Plantain Farming Business Plan – It is important to write out your business plan, before venturing into plantain farming. This is the hallmark of a serious and successful entrepreneur. Your business plan should capture your vision and mission statements, your marketing strategies, market analysis, financial projections, funding etc.
When you write down your business plan, it is easier to see need for expansion of your business to include other things like plantain processing.
Plantain farming is one of the few agricultural ventures that can be described as a true investment. It is easy and less complicated to run. It should however be noted that plantains do not thrive in every environment, example South Africa. So it is important to conduct research before venturing into plantain farming. Research gives you ideas on suitable farm areas to grow plantains, where to get suckers and where to market your plantains.
TABLE OF CONTENT FOR PLANTAIN FARMING BUSINESS PLAN/FEASIBILITY STUDY
PLAN OUTLINE
1.0 Executive Summary
Keys to Success
Products
Market
Financial Considerations
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Mission
2.0 Company Summary
3.0 Products
4.0 Market Analysis Summary
4.1 Market Segmentation
4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy
4.3 Industry Analysis
4.3.1 Competition and Buying Patterns
5.0 Strategy and Implementation Summary
5.1 Sales Strategy
5.2 Marketing Strategy
5.3 Competitive Edge
6.0 Management Summary
6.1 Personnel Plan
6.2 manpower requirements
6.3 man power budget
7.0 key financial management controls
8.0 Projected financial statements
8.1 Application of funds
8.2 operating and maintenance costs budget
8.3 projected profit on 50 acres of plantain plantation in 12months
8.4 income statement projections
PLUS BONUS PACKAGE
COMPLETE GUIDE TO COMMERCIAL PLANTAIN PLANTATION FARMING IN NIGERIA
PLUS BONUS PACKAGE
COMPLETE GUIDE TO PLANTAIN SUCKER PRODUCTION SEEDLING MULTIPLICATION
Excerpts from the business plan below
XYZ Plantain Farm Is A Proposed Plantain Plantation Farm To Produce Plantain Fruit And Plantain Suckers –To Be Sited In (Your farm location). XYZ Plantain Farm Are Working Hard To Become A Leading Producer Of Plantain Fruit And Plantain Suckers. By Leveraging A Well Thought Out Business Plan Executed By A Skilled Management Team, XYZ Plantain Farm Will Generate Over N50, 716, 000 In Year Three Sales.
Keys To Success
XYZ Plantain Farm Have Identified Three Keys That Will Be Instrumental In Their Success. The First Is The Implementation Of Strict Financial Controls. By Having The Proper Controls, Production Efficiency Will Be Maximized.
The Second Key Will Be The Never Ending Pursuit For The Industry’s Highest Concentration Levels Of Hybrid Sucker Plants In Each Plant. The Third Key Is The Recognition And Implementation Of The Philosophy That 100% Customer Satisfaction Is Required To Ensure A Profitable Business. Profits Are A By Product Of Satisfying Customers, Not The Other Way Around.
Products
XYZ Plantain Farm Will Be Planted On 50 Acres, and Plans To Concentrate On Plantain Fruit And Plantain Suckers As Its Primary Product. The Company’s Farm Will Have A Capacity Sufficient To Produce In Excess Of 39,200 Plantain Fruit And 78,400 Plantain Suckers Per Year.
The Company Plans To Utilize Traditional And More Advanced Plant Technologies To Produce New Cultivars Of Suckers With Locally-Adapted Superior Characteristics For The Growing Area.
This Strategy Will Allow XYZ Plantain Farm to Produce Fruit During Most Of The Year And Will Allow Double Cultivation The Dry Season.
Market
XYZ Plantain Farm Has Three Distinct Customers: Supplement Companies, Processors Of Plantain For Supplement Companies, And Nurseries That Resell The Plants. The First Two Customers Purchase The Fruit For Use In Their Products Which They Ultimately Sell To The End Consumer. The Market For Plantain Fruit And Plantain Suckers Is Quite Exciting. Surveys Show That Over 80 Million Consumers (Over 50% Of Nigeria. Population) Use Consume Plantain.
Financial Considerations
The Company Is Seeking N26, 228, 000 In both short-term and long-term loans to Finance the Purchase/Startup Of (Your business name) , Upgrade The Facilities, And Cover Start-Up Expenses And First Year Losses. It Is Estimated That The Company Will Begin To Make A Profit In Year 2 Of Operations. The Company Does Not Expect To Have Any Cash Flow Problems During The First Four Years Of Operations.
1.1 Objectives
XYZ Plantain Farm has Identified Several Objectives For The Business:
1. Become A Leading Supplier Of Plantain Fruit And Plantain Suckers For The Processing And Consumer Industry.
2. Reach The Point Of Sustainable Profitability.
3. Enjoy Work While Making A Good Living.
1.2 Mission
It is our mission To Become The Leading Provider Of Plantain Fruit And Plantain Suckers For The Processing And Consumer Industry. This Will Be Accomplished By Providing Quality Fruit/Plants At Fair Prices While Exceeding Customer’s Expectations.
