Challenges faced by Banana farmers

 As banana farming is more profitable compared to other crops,many young farmers are interested to start this farm business.But there are so risk factors and challenges associated with it.So before starting the business,it is good to know the difficulties and challenges faced by banana farmers.This will help us to identify our weak areas and do proper planning for the farm business we are going to start.Below are some of the major challenges associated with banana farming.

Unavailability of quality suckers

 Unlike other crops,for banana plantation we are using suckers from the mother plants.The suckers should be free from pests and other diseases and should have good growth rate.The availability of quality suckers are very less in major areas.This is one of the major issues faced by banana farmers.many farmers are not aware about the quality of suckers they buy.for a successful banana farming,it is important that we use high quality suckers which are disease and pests free.Maintaining quality suckers for next plantation is one way to overcome this issue if you are confident with the current plantation.Usage of tissue cultured plantlets will help alot in overcoming quality issues.But be careful while choosing the source of it.

Wind

 Wind is one of the main threat to banana plantations.Every year wind destroys a decent portion of banana plantation across the country.Normally a wind having speed above 80Km/hr is a possible threat to banana plantation.Usage of supports will help to some extend.The location of the banana plantation is an important factor in reducing the effects of wind.Try to do plantation in an area where there is some cover available to reduce the wind speed.

Pests and Diseases

 There are so many pests and diseases associated with Banana farming.Some of them are various types of caterpillars,moths,mites,bugs,bunchy top,panama disease etc.Treating pets and diseases are time consuming and costly.So it is better to avoid them from plantation by using quality suckers which are free from these diseases and pests.

Wild animals

 Attack from wild animals are another threat to Banana farming.Wild boars and Monkeys are major threats.For avoiding them,farmers use various techniques.Usage of crackers and Nets are some techniques.However wild animals cause lots of damages to banana plantation.

Unavailability of Man powers and Increasing labor costs

 As banana farming is a labor intensive farming,manpower requirement is very high.But many people are not ready to work in banana plantations as the job is less attractive.Those who work charge high rate.These things makes Banana farming a challenging business for many farmers.So before planning for banana farming,we need to consider this thing also.

Varying market price

 The market price for Banana always vary.It depends upon the requirement from customer and availability of bananas in the market.At some festival seasons,the price will go high.So while planting,we need to target such festival seasons for getting high price for our Bananas.

  Above are some brief descriptions about some issues faced by banana farmers.If you have anything extra to add,you can always comment below.We hope above points will help us to plan well for our plantation before implementing it.

Related Posts

• Banana farming.
• Banana Farming:Monsoon Protection.

Read more ...

Banana Farming

 Banana cultivation is one of the traditional area of farming in India.As it is labor intensive farming,it creates huge job opportunities in farming sector.The quick and high return on investment is one of the attraction of this farm business.India is one of the top five Banana producing countries in the world.Due to huge domestic demand,all Fruits produced are consumed locally.Still our production is not up to the demand exists.This leaves good business opportunities for young entrepreneurs to enter in this field.

 The main attraction of Banana farming is that 'everything is available locally'.From the seed for planting to the marketing,everything we can find locally.For selling,no need to worry we have huge local market which will accept all of our production with decent return.All we need to do is follow proper procedure of farming and produce quality fruits.

 Commercial Banana production is one of the revenue generating sector in Banana cultivation.This ensures huge income generating opportunities for Banana farmers.As we were cultivating Banana for centuries,many farmers still follow traditional methods of Banana farming .Then also they get decent income from Banana farming.The production per Acre is less in traditional methods.There are lots of newly introduced technologies to improve the production and generate income.Coming posts are based on banana production and from those posts we can get an idea about how we can convert Banana farming as a good revenue source.

Related Posts

• Challenges faced by Banana farmers.
• Banana Farming:Monsoon Protection.

Read more ...

Running a small scale freshwater fish farm business

 Starting a fish farm is a big task . Its maintenance is another challenge.After getting a good start of the fish farm ,  it is important   to concentrate on successful running of the farm.Most of the young farmers fails at this stage.Even after setting up a good fish farm,due to some negligence the entire efforts are going to waste.So it is important to know the main factors which can control the success of the fish farm and the areas we need to concentrate.

