Question

how maintain a record for 1 year seasonal changes in vegetables

Answer 1

This Agriculture Note will help you to assess the skills and requirements needed to run a vegetable growing business. There are a number of considerations to think through before starting to grow vegetables. Growing vegetables can be an attractive option because there is a relatively short time from planting to harvest and for some crops there are relatively simple requirements for capital outlay. However there are a number of factors that should be considered before embarking on vegetable production.

Things to consider before you start

Vegetable production may be considered because;

There is existing land that you want to use to grow a cash crop,The property runs other enterprises and you would like to diversify or move from perennial to annual horticulture,You are looking for land to start a vegetable production business.

There are a range of issues that you need to consider but they can be summarised into two key questions;

1. Can I sell it?

2. Can I grow it?

You may be surprised to see that "Can I grow it?" should be your second consideration. Before working out whether or not to grow a crop, you need to have a very firm idea of where the crop is going to be sold. There is no point in growing the finest looking and tasting crop if it sits in the paddock because it can't be sold at the price needed to recover costs.

In addition to these key questions there are other considerations such as water and labour. Water for irrigation will be essential for vegetable production even in areas of high rainfall. Depending on the crop there will be different labour requirements through the life of the crop and at harvest.

Almost every vegetable can be grown successfully in some region of Victoria and nearly all vegetables will be grown in some part of Australia over the 12 months of the year. The market is generally fully supplied apart from periods when there is disruption to supply through climatic conditions. It will be essential to identify market requirements, periods of demand for different crops and then compare this to what crops you can grow.