Tomato Farming Business Guide

COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS FOR TOMATO FARMING.

S/No	Item Description	Quantity	Unity Cost/Ugx	Total
	Variables Costs
1	Land Hire/Acre/Season	1	250,000	250000
2	Land clearing	1	150,000	150,000
3	Ploughing + Harrowing/Acre/Tractor	1	250,000	250,000
4	Tomato Seeds/50g Tins	1	600,000	600,000
	Other inputs
5	Herbicides/litters	3	13,500	40,500
6	Foliar Fertilizer – Combination	1	250,000	250,000
7	Basal Fertilizer/50kg bags	4	175,000	700,000
8	Insecticide/litters	4	40,000	160,000
9	Fungicides/ Mancozeb Powder/kg	50	14,000	700,000
10	Mulching/Dry Grass	1	400,000	400,000
11	Labor; Nursery bed Management Transplanting, Weeding spraying and mulching/ Per month	4	300,000	1,200,000
12	Harvesting, 30 men	30	10,000	300,000
13	Supervision and Administration	2	200,000	400,000
14	Miscellaneous	1	200,000	200,000
	Total Establishment Cost			5,150,500
	Returns
	Crates/200Kg each	40	280,000	11,200,000
	Net Profit before Taxes			6,049,500

NOTE1;

1. VARIETY – ANSAL F1/PELE F1/ASSILA F1 Etc,
2. Land Area – Acre. For hectares consider (1 Hectare = 2.4Acres)
3. Spacing considered – 3.5ft × 1.0 ft, Max plant population – 10000 – 12000 plants
4. Plant only one seedling per hill
5. Every tomato plant has a potential of giving you over 200 fruits
6. Harvest periods – 3 – 4 at intervals of 10 days
7. The prices per crate fluctuating between Ugx. 200,000 and 350,000
8. Plan to have plenty of water either via irrigation or rain water IMPORTANT DISEASES

Disease	Signs	Causes	Treatment
Root rots, stem/Colar rot.	Localized Lesions between the stem and the root later translating into root rot and eventually the plant wilts and dries	Fungal Disease   Spreads via -Infected plant tissues especially un treated compost manures   -Pathogen may exist in the soil and effects accelerated by dampness at the stem	Azoxystrobin Or Carbendazim Fungicides.   Application Drenching the affected soils Regular foliar applications
Late blight           Early Blight	Plant leaves, stems or fruits appear burnt with grey lesions. The disease can cause 100% loss   Yellow halos especially among older leaves	Fungal Disease   Spreads Wind or water   Common on cloudy days Fungal Disease Spreads Wind or water	Mancozeb powder – Prevents further spread   Use metalaxyl or Azoxystrobin or Cymoxanil or a combination of two of these compounds   Same as above
Yellow Leaf curl Disease	Leaf mosaics Stuntedness Wrinkled and hard fruits	Viral Disease   Spreads via Sucking and pollinating insects Including bees, wasps, aphids	Uproot and carefully transfer infected plants out of the garden.   Apply systemic insecticides like Imidacroprid, neem based insecticide or

			Acetamiprid to eliminate the vector
Black Spots	Spots on leaves, fruits, and stem	Fungal/Bacterial   Spreads via Air or water or pruning tools	Remove infected plant parts and carefully transfer them out of the garden   Apply copper-based fungicide; copper oxychloride
Bacterial Wilts       Fusarium Wilts	Sudden wilting of seemingly healthy plants May lead to 100% loss   Starts by yellowing then wilting of affected plants	Bacterial Disease Soil borne disease Spreads via tools and infected plant tissues   Fungal Disease Soil borne disease Spreads via tools and infected plant tissues	Plant resistant varieties Soil sterilization using carbendazim or jik   Microbes   Plant resistant varieties Soil sterilization using carbendazim or jik   Microbes like Pseudomonas fluorescens

Apply insecticide + Fungicides at intervals of 7 to 10 days as dictated by the weather FERTILIZER APPLICATION REGIME

AT PLANTING	4 WEEKS	7 – 8 WEEKS
DAP/YALA POWER   For Proper root development Apply at a rate of 10g per plant per hill. Holes should be 4 to 5 inches deep.   Manures like animal waste of compost may also be used	GRAINPULSE TOMATO FERTILIZER OR (NPK 17:17:17+Calcigro) OR YALA MILA WINNER   For flowering and fruiting stages.   Rate: 10g per plant applied at the base of the plant   Soils should be moist for efficient use by plants	REPEAT ACTIVITIES AT WEEK 4   For fruit development   Supplementing the plant with Boron, Zinc, Magnesium, Iron plus foliar NPK shall greatly boost the yield   CALCIUM IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE PLANT

Supplementing the plant with a potassium rich foliar fertilizer shall greatly boost the immunity of the plant against infections and disease

Supplementing the plant by foliar application with Boron, Zinc, Magnesium, Iron plus foliar NPK shall greatly boost the yield   NOTE: FERTILIZERS ARE MOST EFFICIENT WHEN APPLIED IN ALONE/NOT MIXED WITH INSECTICIDE OR FUNGICIDES.   Apply foliar fertilizer in cool hours of the day.

AND SHOULD BE APPLIED IN FORM OF CALCIGRO OR CAN EVERY AT WEEK 4   A well-maintained garden of tomatoes should last 100 to 150 days but may also last less than a month if not well maintained

Weeds can cause over 70% loss in yield thus should be cleared timely and properly

Without irrigation, plan to mulch your garden with dry grasses. Soil moisture content influences field performance of tomatoes by 95%

CHECK OUT FOR RELATED VIDEOS ON FERTIZER REGIMES, PESTS AND DISEASES ON YOUTUBE @ AGRO AND MORE LTD CHANNEL

NOTE2

1. Avoid using the same insecticide or fungicide over and over again even if its very effective because this shall cause a buildup of resistance among the insect pest or pathogen respectively over time and the thus the insecticide becomes less effective.
2. Avoid under dosing or over dosing during mixing and application of fungicide. This shall lead to resistance of pathogen to the active ingredient overtime. Observe recommended rates as prescribed by the manufacturer and observe post-harvest intervals.
3. Avoid using strong insecticides or fungicide in the early months of your orchard because you shall need them along the way as the garden grows after the insects or pathogens have built resistance and multiplied.
4. Remember to protect yourself and those you are working with on the farm by wearing protective gear on the whole body. Similarly, ensure that you dispose off used bottles and containers properly to avoid contamination of water bodies and the environment.
5. Incase of further consultation on this subject, check out our online platforms on facebook , youtube and Linkedin or reach our senior agronomist on whatsapp +256 704133983.