Business Ideas of Agricultural Marketing

1. ASSIGNMENT
MAB-302
2019
BUSINESS IDEA OF AGRICULTURAL MAKETING
By
NUMAN AKHTAR
2018-ag-8622
3rd
semester
B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture
SUBMITTED TO: Dr. Arif Watto

2. TUNNEL FARMING
The procedure
Currently, most tunnel farms remain between 10 to 20 acres in size and
begin cultivationinautumn. That’s when support structuresmadeout of
bamboos, steelor aluminum pipesand steelwireropesareerected around
the plantation. These structures form rows that are 4 to 5 feet wide and
have a height that’s between 3 to 12 feet. Known as low tunnels, walk
through tunnelsor high tunnelsintheir parlance. Thehigherthestructure
themore expensiveit is toerect. Polythenesheets arespread on top of the
structures, creating tunnel like cocoons within which vegetables are
grown.
Thewinter sunshinepassesthrough thetransparent polythenesheetsand
its heat is trapped inside; while in the cold weather, the frost and the
winter rainsarekept welloutside. Thismakeshiftgreenhousedeceivesthe
vegetables into believing that it’s timeto flower and fruit. As the weather
warms up, the polythene sheets are removed.
The vegetablesfrom tunnel farms arrivetwo to threemonths earlier than
thesamevarietiesgrownconventionallyintheopen. Consumersnolonger
have to wait till April; they can savor their favorite vegetables in early
spring or even in the middle of winters. Off-season arrival ensures that
they command prices. This remains the single most important economic
driver for tunnel farming.
Tunnel farmers routinely achieve an astonishing 500% yield over
conventional farmers. Surprisingly, it’s not done by using exotic seeds or
fertilizers. Instead, tunnel farmers adopt low-tech methods. All of their
inputs such as the bamboo sticks, metal pipes, steel wire ropes, and
polythene sheets, fishing lines, seeds, fertilizers and insecticides remain
mundanely commonplace. What’s surprising is the innovative use that
they put these inputs to; and with stunning results.
Mulching isonesuch techniqueinwhich they cover theground with black
polythene sheets and punctureevenly-spaced holes in it. Vegetableseeds
are sown into these holes. This eliminates weeds that consume and
ultimatelywastethenutrients. Devoid ofsunlight, nothing elseapartfrom
the plant itself can grow. The sheet also trap moisture in the ground and
prevents its rapid evaporation. Conventional farming loses up to 50% of
its water to rapid evaporation, tunnel arming doesn’t.

3. While within each row, thin fishing lines are strung as mesh to provide
vertical space for the vegetables to grow. Most vegetables have
indeterminategrowth, much likecreepersand vines. These mesh provide
vertical pathways for the plant to grow. Depending on the height of the
tunnel, each plant thereforegrowsat least threeto fivetimeslarger insize
and its reach than its conventionally grown, on ground twin.
Consequently, it also bears more
Tunnelfarmersalsoapplythreetofivetimesmorechemicalfertilisersand
micro nutrients than conventional farmers. Every day, they patrol their
tunnels much like a spinning mill owner would patrolhis spindle frames.
The ripe vegetables are identified, picked, weighed and sold daily under
their watchful eyes.
Costs and profits
Tunnelfarmingis gaining acceptance amongeducated farmersas it
providesthem with an opportunity to grow vegetables in off-season by
usingless than 40 per cent water and managingrequired temperaturesby
capturingheat duringwinters. Agriculturalexpertspoint outthat three
main impedimentsthat impact agriculturalgrowth in the country are
chronic water shortages, low per acre yield and low valueof crops. They
said these drawbacks could be overcomeby growinghigh valuesummer
vegetables duringwinter through tunnelfarming.
Total cost (one time investment) = 685000
Construction of tunnels (30*100 sq. ft.) = 80,000
They claim that by adopting tunnel farming technique farmers can obtain
80,000 kg of cucumber, 30,000 kg green chili’s and 30,000 kg of capsicum
from one acre. This is 2-2.5 times higher than the average harvests the
farmers get for these crops. The farmer earns from Rs200000 per acre to
Rs500000 per acreif he marketsthe producein the local market. Since all of
those involved in tunnel farming are educated farmers they are now
exploring export markets as well where they expect to earn 100 per cent
more.
Livestock Feed Production

4. A lot of people are going into livestock farming like fish farming, pig farming, poultry
farming and a whole lot of others. As a smart investor, you can start producing feed
for people to feed their animals. However, you must ensure that you carry out a lot of
research and come up with a product that is rich in nutrients and would promote quick
growth and good health of the animals.
To start a livestock feed production business, you will need a grinding machine, mixing
machine, weighing machine, customized packing bags and raw materials for
production. Raw materials might cost you about R.S 150000 while the machines can
be purchased for about R.S 1350000.
The production process is not so difficult. The ingredients required are mainly, maize,
soya beans, fish bone, sorghum, groundnut, blood meal, wheat, rice shaft, additives
etc. All these can be sourced from the market, any animal consult outlet, or any
agricultural product shop around.