A farmer who
wants to reduce cost and make maximum returns in plantain farming must take
note of many factors and ten of them are as follows:
1. If you are a rain dependent farmer,
start planting when the rain is steady and when there is a long break in
raining, you need to do irrigation
2. Plant clean, disease and pest free
suckers. You may treat the suckers with chemicals such as fungicides and
insecticides before planting
3. Procure and plant improved planting
varieties
4. Weed the furrows at the early stage
before the canopy closes in to prevent competition for food, moisture and space
between the weeds and the plantain plants
5. Add manure from poultry and cow dung
if available and these are better than inorganic fertilizers
6. When clearing the land, avoid using
heavy machines as they destroy the rich topsoil essential for good growth and
development of the plantain plants which thrive within the 20cm top layer of
the soil
7. Procure the suckers from government
agencies and you may procure them from other plantain farmers but ensure that
you get the right species
8. Practice inter cropping to maximize resources
per hectare or acre of land
9. Use more of casual labor than
permanent labor during harvesting and planting
1Timely
pruning of diseased leaves help minimize the spread of disease to other plants
Ayodele Adegbulugbe
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