10 Mt. Data radish: R1M Gross from Half Hectare!
Mona Visitacion-Rafer in a field of Mt. Data radish about one month old.
LARRY CONSEBIDO, 39, is one farmer who really loves radish for a number of good reasons. No.1 reason: In early August 2018, he planted half a hectare to the newly introduced Mt. Data radish variety distributed by Ramgo Seeds. To his great surprise and amazement, he harvested 25,000 kilos of very good roots that a trader paid R40 per kilo.
That means a gross of R1 million from half a hectare in a growing period of just 40 to 45 days. The timing was perfect, according to Larry, because he was the only farmer who had radish for sale at that time. The right variety and right timing were the reasons for Larry’s good fortune. Compared to other crops, say tomato, radish has its own advantages. The cost of seeds and other inputs are minimal compared to tomato production. Although tomato can be highly profitable at the right timing, it requires big investment in bamboo poles and trellis materials, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides.
In the case of Larry’s Mt. Data radish, his cost of seeds was only R5,100 for the half hectare. He used 30 cans of 100-gram seeds at a cost of R170 per can. There was no need for trellis. And the seeds were simply broadcast over the well-prepared field. An expert in broadcasting seeds can make the distribution of the seeds more or less uniform.
The field is thoroughly plowed and harrowed. Larry applied 60 sacks of well-decomposed chicken manure over the prepared field. Two days before broadcasting the seeds, the field was sprayed with herbicide to control weed growth. Several days later, before roots
kilo of ppen pollinated seeds (OP). He was very satisfied with the results of his harvest because of the higher yield, high Class A recovery, and minimal rejects.
He then ventured into planting during the off-season to observe the variety’s vigorousness and ability to withstand rains and cold weather. Despite the very challenging weather, Quinto still harvested good quality Radish Mt. Data.
A first time user, ArisArviso from Liliw Laguna, is a proud grower of Radish Mt. Data. He immediately observed its high germination and high Class A recovery. It was his first time planting Radish Mt. Data and he took the risk of planting it in July and August, which is the wet season. He was able to harvest more than 700 kilos Class A on his first harvest from his ¼ hectare farm land, and sold it for as much as R30 per kilo.
According to him, Mt. Data yielded more compared to his previous OP seed variety. Mt. Data is very tolerant to diseases such as blight and rotting. Arviso says growers and buyers look for radish produce that have smooth and white skin, uniform and white roots, and with minimal rejects. He was very happy when he learned about how Mt. Data fulfilled his requirements. He added that instead of using 4 kilos of open pollinated seeds, he was able to use only 2 kilos of Radish Mt. Data seeds. With this, he was very satisfied with results of assured high germination rate and higher yield of excellent Class A