1.3 Keys To Success
We will Adhere To Three Keys That Will Be Instrumental In Its Success:
1. Strict Financial Controls.
2. The Never Ending Pursuit Of The Highest Concentration Of Hybrid Products In Every Plant.
3. Ensuring That All Customer’s Needs Are Met And They Are Satisfied With The Purchased Products.
1.0 Company Summary
XYZ Plantain Farm is The Dream (Your name), His Seeing The Dream Of Operating A Plantain Plantation And Plantain Sucker Production. It will Be Located In Oyo State. We will Focus On Providing Quality Plantain Fruit And Plantain Suckers, Our Aim Is To Serve Processors, Restaurants, Homes And New Farms. Our Start-Up Requirements Will Be N26, 228, 000.
2.0 Products
XYZ Plantain Farm will Offer Plantain Fruit And Plantain. All The Plants Will Be Grown On-Site On Our Plantation. Initially Though, We Will Buy Full Grown Plants For Our First Few Months Of Inventory
4.0 Market Analysis Summary
XYZ Plantain Farm Target Market Strategy Is Based On Becoming An Attractive Choice For Plantain Consumers And Processors. The Target Markets We Are Going To Pursue Are Processors, Whole Sellers And Residential Consumers Looking For A Wide Fresh Plantain Fruit To. Contractors Will Be Attracted By Competitive Prices And A Diverse Inventory. People Will Want To Buy On Our Plantation At Our Location Because Of The Superior Customer Service We Will Provide. (Your business name) Would Like To See A Five To Ten Percent Increase In Customers Annually.
STARTING A PLANTAIN PLANTATION
ACQUIRING SUITABLE LANDS
As stated earlier, plantains cannot be grown on all types of land. There are selected regions where plantains can be cultivated. When acquiring lands, one should go for lands with loamy soils. These lands have the best producing soil as they contain a good organic to inorganic ratio. It is very important to go for lands with the right soil composition otherwise your plantains will not grow
To engage in commercial farming you will need at least two hectares of land.
PREPARE THE SOIL
The next step after acquiring a farmland is to prepare the soil. Clear the land and cut some of the trees if any. The proposed soil must be a well drained land that is rich and naturally fertilized as young plantain plants do not do well in wet conditions. If such lands are not available it is important to revitalize the soil by using manure and compost fertilizers.
SOURCE FOR PLANTAIN SUCKERS
Plantains cannot be propagated from seeds like other trees. They are vegetatively propagated most often from suckers. How to source suckers in large quantities is a key factor that affects plans of venturing into plantain farming. However when one is able to source for suckers, and get started with plantain farming, the plantain grows rapidly and reproduces without stress. The farm can be sustained for decades without need for new suckers.
When buying your suckers, it is very important to buy from reputable farms.
HIRE LABOURERS
A plantain farm plantation is not a business for one person alone. A single individual cannot be the CEO, labourer, marketer etc at the same time, thus the need for labourers.
Labourers are needed to help in preparing the lands, to plant and water the plantains, and to weed and harvest the plantains. Farm labourers are cheap to employ. If you run a mechanized farm, you will need also machineries and operators.
CONTROL THE WEEDS
A large number of weeds both annuals and perennials infest plantain plantation. Weed control is very important, most especially in the early months after planting before plants produce enough leaves to shade out the weeds.
Management of weeds may take as much as 40% of the total cost involved in the plantain plantation. The traditional method of controlling weeds is by cutting or pulling out the weeds, or employing a labourer to do so.
CARING FOR YOUR PLANTAINS
For your plantains to grow well, it is important to care for it. It must be watered regularly and fertilized at least once a month. When choosing fertilizers, NPK fertilizers or fertilizers with Nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus are recommended. Another way to fertilize the soil and sustain its rich quality of the soil is to throw plantain dead leaves back into the soil. It is important to protect the plants from strong winds.
Plantains do not need constant pruning. Removal of dead leaves and dead plants is enough. If the plantains are properly cared for, they will be ready to reproduce within 8 – 10 months of planting. The beautiful thing is that while one is getting mature for harvest, another one is replacing it. All you do is harvest and reap your profits all year around.
MAKE PLANS FOR HARVEST
It is very important to make plans for harvesting your plantains, otherwise it will get ripe and rotten and that will be a loss to you. You must master the cycle of plantain farming, so that you harvest and market at the right period.
MARKET YOUR PLANTAINS
Plantain is a reliable, all season, stable food. In Africa, plantain provides more than 25% of carbohydrate required for over 70 million people, thus there is a large market for plantain business. You can market your plantain to food processing companies, or plantain retailers. You can also establish a plantain processing company alongside running the plantain farm. The fact that plantains are consumed by many people makes it a profitable venture.
It is important to develop a good marketing strategy for your plantain farming business, if you indeed want to maximize profits in the business.
