*EARN MILLIONS FROM ONE ACRE OF PUMPKINS* 🌱
*EARN MILLIONS FROM ONE ACRE OF PUMPKINS* 🌱
*In Summary*
On just one acre, a farmer who takes into account proper agronomy practices will earn more than Shs10m from growing pumpkins, writes Desire Mbabaali- Monitor publishers
👉Pumpkins are very nutritious and have currently grown to become very profitable fruits. In this article, experts share on how farmers can grow pumpkins, best practices, and the market and how one can earn from growing pumpkins.
◼ *Planting*
Using an acre of land as our baseline, one then prepares their garden for planting, doing the first and second ploughing. Dr Allan Ahimbisibwe, Director Spark Agro-Initiatives Ltd says, “After preparing your land well, dig up holes of 1ft wide and 1ft deep and 10ft X 10ft spacing. Then mix the top soil with well decomposed manure and put it back into the hole.”
He adds on that the pumpkin thrives on an adequate supply of water thus one should consider planting during a rainy season.
👉After making the holes, get hold of the pumpkin seeds and put two to three seeds per hole at 4-5inches deep, meaning one is able to plant in over 350 holes in an acre if they maintain the 10ft X 10 spacing.
👌“Also ensure good drainage as water logged areas can’t support pumpkins,” Dr Ahimbisibwe notes.
◼ *Best Practices*
He cautions farmers to take care and weed their pumpkin gardens early. As the fruits grow, some may be removed (thinning) to enable others grow bigger.
👉Remove excessive leaves and branches.
👌Chop off the top of the first branch when it makes 8ft to allow fast flowering and fruiting.
“Take care to remove all perennial weeds before planting. As the pumpkins grow, the tendrils cannot compete with weeds so hand weeding should be done,” she says.
👉Furthermore, when the pumpkin fruits begin to grow bigger, Lorothe says that they should not seat on the ground.
“The farmer then gets dry grass and puts it beneath the pumpkin fruits to prevent them from the seating on the ground,” she says.
She also notes that pumpkins are not very susceptible to pests and diseases, though these may not be totally absent.
“Once in a while, it may be attacked by powdery mildew and viruses. The melon fly may also attack the pumpkins so traps and bait should be hung in the field; at least 4 traps per acre,”
_If possible one ought to get a full training and good quality seeds before they can start growing pumpkins, says Dr Ahimbisibwe._
◼ *Harvesting*
“After 90 days (two and a half - three months), one can start harvesting their pumpkin. The beauty with pumpkins is that they have a long shelf life of almost 5 months,” Dr Ahimbisibwe says.
Lorothe also says that some of the signs of maturity include paling of the pumpkin’s colour to a dull one and the fruit’s link to the plant becomes dry and shriveled.
Input
Dr Ahimbisibwe estimates the required inputs for one acre and their costs, though these may differ from one farm supplier to another.
• Land preparation including ploughing costs Shs250,000.
• Pumpkin seeds Shs50,000.
• Planting Shs100,000.
• Fertiliser Shs100,000.
• Pesticides Shs100,000.
• Weeding, pruning, thinning, spraying Shs150,000.
• Other costs Shs100,000.
• Total costs of Shs *850,000.*
*Output*
“Assuming that each plant gives you 15 fruits, and you have 450 holes with 3 plants in each, this will total up to 20,250 pumpkin fruits from one acre of land. And assuming that we sell each fruit at Shs1,000, one’s output will be Shs *20,250,000,”* Dr Ahimbisibwe calculates.
◼ *Marketing*
Whereas one may choose to sell the pumpkin fruits fresh, they could also add value like making pumpkin porridge powder and pumpkin juice among others. However, marketing starts with awareness as Dr Ahimbisibwe says, “Let everyone around you know that you grow pumpkins, they should start calling you Mr / madam Nsujju.
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*In Summary*
On just one acre, a farmer who takes into account proper agronomy practices will earn more than Shs10m from growing pumpkins, writes Desire Mbabaali- Monitor publishers
👉Pumpkins are very nutritious and have currently grown to become very profitable fruits. In this article, experts share on how farmers can grow pumpkins, best practices, and the market and how one can earn from growing pumpkins.
◼ *Planting*
Using an acre of land as our baseline, one then prepares their garden for planting, doing the first and second ploughing. Dr Allan Ahimbisibwe, Director Spark Agro-Initiatives Ltd says, “After preparing your land well, dig up holes of 1ft wide and 1ft deep and 10ft X 10ft spacing. Then mix the top soil with well decomposed manure and put it back into the hole.”
He adds on that the pumpkin thrives on an adequate supply of water thus one should consider planting during a rainy season.
👉After making the holes, get hold of the pumpkin seeds and put two to three seeds per hole at 4-5inches deep, meaning one is able to plant in over 350 holes in an acre if they maintain the 10ft X 10 spacing.
👌“Also ensure good drainage as water logged areas can’t support pumpkins,” Dr Ahimbisibwe notes.
◼ *Best Practices*
He cautions farmers to take care and weed their pumpkin gardens early. As the fruits grow, some may be removed (thinning) to enable others grow bigger.
👉Remove excessive leaves and branches.
👌Chop off the top of the first branch when it makes 8ft to allow fast flowering and fruiting.
“Take care to remove all perennial weeds before planting. As the pumpkins grow, the tendrils cannot compete with weeds so hand weeding should be done,” she says.
👉Furthermore, when the pumpkin fruits begin to grow bigger, Lorothe says that they should not seat on the ground.
“The farmer then gets dry grass and puts it beneath the pumpkin fruits to prevent them from the seating on the ground,” she says.
She also notes that pumpkins are not very susceptible to pests and diseases, though these may not be totally absent.
“Once in a while, it may be attacked by powdery mildew and viruses. The melon fly may also attack the pumpkins so traps and bait should be hung in the field; at least 4 traps per acre,”
_If possible one ought to get a full training and good quality seeds before they can start growing pumpkins, says Dr Ahimbisibwe._
◼ *Harvesting*
“After 90 days (two and a half - three months), one can start harvesting their pumpkin. The beauty with pumpkins is that they have a long shelf life of almost 5 months,” Dr Ahimbisibwe says.
Lorothe also says that some of the signs of maturity include paling of the pumpkin’s colour to a dull one and the fruit’s link to the plant becomes dry and shriveled.
Input
Dr Ahimbisibwe estimates the required inputs for one acre and their costs, though these may differ from one farm supplier to another.
• Land preparation including ploughing costs Shs250,000.
• Pumpkin seeds Shs50,000.
• Planting Shs100,000.
• Fertiliser Shs100,000.
• Pesticides Shs100,000.
• Weeding, pruning, thinning, spraying Shs150,000.
• Other costs Shs100,000.
• Total costs of Shs *850,000.*
*Output*
“Assuming that each plant gives you 15 fruits, and you have 450 holes with 3 plants in each, this will total up to 20,250 pumpkin fruits from one acre of land. And assuming that we sell each fruit at Shs1,000, one’s output will be Shs *20,250,000,”* Dr Ahimbisibwe calculates.
◼ *Marketing*
Whereas one may choose to sell the pumpkin fruits fresh, they could also add value like making pumpkin porridge powder and pumpkin juice among others. However, marketing starts with awareness as Dr Ahimbisibwe says, “Let everyone around you know that you grow pumpkins, they should start calling you Mr / madam Nsujju.
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