Pepper is a vegetable eaten by almost everybody in the world. Pepper farming is one of the most profitable businesses in Ghana and other countries of the world. Just like tomato farming and cucumber farming, pepper.farming can be very lucrative.
One of the most popular type of pepper in Ghana is chilli pepper (Hot Pepper). Farmers who engage in pepper farming smile to the bank year in, year out.
What Is The Average Yield Of Hot Pepper Per Acre In Ghana?
This is the major question asked by Ghanaians. Read carefully to get the answer. In Ghana today, the average yield of hot pepper per acre is about 0.2 tonnes while improved agronomic practices can result to over 5 tonnes of hot pepper per acre.
How To Make Money From pepper farming In Ghana
To make good money from pepper farming, you must take the below steps:
1. Get Proper Training In The Modernized Pepper Farming:
Cultivating pepper like how the
conventional farmer in Ghana does will lead to little or no profit. You should get yourself trained in how to use modern agronomic practices and farm technologies to boost your crop yield. If you do not know how to grow crops with modern agronomic techniques, you can hire those who are very skilled in farming.
2. Adequate Finance:
If you want to make good money
from pepper farming, you must get adequate finances. Cutting corners will lead to losses.
Do you want to take a bank loan? Will your farm be financed by
contributions from family and
friends? You must consider all
funding options. It is better to use your own funds when starting out in pepper farming.
3. Buy Or Get A Farmland:
Fertile farmland can be a very great asset. Try as much as possible to secure a fertile farmland, this will reduce the cost of fertiliser, manure and other farm treatment input. You can rent a farmland instead of acquiring it, this will reduce initial cost outlay.
4. Consideration Of Soil And Water Analysis:
You need to know the nutrients level, pH and microbial count in your soil and water. This will
guide you on the type of fertiliser and soil improvers to use on your farm. Farming without carrying out a soil test is like a student who goes into an examination hall with nothing in his brain.
5. Employ/Hire Staff:
You need to employ good staff. The manager of your farm must be skillful in the cultivation of
pepper. You will need labourers for large scale pepper farming even on Small or medium scales (It depends on your plans).
6. Soil Preparation:
You need to take off the weeds and unwanted trees on your farmland, plough, harrow and ride if need be. If the soil is poor, you will need to add manure
or compost and some fertilizers.
If you prefer to go organic, you can add manure. Microbial inoculants and humates like humic acid and fluvic acid.
7. Installation Of Drip irrigation:
Drip irrigation is the passing of water and nutrients to the base of your plants through pipes in a trickle form. It is the most efficient type of irrigation for
pepper farming. With drip irrigation, you can increase the yield of your pepper farm by 40%-200% whilst also reducing the use of water and labour by a significant percentage.
You must get a good drip irrigation system for your
pepper farm. To install drip irrigation for pepper farming in Ghana, you need to have a good water source like borehole, well, dam or river.
8. Buy Farm Inputs:
You also need to get farm inputs for your pepper farm. Examples of farm inputs needed include
fertilizers, manure, pesticides, knapsack sprayer or power sprayer, seeds (hybrid or open pollinated), cutlasses, hoes, plough and weeders etc.
Hybrid pepper seeds are high yielding than open pollinated pepper seeds. You need to research the best type of pepper seeds good for your agro climate and type of diseases and pests prevalent in your area.
9. Proper Care For Your Crops:
Practice good agronomic methods to make your crops disease free and ensure a very good yield.
Ensure you follow strict pesticide application regime. It is always better to prevent diseases than attempting to cure them.
10. Harvest And Marketing:
Harvest your produce with care. While harvesting your peppers, ensure that the fruits are not
damaged. You may need to preserve the pepper if you do not intend to sell them within days.
Marketing is key and as a matter of fact, you should secure the places to sell your produce before you start farming at all.
We believe we have given answer to your question on Average Yield Of Hot Pepper Per Acre In Ghana. In Addition to it, how to make money through pepper farming in Ghana.