The onion batch system

author Prince Mashingaidze

Introduction

Growing of crops seasonaly and wait for another season makes farming insecure and many people not willing to enter into farming. There is need for prospective farmers to ingage farming strategically and professionally in order to build trust in farming as an income genarating project.

Onions are one of the basic, everyday ingridient for cooking. It is also important to understand the variations of onion season especialy in Zimbabwe. The trend is farmers usually grow onion in one go, which is during winter. So begining the month of August, we experience a surge in onion deliveries. It is also important to understand that as we enter into summer onion supplies dwindle , causing a surge in prices. 

I am using Zimbabwe in this illustration as a sample but the theory i want to deduce can work in any country depending on weather you understand the market and good agronomic practices on how onions are grown

Traditional markets overview

Onion farming is a lucarative business, which when managed well can generate thousands of dollars, but due to climatic limitations, especially in summer, when onions can rot due to excessive rains. It is during this time when onions are scarce and expensive. On average 3-5 dried bulbs can sell at usd$1. Here we want to migrate from the tradition of growing onions once in one season and dry some for summer. That method is not addressing demand offseason, hence causing surging in prices. However this presents an advantage to a seasoned farmer who produces onions through out the year. 

Looking at the traditional markets in Zimbabwe, like Mbare market, Aspindale market or Chikwanha market, when supply of onions is at peak after winter or late winter, the trend of the market is mostly around $1 usd per 20 fresh bulbs of onions. When supplies begin to go down, an average price of $1 usd per 10 fresh bulbs is the price you expect in traditional markets.  What it means is though there seem to be high supplies of onions late winter, the supplies cannot sustain Zimbabwe through out the year.

Now that we know that the average price of 10 bulbs of onions ranges between 50cents and $1 usd, it is also important to know that per every hectare, we have a plant population of between 600 000 to 900 000 onion plants. Plant population is determined by plant spacing. Line to line planting for purposes of drip may further reduce plant population. For consideration spray tubes may be better than drip in mantaining higher plant population.  At the peak of supply when an average of 20 bulbs are sold at $1 usd, one hectare of onions with an average gross of usd $30 000 -$45 000. To produce one hectare of onions, a farmer needs a budget of between usd$3000 to usd$5000 thus for inputs including seed, fertilisers e.t.c. Variations in input prices are determined by inputs used, farming techniques implored. Basicaly usd$5000 can generate between $30 000 - $45 000.

The six months batch system

Now that we have established how much it cost to manage one hectare and how much we should expect to get from that hectare, I now introduce you to how you can turn onion farming into a monthly income business. So what the farmer needs to do is to divide his/her one hectare into 6 parts(around 1666 square meters) of six months. So instead of planting the whole hectare, the farmer plants six parts in six successive months, each part costing between usd$500- usd$833, with an expectation of getting a gross income of usd$5000-usd $7500.

 It is a batch system farmers are used to in rearing broilers. Each months will produce onions in different successive months and each batch is replaced by a new batch. What it means is the first batch planted in the first month of the first six months can be imediately replaced after harvest bearing in mind organic practices of using manure to avoid depletion of minerals from reusing the soil, again and again. If a farmer has excess land he or she can transfer to another hectare in the next batch and rotate the previous land with another crop different from an onion family.

The 2 weeks batch system.

Using the same sample of one hectare, the batch system can further be reduced to 2 weeks batch system of the six months. The idea is to reduce incoming revenue period. Out of 6 months the farmer can create 12 batches on an area of around 830 square meters each. In terms of labour management it is fairly manageable.  Plant population on a scale of 600 00 per hectare is further rationed to 50 000 plants per every batch. On a scale of $5000 input money per hactor, input money is further rationed to $416, 66 per every batch of the 12 batches. From the estimates, an expected gross income of $2 500 per every batch, which makes a fortnight profit of around $2000.

Weekly batches

We continue to use the six month peg, because this is the period we are very sure that we will be having a harvest, it can be less. The weekly batches can create 24 batches out of the 6 months of expectation. An area of 416, 66 square meters can be planted weekly, with an estimated population of 25 OOO plants. Input money can further be rationed $208.33 against $5000 estimated for a hectare. with an expected gross profit of $1 250.The weekly batch works better for those who are into small scale container gardening. 

Alternative batch container gardening

Nb If a full time gardener is going to plant 1000 onions containers, everyday then by the time the first harvest is initiated, until he or she grows tired of working, will earn $50 per day. Thats legit money, no fraudsters. 

The advantage of using containers is that the farmer creates own media, hence can grow one type of crop without fear of nutrients being used up by one crop. More over it is more accountable to account for plants in a container than those in an open field. Issues to do with leaching are limited in containers. There is no need for a tractor and hoe weeding is also eliminated.

Insuarance parameters for better yields

The one hectare sample can be further reduced to other smaller ratios to suit the resources or financial capacity of the farmer. It is expedient not to be excited by the hectare expected gross figures and try to stretch available  resources beyond what is manageble, to avoid a situation where a farmer produces more quantity with poor quality. The batch system can be further reduced to fortnight batches or weekly batches to suit demand and early flow of income.

In order to achieve the expected yields and the expected income, there is need to consider working the soil, doing soil tests. Soil tests in Zimbabwe costs between $20 to $60. Knowing your soil illnesses and improving it will increase both yield and quality of your bulbs. Soil should be loose, allowing air to pass through, with a ph of between  5.8 to 6.6.  

The batch sytem does not focus on quantity but it focuses more on quality. Another nessesary ingridient is manure which adresses the soil and in turn the soil addresses the crop. This is different from fertilisers which feed the plant directly without addressing the biological needs of the soil.

In summer beds can be raised to mitigate excesive rains, and with proper drainage systems, excess water can be controled into runaways.  Container gardening can play part in mitigating soil nutrient problems. There are different container farming techniques which can help farmers grow crops through out the year. We have also to put into considerations greenhouse farming and cheaper methods of constructing tunnel houses

Successful farming is the one in which the farmer gather all inputs together in one place, so that what needs to be applied should be applied on the right time. Fertilisers are necessary to promote plant growth and bulbification.

 Bear in mind also that one critical area which cause loss in farming is when your plants are infected by a deases or infested by pests. When it comes to onion expect common diseases like, Purple blotch, slippery skin, downy mildew, Onion smut, botrytis, leaf blight lesion. When purchasing inputs, most input shops staff agronomists or agro specialist, you can consult to add to the input list expected treatment chemicals of expected common diseases

Conclusion

The good thing about onions is that if you are growing varieties which can be dried, you have more time to sell your oñions without being bullied by time to sell them on very low prices. You can always decide not to sell today and sell tomorow. Another advantage is that of vegetative propagation, meaning you can regrow onions from bulbs. Those that fail to grow to a desired bulb size, besides selling them on low prices can always be recycled/repropagated.

Now that you know how to generate monthly income growing onions, it is time to master the strategy and and start earning money monthly.