Cabbage is a traditional vegetable for Russia. It has been cultivated for more than one century, many Russian dishes include cabbage as an ingredient, many farmers and agricultural enterprises are engaged in its cultivation. Nevertheless, the demand for this vegetable is huge, they consume it in huge quantities, so it is not difficult to sell it, because there is always the right sales channel. In this regard, an initiative based on cultivating cabbage can be a good and profitable business suitable for farmers.
Counting on serious profits in agriculture is often possible only in the case of significant plot sizes. After all, a rare plant brings more than one crop per year, so you have to cultivate a whole season to get money only after a few months. And not always the agricultural business pays off in one season. Therefore, only amateur gardeners can afford to devote so much time to working with a small plot. Before starting work, the farmer needs to determine the possible distribution channels: to find out if his plant will be in demand, and if so, by whom; how much he will be able to sell and how much therefore he needs to rent or buy land.
A full-fledged farm has at its disposal at least one hectare of land, and this is definitely the case with the law - all farms with smaller areas cannot be registered as a business entity and fall under the definition of private household plots - personal subsidiary plots. In this case, it is not necessary to maintain tax reporting, and plants grown on such a site are most often either intended for their own use, or sold in the nearest market, or both at once. But the farmer, who is engaged in culture on an industrial scale, registers peasant farms - peasant farming. Although the law does not prohibit becoming a legal entity or individual entrepreneur. In this case, the activity code must be selected (OKPD 2) 08/18/2019 Vegetable salad or green crops.
When bureaucratic issues are resolved, we can proceed to the search for a place for future crops. If we consider the usual garden cabbage, then almost all types of soils are suitable for it, except for sandy and crushed stone. Cabbage loves moisture, so it needs loamy soils that hold water well, and this plant also grows well on peatlands. The soil should not be excessively acidic, this leads to specific diseases of cabbage, cabbage is quite tolerant to a high level of alkali.
It is also necessary to take into account the fact that all plants of the cabbage family do not grow well after each other, that is, in a crop rotation they should not be predecessors for a representative of their family. Thus, cabbage is not recommended to be grown on land where not only cabbage, but also turnip, mustard, radish and the like plants have already grown. This can lead to diseases that are characteristic only for this plant family, and also over a long period can be chosen by specific pests.
Given all these factors, you need to look for about five hectares of land, in this area you can grow a crop sufficient for profit. However, as is the case with other cultures, it must be remembered that the most profitable and least risky is its own diverse multidisciplinary economy. That is, cabbage alone is not worth it, in two years it will be better to change the place of its growth by replanting it with a new one, and the vacated plot can be occupied by a new plant.
A large farm involves not only vegetables, but also fruit trees, flowers, possibly cereals, and even an apiary. With all this, you can engage in animal husbandry, because food often does not even have to be bought, giving the animals surplus plants. Thus, it is better to grow cabbage, combining this process with the cultivation of other plants.
If we consider the financial side of the issue, the highest rental price of a hectare of land is about three and a half thousand rubles per year, and this applies to the south-west of Russia and black earth lands. But even there you can find a lower price. In the central part, the average cost of a hectare is about 2 thousand rubles per year. For five hectares, about 10 thousand rubles are needed.
The Cabbage family includes a wide variety of plants that do not look like cabbage and are used by humans in various fields. The family also has the name Cruciferous, or Brassicáceӕ. It includes a variety of genera, one of which is the genus cabbage, which contains those plants that are close to each other and cultivated under approximately the same conditions. They are grown by humans mainly as a food crop, less often forage, there are no Pancake week crops in this genus due to small and non-greasy seeds.
Cabbage plants are also recognized as medicinal plants that can be used in pharmacy and prevent certain diseases. Most species have been cultivated for centuries, so each of them has many varieties that are suitable for certain purposes and climatic conditions. For the cultivation of all types of cabbage, standard equipment is used (tractor, plow, walk-behind tractor) and specialized - combines. Equipment can be rented or bought on credit or leasing.
