Tomatoes duration is 3 months from nursery to harvesting, that is between 60-75 days. Tomatoes can be harvested for more than 3 months under good condition. And 6 months in green house. Just as it is done in pepper, stake your tomatoes plant early (at 6 weeks) so as to support their weight during fruiting.
Tomatoes is pluck out from its parent plant by the use of hand. Remove the vegetable when it shows ripeness but you can still remove them unripe. As tomatoes still continues ripeness after harvesting. After the first harvest, other subsequent harvest can be done every 3 days till the plant dies off.
TOMATOES PRESERVATION
Boil the fresh tomatoes and grind, fry it with a little oil and pour it in a container with cover. Make the container properly sealed so air won’t enter and keep in a cold place. It will last for about 2 weeks.
Another way is to boil the tomatoes and grind, put it in the refrigerator to freeze.
The third way is to sun dry the tomatoes until no moisture is in them any more, put them in a container on store. Whenever you want to use it you can be taking the quantity you want and grind for use.
Lastly, instead of allowing tomatoes to rotten and spoil, blend them and turn them to tomatoes paste for sell. Keep to this blog and you will learn how to turn tomatoes into paste.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF TOMATOES
Tomatoes contains vitamin B and potassium which reduces cholesterol levels and the lowering of blood pressure.
Vitamin A in tomatoes helps in keeping the hair shiny and strong.
They help in reducing the risk of kidney stones. Eating of tomatoes helps in preventing night blindness.
Tomatoes is good for diabetic patients, contains low-calorie.
They contain lycopene a substance used for facial cleansing. It makes ones skin to glow.
The lycopene helps in reducing the chances of developing prostate colorectal and stomach ulcers.
Cooked tomatoes produce more lycopene which contains natural anti-oxidants that helps in slowing down the growth of cancer.
Tomatoes helps in maintaining strong bones because of the presence of calcium and vitamin K.
WHY YOU SHOULD GO INTO TOMATOES FARMING IN NIGERIA
It is very simple to practice as it does not involve complex techniques.
You can start harvesting of tomatoes after 3 months of planting depending on the variety and after that continue to harvest up until 6 months.
Tomatoes farming is very profitable, lets look at it this way. It is only one seed that will produce a tomatoes plant which in turn can produce hundreds of tomatoes in just that one stand.
A small rubber basket of tomatoes goes for #700-#1000 depending on the location and time. Tomatoes is always very cheap during dry season because it is harvest time.
In other for you to maintain patronage and accelerated profit try dry season tomatoes farming.
Of course in this agribusiness the more land you used in cultivation the more the profit potentials in view.
Tomatoes are in high demand, as it stands demand still outweighs the supply.
It is time we start thinking of how to join the list of tomatoes exporting countries. That will begin with you becoming a tomatoes farmer today.
MARKETABILITY
Before harvest go around and source for buyers on ground so you can sell to them immediately after harvest since tomatoes are perishable crops.
Advertise in online stores for more awareness and possible buying.
Sell to market women, restaurants, hotels, bars, supermarkets etc.
HERE ARE SEVEN THINGS THAT WOULD MAKE YOU SUCCEED IN TOMATOES FARMING IN NIGERIA
These steps are wonderful tomatoes farming techniques that will give you a boost in your tomato cultivation;
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- Good spacing
- Ensure your bed is raised
- Alternative means of water
- Rapid Disease control
- Pest Resistance
- Staking very important and
- Correct spacing
