I am sure at some point we all have gone into, passedor at the very least parked near our local farming input hardware shop and noticed the seedling vendors often manning the pavements selling seedlings of tomatoes, onions , cabbages etc. That’s a business that almost anyone can get into with minimal resources, however if you want to run this business profitably then I suggest you go through this article as we speak about running a plant nursery business on a semi commercial to commercial basis and earning that extra dollar for you and your family.
Who can run a nursery?
The answer is quite simple, anyone can run a nursery business this includes you, the key factors like any other business are determination, skill and persistence. I will admit it may be a bit challenging at first as you might not have the pre requisite skill to rear seedlings successfully, in such a case it becomes vital to invest in attending that nursery management training workshop or simply have your workers trained on nursery management by a professional agronomist believe me it pays at the end of the day.
Who will I sell to?
The purpose of this article is to equip you with information so that you shift from seedling street vending for those who are already in the business to becoming a commercial seedling producer. You will be surprised that most commercial fresh produce farmers do not have nurseries on their farms and rely on purchasing seedlings or simply outsourcing their seedlings from reputable suppliers due to various reasons ranging from quality to cost cutting measures. Therefore it is very important to actively market your services and products to this market.
Which crops seedlings can I produce?
Depending on the season and market you can produce a wide variety of seedlings for the market. Onions and cabbages are ideal this time of the year as they can be grown well during this time of the year in Zimbabwe despite the winter season the list is endless. Another crop which can be grown and has great returns when sold as seedlings is the “golden leaf”, tobacco seedling which by the way if you intend to transplant as irrigated crop in September/October the first week of June is the best time to plant the seeds in the nursery.
How much will I need to start up?
The positive thing about nursery production is the reduced labour costs as one or two people are required to effectively run a nursery catering for seedlings covering 50-100 hectares. The ultimate startup cost will depend on the method used in your nursery. I usually encourage clients to shift from the conventional seed bed method to the advanced hydroponics systemwhich has the advantage of producing even sized seedlings, easy fertilization, easy pest management, easy water management. It will cost about 700 USD to set up, this includes the trays and liquid fertilisers that are used. I do admit this is a steep figure but let me make it clear that this is a once off investment which will pay you back in the long run. It takes usually 4 – 5 weeks to produce seedlings for most vegetables with each seedling sold between5c – 10c and producing a minimum of 20 000 seedlings that translates to about 2 000 USD and then deducting variable costs you profit 800 – 1 000 USD minimum that’s a nice extra dollar every 5 weeks. Make sure to visit this page during the week for a detailed article on the hydroponics system.
How much space do I need?
Your own back yard can be used as a nursery provided there is enough sunlight reaching the area. To produce 20 000 seedlings you may need only 50 m x 1 m that’s pretty manageable.
What challenges must I expect?
Like any business there is some risk involved, the major challenge that most farmers who are into this business face is quality issues , this is greatly reduced with the hydroponics system as well as employing skilled labour to produce your seedlings. The other challenge is that of finding a reliable market, if you are just starting this business it is advisable to start small, start by selling to your friends, church mates, schools, small scale farmers etc, in the process you build yourself a reputation and business grows.
How best can I market my seedlings ?
I am not a marketing specialist but experience has taught me that a good reputation will attract good business. A good reputation involves delivering the seedlings on the agreed date and producing quality seeds and most importantly don’t cheat the customer. I have come across a very interesting model were by the nursery produces seedlings which are paid for in advance by the farmer on a rotational basis or depending on your relationship with the farmer , the nursery produces the seedlings and farmer is contracted to pay upon sale of produce at an agreed interest rate.
Emmanuel D.N Dube is the senior agronomist at Agro Aid Trust and Chief Agronomist at ZIBN. If you have any questions you can email him agroaidtrustzimbabwe@gmail.com/+263783 495 396