Cabbage. The most familiar species in Russia, which is implied by the word cabbage in general. It is a species of garden cabbage, or Brássica olerácea. In this country, it is easiest to grow and sell it. It is a biennial plant in the form of a bush with spreading leaves. Valuable are the leaves and the so-called head of cabbage or head. This species can be grown almost throughout Russia, except in the far north.
Cabbage is divided into three categories: early varieties, mid-ripening and late-ripening. Moreover, the later the variety is taken, the longer will be the growing season of the plant. So, in some varieties it is more than 200 days, and this is a lot by the standards of cultivated plants. For example, cereals ripen in 80-160 days depending on the species. Late cabbage can be grown only in the southern regions, in the north it rarely can give a normal crop. Early varieties have a not so long ripening period (up to 130 days) and sometimes they can produce even two crops in a row. To do this, after harvesting, they check to see if there are any embryos ready to grow into a full head. Some varieties have this feature, but cabbage is most common.
Cabbage is rarely sown in a prepared field; seedlings for seedlings are usually harvested from the winter (about a month and a half before the onset of heat). They can be obtained from grains, but can be bought ready-made. Many farmers procure them on their own, because the procedure is not complicated, you can accurately control the growth of the plant, and it turns out much cheaper. In this case, the seed material is spent an order of magnitude less, because the percentage of germination from seedlings is significantly increased. To obtain seedlings per hectare, about 6 kilograms of seeds will be required, thus, for five hectares of land, only 30 kilograms of seed material will be required. In money it will be about 6 thousand rubles. True, here prices can vary greatly depending on the variety, but this is quite natural, because expensive varieties will either provide good yields, or give a quality product, or both at the same time.
Seedlings can be sprouted in the greenhouse, and even at home, the main thing is to have enough space, but before planting, the seedlings need to be left for a short time in cold places - this is a kind of acclimatization of the plant to the upcoming germination site. When the seedlings are ready, they are transferred to the previously prepared loosened and moistened soil. In advance, the land must be fertilized, while cabbage loves a mixture of organic and inorganic fertilizers. It is the right selection of fertilizers that can give a second crop in one season; if this succeeds, then for the development of re-productivity it is worth stocking up with nitrogen fertilizers.
In the first days and even weeks, cabbage is abundantly watered, after when the plants grow a little, the frequency of watering is slightly reduced, but still remains relatively high. Cabbage is very fond of moisture, drought is bad for the overall growth and development of the plant.
This crop yields, depending on the variety, the earliest in the middle of summer, the latest in late October. They begin to collect cabbage when their heads reach an approximate mass of one kilogram minimum, while all plants develop in different ways, and there may be especially large specimens. Small ones rarely go on sale, going to feed livestock, although there are miniature varieties.
In general, cabbage is harvested gradually, without picking all the plants at once, but this is convenient in the case of manual harvesting. If mechanized cleaning is expected, then constantly hiring a combine harvester will be very unprofitable. However, you can wait until a significant part of the plants reaches the desired level, and then remove the ripened heads of cabbage with the help of technology, and manually collect the late ones. Heads of land suitable for sale can be collected for 60 tons per hectare, but this is an indicator that should be strived for (and it is achievable); but in practice, farmers collect at best half as much.
Thus, from five hectares you can collect 150 tons of cabbage. Its average price is about 8 rubles per kilogram, and then the income from the sale of all heads will be 1 million 200 thousand rubles. But keep in mind that 30 tons per hectare is an indicator of the yield of early varieties, because mid-ripening and late-ripening have a standard yield of just 50-60 tons. Accordingly, their income is higher.
A separate business, which can be combined with the cultivation of garden cabbage, can be called its fermentation. It is important to mention the fact that, in addition to the white cabbage, many other varieties are grown, which have also become relatively popular, and some are even considered to be almost a separate type of vegetables. The most famous representative is cauliflower, which is a cultivar of ordinary garden cabbage. But in food use, they are somewhat different.
