Harriet Nakabaale of Camp Green at Kawaala, who is an expert in urban and vegetable farming, explains that because vegetables are fast growing crops, you will get quick money to make ends meet.
Amaranths (doodo), ebbugga, ejjobye will mature in 21 days and you are ready for the market. The beauty with dodo is that you only harvest leaves and branches and within two weeks, it will have grown other branches and be ready for harvesting again. This can be harvested for a full year.
To get the best germination rates of your vegetable seeds, soak them into water for a day to give them the vigor to germinate and grow faster. An acre can give between sh4-5m at an investment of sh2m.
Nakati
If you grow nakati, you will only wait for 60 days to harvest and start earning from your farm.
Although many farmers grow local variety, it is much profitable if you grow the improved variety called big leaf. Seeds can be sourced from most farm inputs dealers. Unlike local variety where you uproot the whole plant during harvest, the improved variety you only harvest branches and will bring others. The harvest will be continuous.
Nakati requires free draining sandy loam soils rich in organic matter. A soil pH of 5.5 to 6.8 is recommended. You can only find the pH after carrying out a soil test. This can be done at the nearest research institute or at private soil testing facilities in most of the country’s towns. Each test costs sh30,000 to sh50,000. Tests should be done at least once a year.
With the tests done, start preparing the land immediately in order to plant as soon as rains intensify.
Ploughing an acre will cost you sh200,000.
