What is the best season to plant tomato in Nigeria?
Tomato farming remains of the most profitable farming businesses anyone can do in Nigeria. The cultivation of tomato has brought fortune to a lot of farmers in Nigeria.
In spite of the profitability of growing of tomatoes in Nigeria, cultivating tomatoes in some months of the year may lead to losses to farmers. Smart tomato farmers avoid planting tomato in these months.
What is the best season to plant tomato in Nigeria? Some months in the dry season are usually the best time to grow tomato in Nigeria.
The dry season in Nigeria is usually very dry with little or no rainfall. If you want to grow tomato in the dry season in Nigeria, irrigation is required. Drip irrigation is the best type of irrigation for the cultivation of tomato.
The best season to plant tomato in Nigeria
The following are some of the best season to plant tomato in Nigeria:
Dry Season - December: This is the last month of the year and usually very dry. Planting tomato in December can be very profitable. When you plant in December, you start harvesting in March/April.
The prices of tomato in Nigeria start to rise from the month of April. The dryness of the month of December can however present some challenges.
Low humidity and the high incidences of insects are some of the challenges tomato farmers face in December.
Dry Season - January: This is the first month of the year. Planting tomato in this month can also be profitable as harvests will commence in April all through to May and June.
The prices of tomatoes in May and June are usually very high. Few farmers cultivate tomato in January so there will be no risk of glut.
Dry Season - February: This is also one of the best months to grow tomato in Nigeria. If you plant tomato in February, you are likely to harvest from late May till July. Prices of tomatoes in these months are usually very high.
The challenges of planting tomato in February include high incidences of insects and low humidity.
Early Rainy Season - March: This month can also be one of the best months to cultivate tomato in Nigeria. If you start planting tomato in March, you will harvest in June all through to July and August. Selling fresh tomatoes in these months can be very profitable.
The month of March can also be dry. You will need to use irrigation systems preferably drip irrigation.
Tomato can be planted anytime of the year. You can plant tomato in any month of the year, however, cultivating this vegetable in the months of December, January, February and March will bring you the highest Returns on Investment (ROI).
For tomato farmers who sell their produce in the organized market like Spar and Shoprite, they can grow tomato anytime of the year as they are guaranteed of a stable price all through the year.
Please note that the best season to grow tomato in Nigeria was chosen based on Returns on Investment (ROI). Other factors like pests and diseases, humidity and availability of water etc. were not considered.
