Ugu Leave is tropical vine grown in west Africa as a leaf vegetable. It is mostly cultivated in the eastern part of Nigeria. Ugu leaf vegetable is used to prepare most staple food in Nigeria. It is used to blend most local soups in Nigeria and also combined in dishes like rice, plantain, yam etc. The botanical name for ugu is "telfaria occidentale".
It can be used for leaf production and seed production. There are different varieties of ugu in the market ranging from small and big leaf.
Ugu is an all year round crop that a lot of money can be made from either during raining season or dry season. However the best time for ugu marketing is from December to April before the prize goes down starts coming down. The planting period for ugu is May. Ugu is planted by seed. The seed can be subjected to a nursery.
An ugu farm cannot be setup without a plan for irrigation as you cannot depend on rain alone. Producing ugu during dry season requires a lot of watering and weeding as well.
It can be used for leaf production and seed production. There are different varieties of ugu in the market ranging from small and big leaf.
Ugu is an all year round crop that a lot of money can be made from either during raining season or dry season. However the best time for ugu marketing is from December to April before the prize goes down starts coming down. The planting period for ugu is May. Ugu is planted by seed. The seed can be subjected to a nursery.
An ugu farm cannot be setup without a plan for irrigation as you cannot depend on rain alone. Producing ugu during dry season requires a lot of watering and weeding as well.
Land preparation for Ugu
Bush burning must be done before making ridges or beds for planting.
plant two seeds per hole.
Apply organic manure.
Apply organic pesticides to protect the leafs from pest and insects.
You can start cutting your leaves (harvest) after six to seven weeks of cultivating on the field. then continue to cut every other three or four weeks.
Ugu is a one time planting and continuous harvest type of plant. with the right market and discipline you can make a lot of money producing the leaves.
Ugu must be cultivated in a well drained loamy soil. The spacing for production is 50cm by 50cm while for leaf production it 1m by 1m.
It can be gotten from three different sizes of pods. The biggest pod of ugu seed produces a range of 100-300 seeds and sold for at least 2000 naira. The medium size pod produces seeds ranging from 70-130 seed and it's been sold for 1500 naira. The small size pod produces seeds ranging from 50-70 seeds and can be sold for at least 1000 naira.
An acre of land (6 plots) can be planted with about 30,000 to 40,000 seeds of ugu. It can also be inter- planted with other plants such as cucumber.
Own your Ugu farm by learning with a practical Ugu farmer that will teach you both farming and the economic value of Ugu. For more Information on how to get a practical ugu farmer, you can send a mail to amaafarm@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment