My farm is planning to export the produce in addition to the local market.

As a new farm manager my first assignment is to develop a new area for medium scale vegetable production. Therefore, I need to develop an action plan to ensure that the venture is success and profitable. A farm plan is important and provided basic to setting up a budget. This plan will show what and where to grow the vegetables. Adjustment may be needed from one season to the next to make improvements and seize new opportunities or technologies. Successful farm planning and budgeting often results from decisions based on the growers own farm records. First I need to know what I want to grow. So in deciding what crops to grow I need to considerate the things like: Market value of the produce Cost production Ease of production/skill levels Marketability Transport of produce Infrastructure requirements Time to harvest Suitability of crop to environment

The risk of crop failure should be considerate too. A farm must have a vehicle road access, a road plan allows adequate access and turning space for all equipment and vehicles is essential. Continuous traffic compact the soil, so it is best to decided on heavy traffic areas and stick them. Also provide adequate turning room and spray access for tractors. A grower need to fully aware of the cost and estimated profits involved before start. One of the useful things in planning to grow vegetables commercially is budget preparation. It can be done simply by estimating what inputs are needed to grow crop, and estimating returns from the produce picked. Some of the cost to consider include: planting material, irrigation, mulch, fertilizer, trellising, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, fuel, electricity, machinery purchase or hire and commission on sales.

Also use a good soil structure that have fertiliser management involves ensuring that the soil nutrient needs of the vegetable crop are met by fertiliser inputs and that this is done without any associated water pollution problems. Therefore soil test need to be done. For example, soil acidity is important because it affects the availability of nutrients to the plants. Most soil nutrients are available to plants in the soil pH range of 57 (CaCl2 method). Strongly acid soils (pH less than 5) require the addition of lime or dolomite to allow better plant uptake of soil nutrients and to avoid aluminium and manganese toxicity problems. Fine agricultural lime or horticultural lime is normally the preferred liming material. Dolomite is generally only used when soil test results show that the soil is low in magnesium as well as pH.

Ripping or sub-soiling during land preparation is cultivation with a long and deep tyre that is used to break up compacted layers in the soil profile. The benefits are it will improve root penetration and plant growth and improve drainage. Followed by primary and secondary cultivation for the soil. Then make the planting bed for the crops. Raised bed can reduces water logging, they also provide additional volume of loose and friable soil to assist root development and plant establishment. For weed control use plastic or organic mulches to control weeds as an alternative to herbicides. The use of plastic mulch coverings in combination with raised beds and trickle irrigation has proven popular in the tomato industry. Fertilization is important, even if the farm have some of the greatest soil around, growing vegetables is a process that takes many important nutrients. It will need to add fertilizer to the soil at different times in order to feed the plants and keep them in optimal health. How much fertilizer to add depends on the soil and the plants growing. That's why its important to do a soil test to see what need to add. Depending on the fertilizer, crops and soil, the soil may need to add repeat doses of fertilizer throughout the summer. This repeated practice of fertilizing is called side-dressing. Organic or inorganic fertilizer is a great choice for the crops. It can either spread fertilizer down each row or around each plant. Rake the fertilizer gently into the soil and water. Gives the crops it the exactly amount of fertilizer the crop need because excess fertilizer accumulates as salt in the soil and causes damage to plant roots. They type of plants to grow makes a big difference in how much to side-dress. Plants that take a long time to mature such as tomatoes and heavy foods generally benefit from side-dressing. Plants that grow quickly , such as lettuce easy fix their own nitrogen and has little benefit. Irrigation system that are suitable for the vegetable farm also should be consider. There are many type of irrigation system used in world wide. Center-Pivot: Automated sprinkler irrigation achieved by automatically rotating the sprinkler pipe or boom, supplying water to the sprinkler heads or nozzles, as a radius from the center of the field to be irrigated. Water is delivered to the center or pivot point of the system. The pipe is supported above the crop by towers at fixed spacing and propelled by pneumatic, mechanical, hydraulic, or electric power on wheels or skids in fixed circular paths at uniform angular speeds. Water is applied at a uniform rate by progressive increase of nozzle size from the pivot to the end of the line. The depth of water applied is determined by the rate of travel of the system. Single units are ordinarily about 1,250 to 1,300 feet long and irrigate about a 130-acre circular area. Drip: A planned irrigation system in which water is applied directly to the Root Zone of plants by means of applicators (orifices, emitters, porous tubing, perforated pipe, etc.) operated under low pressure with the applicators being placed either on or below the surface of the ground .Rotation: A system by which irrigators receive an allotted quantity of water, not a continuous rate, but at stated intervals. Sprinkler: A planned irrigation system in which water is applied by means of perforated pipes or nozzles operated under pressure so as to form a spray pattern. Traveling Gun: Sprinkler irrigation system consisting of a single large nozzle that rotates and is

self-propelled. The name refers to the fact that the base is on wheels and can be moved by the irrigator or affixed to a guide wire. Also I need to consider about the crop monitoring. Monitoring the vegetables crop for pest or disease from planting onward is essential. Infestation usually start in a small area of the crop or in adjacent weeds and if not noticed it will quickly spread. The crop needed to be monitored once or twice a week on a random basis. Early warning of an infestation making control easier and cheaper. However, we need to know what we are looking for. Therefore, correct identification of insect and plant diseases should be done. This is because some insect are pest, others are harmless and some are beneficial because they attack other insect. Correct identification of a pest or diseases is vital for effective control as some insecticides and fungicides control only specific pest and diseases. There are also many method to control the pest and plant diseases such as cultural control, chemical control, and biological control. Cultural control involve cultural practices that lower pest and diseases level such as crop rotation an time planting strategies to avoid periods of peak pest and diseases and also cultivating cover crops and incorporating organic matter to improve soil structure and reduces nematode population. Chemical control involves application pesticides or fungicides directly to the crop and is the most common method of crop protection. These application may be preventive or applied in response to pest or diseases outbreak. Biological control, use predator or parasitic insect and pathogen to help control pest and disease. This includes pathogen these may occur naturally or can be introduced into a crop. Biological control is an essential component of integrated pest management. Integrated pest management (IPM) is the key ingredient of effective monitoring of pest and diseases levels and the use of specific controls, that preserve biodiversity and beneficial organism. Successful IPM program aim to keep pest and diseases below economically damaging levels without necessarily eradicating them completely. Lastly, harvesting time, the harvest time are based on the maturity and quality. Quality is about delivering what the customer want in term of consistency of product, reliability of supply, size and shape and price. Vegetables should not be harvested in the hottest part of the day. High temperatures cause moisture loss through evaporation, they also make the pulp more susceptible to bruising. Once the vegetables picked they need to be kept cool by at least keeping them in the shade during harvest then direct them to the cool room to remove the heat field. Then packing before produce been sent to the customer.