Cauliflower is valued as a dietary product, and its inflorescences are consumed; and they are fried, stewed, they are a component of vegetable mixtures. Cauliflower differs from usual in higher requirements for soil quality, special greenhouse conditions are needed for seedlings, cauliflower has a longer vegetation and harvesting period. The rest of its cultivation is similar to ordinary cabbage. In addition to it, Savoy, Kohlrabi and Romanesco, which is very beautiful due to the fractal shape of its inflorescences, are popular.
Brussels sprouts. In principle, it is considered a separate species, although from a botanical point of view it is a subspecies of Brássica olerácea gemmifera. The method of cultivation is in many ways similar to the cultivation of garden cabbage. Brussels sprouts are grown almost exclusively with seedlings, conventional sowing, as a rule, does not give the desired results, while a little less plants are placed on the site, but the seeding rate is slightly lower and amounts to 20 kilograms for all five hectares. The average price of one kilogram is 350 rubles, hence the cost of all the seed material will be 7 thousand rubles. Brussels sprouts tolerate drought better; although it is a hygrophilous plant, thanks to its powerful rhizome, it is able to extract water where closely related plants are not able to do this. This subspecies is also better resistant to low temperatures, and can maintain its viability much better than other members of the genus. The growing season of this plant can also end in late autumn, and sometimes it is transferred to a greenhouse, greenhouses or cellars, where Brussels sprouts ripen.
The main difference between the product of Brussels sprouts and garden cabbage is in size. The vegetable garden gives one large head of cabbage, while the Brussels plant contains many small heads of cabbage. The yield of the Brussels subspecies is about 20 tons per hectare, and for five this figure is 100 tons. But such cabbage costs an order of magnitude more expensive than its garden counterpart - about 80 rubles per kilogram. That is, here you can already earn 8 million rubles, provided that the plant turned out to be of high quality and the reject rate is very low.
Brussels sprouts will be interesting to food-processing companies, as they are part of many frozen mixtures. Brussels sprouts can also serve as the basis for soups or salads, they are fried and stewed, so even retailing here can be very profitable.
Broccoli. Another type of cabbage, which is distinguished by the fact that he does not eat head or leaves, but an unopened inflorescence. An important difference of this culture is that it is an annual plant, unlike its close relatives, who are mostly represented by biennials. Broccoli is valued only for these shoots, while the grower needs to correctly calculate the time when to harvest this crop. It is necessary to overexert broccoli, and a flower will blossom that will give an unmarketable look to the plant. At the same time, broccoli is relatively difficult to store, for this you need to either have good refrigeration equipment to keep the plant harvested, or be able to quickly sell the entire crop, otherwise the collected plants will quickly lose their presentation and useful properties.
Torn inflorescences are stored for a maximum of two weeks, so they begin to agree with the buyer in advance. Many vegetable growers practice this method of sale when the buyer arrives on the field and cuts the number of plants he needs. Of course, with the use of technology, and not manual labor of the consumer. To maintain this moody plant, even irrigation may be necessary if a protracted drought has begun. As for the financial issue, it is almost identical to that of Brussels sprouts. That is, both expenses and incomes will be approximately at the same level as the seeding rates. Only broccoli is still a slightly more productive plant, and can produce up to 25 tons per hectare (while Brussels sprouts have 20 tons per hectare - a very good indicator). Therefore, in the case of broccoli, you can count on a little more income, but growing this plant will cost a little more.
Cruciferous is an important family of all plants for humans and not least due to the genus Cabbage. Plants of this genus are common and of great value to people vegetable crops. They are used in food both as everyday and dietary ingredients of dishes. Despite the significant difference in price between ordinary cabbage and all other varieties, we can say that it is the garden species that is the simplest and most profitable in its cultivation; it’s very easy for him to find buyers, while the Russian climate, ideal for simple cabbage, allows her to give good crops and require minimal personal care. But other plants can be a good source of constant income, since today the consumption of dietary products is only growing, and broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower are just them.
Matthias Laudanum (c) www.clogicsecure.com - A portal to small business business plans and guides08/18/2019