Pond Maintenance

 As we are doing the fish farming in the pond,maintenance of pond is one of the important area we need to concentrate.The pond should be prepared well.Before filling water,the bottom of the pond should be treated with lime.The Ph of the water should be checked daily and a Ph level between 7 and 8 should be maintained.There should be provision for water in and water out.Good oxygen level should maintained in the water.Application of organic fertilizers will help the plankton growth in the pond which will provide food for the fishes.The pond should be protected very well from predators.Constant water level should be maintained and water temperature should be checked for any deviation.Clear pond boundary should be constructed and avoid water unexpected water entry from other areas

Observing Fishes

Observing your fishes daily is an important activity if you are doing a fish farming.By daily observation of fishes you can understand how they are growing,any additional nutrient requirement,starting of diseases,any threat to the fishes etc.These understandings will help you to improve your farm and prevent spreading of any possible diseases.If you are neglecting this area,the entire farm will be under threat.

Feeding

You need to feed the fishes if you are running a farm.The feed can be prepared in your farm itself.The prepared feed should be given at fixed time intervals.Take care that you are not giving more food than the fishes require which will reduce the water quality.Based on the nutritional requirement the feed can be prepared.Please get the advice from nearby Govt.Agencies about the feeding requirements.

Selective Removal

Some fishes grow very fast and some not.So it is important to remove grown fishes from pond for giving opportunity for smaller ones to grow.This will provide you additional revenue also.The harvesting time of each breeds will vary.So it is important that you know the harvesting time of the breed you raise.

Find a Regular buyer

It is important for the economic success of the farm that we find a buyer who will buy our farm products regularly.This will reduce lots of pressure on marketing requirements and you can concentrate on running your farm smoothly.It is very good if you can have two three regular customers additionally.

By concentrating on above points,we can avoid many issues that may arise while we run the fish farm.These are not complete ones but will help surely for smooth running of the farm.

Related Posts

• Fish Farming-A developing Aquaculture business
• Freshwater fish farming in ponds-A small scale business opportunity
• Starting a small scale freshwater fish farm business

Read more ...

Starting a small scale freshwater fish farm business

 Fish farming sector is one of the fastest growing farming sector in India.As more and more youngsters are interested to become investors in this sector lots of job opportunities also generating. Beginning a small scale freshwater fish farm is always a question among young farmers.They always have lots of questions in their mind about the profitability,requirement,things to do and how to start..the questions never end. Finding answers for such questions is not that easy and it is normal that we get the answers from our experience only.Here I am not going to answer these questions but showing some ways to find the answer to your questions.

Visiting Nearby Fish farm

It is always advisable that we experience things by seeing a model.Visiting a fish farm will give you an overall idea about what kind of farm you are going to start.It will help you to be more clear with your ideas.You can notice the things you missed,find opportunities for improvement and importantly you can understand whether the idea is suitable for you or not.Talking with the farmer will give you more idea on starting the farm,maintaining the farm and the marketing.He can also give you some ideas about the profitability of the business. You can even revise your idea based on the things you understood from the farm.So it is most important that you visit a fish farm before blindly starting the business.

Finding suitable water bodies

For starting a fish farm,we need to identify suitable water body.A nearby pond which will have water in all seasons is suitable for the continuous running of the farm.Some ponds are seasonal and there are other water bodies also which can be converted for our farm.Digging a new pond is suitable only if you are taking the business more seriously and you have enough money to spend.The pond should be fertilized and Ph level should be checked.A ph level between 7 and 8 is suitable.The pond should be protected from predators.The water quality should be high and Oxygen content should be high.

Find a suitable seed seller and buy

The fish seeds(Babies) will play major role in the success of our farm.They should be healthy and should not contain any diseases.So do a search and find a trustable seller of seeds.The first seeds are important for your farm.An experienced seller can give you lots of advises about caring the babies and can show you lots of marketing opportunities for your farm products.You can develop your own seeds later.

Seek the help of nearby Government Agencies

You can always trust government agencies as they are here for helping farmers and not for generating profit from them.Approaching private agencies for consulting is not good as they are here for making profit.So keep in touch with nearby Government agencies for all your queries.This will also help you to know various Government policies and subsidies for promoting fish farming.

  These are some tips to help you to have an idea of starting a freshwater fish farming business.After getting a start,maintaining the farm is the next big challenge.It require more patience,knowledge and understanding about the farm.If you get a good beginning,rest of the things will become easy for you.We will discus about it in coming posts.

Related Posts

• Fish farming-A developing Aquaculture Business
• Freshwater fish farming in ponds-A small scale business opportunity
• Freshwater Prawn farming in India
• Running a small scale freshwater fish farm business

Read more ...