowledge to our advantage by choosing the best crops to plant during these seasons.

Per the little information I gathered from some petty farmers within the town and visiting their farm, they shared these information with me on the type of plants to cultivate during these seasons and it doesn’t require any special farming skills to growth these crops.

Even a newbie can try these crops and it will yield the best of harvest.

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1. Rice

This is a type of grain/cereal crop which is also widely consumed. It’s in almost available in all the continents. Rice is everywhere, from Africa to Europe to Asia etc. I mean all continents.

Rice depends on lot of water for fine growth, hence it’s very much advisable to plant in mushy and muddy areas. It’s very much advisable to grow this plant in the major rainy season if you’re within the southern part of the country that’s if you only relay on the rain as a means of irrigation.

Research from Wikipedia shows that rice is the 3rd largest crop being cultivated in the world. China and India are the top largest producers when it comes to rice production.

Since rice is of very high depend, cultivation of this crop won’t bring about a loss unless severe pest disease attacks.

Some pest diseases of rice includes grain rot, black horse riding, and brown spot and so on.

But in all these potential obstacles, rice cultivation is very lucrative and yields good outcomes if proper caution is taken

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2. Maize

The second on the list is maize cultivation. These type of crop is a domestic plant that is a household name popularly known as corn and can be used in many ways to provide feed for both human and other livestocks.
Maize is cultivated almost all over the world with it origination from the America.

The duration of maize from planting stage to harvesting is about 3 to 4 months.

Although maize is a very easy crop to cultivate, there are still some possible disease and pest attacks. We can record either or both bacteria and fungal attacks. The fungi attacks includes black kernel roots, borde banco, charcoal root brown spot, etc whiles the bacteria attacks includes holcus spot, bacterial leaf spot, chocolate spot etc.

Hence the maize crop is one crop to consider planting during this season especially as a newbie in farming.

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3. Ground nuts

Ground nuts are very essential crops in out life. It can be processed as paste which can be used for soup or just roasted and eaten or used for gari soakings.

It’s very high in nutrients and of very high demand in our markets.

Cultivation of these crops yields very good harvest during this season as well.

Ground nut also takes 4 to 5 mouths to harvest from the the time of planting. Just a little bit longer than the maize crop.

Grounds grows very well with a good soil condition. They normally grow better at a ph of 6 and 7 hence in an acidic soil.

There are also some bacteria attacks like wilt, blight, collar rot, charcoal rot, botrytis etc. For this reasons, it’s advisable to spray your ground nut farm with pesticides when such attacks are noticed.

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4. Cassava

Cassava also known as mainot esculenta is a staple crop which is widely consumed by millions of people all over the country. It’s one crop that we can’t do without.

Cassava is processed into pastes and used in combination with maize or corn to cook one of the most popular food in Ghana called Banku. It can also be used to prepare fufu in combination with little amount of plantain. This crop can also be used in the preparation of gari which can further be used to prepare Eba, not forgetting the preparation of starch for other uses etc.

Cassava is a profitable crop to cultivate because all you need is the stem. It’s just cut into reasonable side or length then slanted into the ground.

Within six months time, it’s likely to be ready for harvest. It takes some time hence advisable to plant just at the very beginning of the rainy season so you can get enough water for the whole period of growth.

Some common diseases includes wilt, antholysis, bacteria stem rot, brown leaf spot, rust, pythium etc hence should be spread with the right pesticides to prevent lost.

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5. Millet

Millet is also another very good choice of crop to cultivate during the rainy season. This type of cereal crop is easy to cultivate as well, and has a very short duration to harvest.

It takes approximately 3-4 months from the day of planting to harvest. Hence, within no time your crop is ready to sell in the market.

It usually grown within within the semi-tropical region of the country and in most part of the world. It requires a high temperature of about 20-30 degree Celsius with a very wet water condition of approximately 40 cm to 60 centimeters.

All these weather conditions mentioned above are available in the northern part of the country hence highly cultivated there.

Millets are used in the preparation of so many delicacies within this country. Some of these local foods includes tuo zafi, furah, brukina, porridge etc.

Some common diseases of this crop cultivation are egrots, pearl millet, rust, smuts and many more but if proper care is taken to control these attacks, your farm will grow just fine and produce bountifully.

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6. Yam

Finally, yam is a very good choice of crop to cultivate during the rainy seasons. The type and nature of the soil to plant on is very important when it comes to yam cultivation.

For good harvest, farmers mix different types of soil to have very huge yam tubers.

It’s very good to plant it in loamy soil just like any other crop but this type of crop requires special dressing of the soil before planting the yam. The soil is usually hipped to a certain height and size before the head of the yam is planted into it.

Yam I will say has a longer period from time of planting to time of harvest than the once mentioned earlier. It takes about 9 to 10 months for it to be harvest.

Yam festival is celebrated among some Ghanaians. This is popularly known as the Asogli Yam Festival. The native of some part of the Volta Region such as Sokode, Abutia, Akrofu and Klefe are the ones who celebrate this festival.

The Asogli State( Ho) is where they all join hands in the celebrations of this festival. Hence , you can see how value this crop is to humans.

Cooked yam can be consumed as meal with different types of stew or even soup. It can also be pounded as fufu and taken with soup.

Some pest/disease of yam includes dry rot, myleabugs, mosaic and so on but just like the others use the right pesticides in fighting them and you’re good to go.

Conclusion

Maybe you are new to farming or had the desire for a while but haven’t really been able to pick a particular crop to start with. Worry no more, any of these crops listed above will be a great start for you.

Just get started and put in little effort. The good news is, the rainy season is here, take advantage.

There are more crops out there you can equally choose from. Please feel free to share them with us in the comments section.

Thank you.