Cost of Plastic Mulch vs Cost of Labour for Weeding
Veggie Grow’s team went out on a farm call today to visit the farm of one of our clients in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. Jos hosts a lot of vegetable farmers because of its unique climate. Our customer was able to compare the cost of using plastic mulch and cost of labour for weeding.
Andrew, our client is a sweet pepper farmer. He supplies both the open market and the more organized markets in Lagos, Nigeria.
Before Andrew chose Veggie Grow as his consultant, he uses labourers to weed his sweet pepper farm. This has brought a lot of problems for him and the crop.
Cost of plastic mulch compared to cost of weeding
Andrew usually spends about N230,000 per acre every season to engage labourers to weed his farm. The cost is not only the challenge.
Andrew has to chase these labourers almost every week before they get the job done. The labourers were very difficult to manage. If Andrew was not on his farm, the labourers would not weed the farm. Andrew lost other opportunities because he had to be physically present to ensure the labourers do what is expected of them.
Aside this, the hoes used by the labourers to weed often cause injuries to the sweet pepper plants. These injuries in the past have been the sites of pests and diseases’ infestation.
In some cases, the labourers even damage the plants.
When Andrew contacted Veggie Grow, he was able to bring down the cost of weeding to N200,000 per acre by using plastic mulches.
The use of plastic mulch also solved the problem of difficulty in managing labourers. It also freed up time for Andrew to pursue his other interests instead of chasing labourers around town.
Andrew’s sweet pepper plants looked more healthy and he was able to increase is sweet pepper yield by 25%. This came as a shock to Andrew.
In essence, the use of plastic mulch increased the profit of Andrew by over N400,000.
Andrew has now expanded his sweet pepper farm to 10 acres, thanks to Veggie Grow’s advice to him to use plastic mulch instead of engaging labourers for weeding. Do you need plastic mulch? If yes, please contact us now through +2348025141924 or send us an email through sales@veggiegrow.ng.
