Starting Cabbage Farming Business In Zimbabwe and the Business Plan

Cabbages are nutritious, crisp and easy to cook vegetables. There is a very huge demand for cabbages in Zimbabwe and many farmers are making money by farming cabbages. Advantages of farming cabbages in Zimbabwe include: they produce high yields, the local demand is huge, can adapt to a wide range of climates, high profit margins, and need less chemical inputs as compared to other commercial crops.  Zimbabweans consumers like cabbages because they can easily be cooked, have no fat, contain high amount of Vitamins, are cheap, less perishable(can be stored under room temperature), can easily be converted to dried vegetables (mufushwa), the cabbage leaves can also be given to poultry, rabbits ; can easily be handled and transported.

Before you start the cabbage farming business, you have to decide how many hectares you want to farm, which type of cabbages you will farm, which season you are going to plant your cabbages, and your target market. The amount of cabbages you farm will depend on the amount of land and capital you have, and also the size of your target market. You should always carry out a feasibility study, market research and write a business plan before you venture into any business. Do not make the mistake of starting a cabbage farming business or any other business just because someone is doing it and he/she says it’s profitable. This article will explain how to start a cabbage farming business in Zimbabwe, and the cabbage farming business plan.

What you need

Land

Cabbage can be grown on a wide range of soils but it thrives on well drained, moisture-retentive loamy soils well supplied with organic matter. It does not grow well on highly acidic soil. Cabbages are moderately sensitive to soil salinity. Prior to field preparation, soil and water samples should be taken and sent for analysis. The ideal soil pH ranges from 5.5 to 6.5 and it should not be allowed to fall below 4.5. In soils with pH above 6.5 the leaves become dark but leaf margins die back. Plants in saline soils are also highly susceptible to blackleg. Under salt stress, cabbage heads are generally more compact, and leaves are fleshier than under nonsaline conditions.

Machinery and Equipment

The machinery you need will depend on the size of your cabbage farming business. Machinery and equipment needed include tractors, fertilizer spreader equipment, spray equipment, diggers, harvesters, irrigation equipment, scales, bins, boom sprayers, ridgers etc. For the bigger machinery like tractors, you can hire when you want to use them rather than purchasing them. You may also need  grid hydroelectricity energy for the irrigation systems, standby diesel generators for use during power outages, or solar powered irrigation systems. Farmers especially in the rural ares who do not have the modern farming equipment use animal drawn equipment in cabbage farming. The higher the level of mechanization at your cabbage farm, the higher the efficiency of your operations, and the profitability of your cabbage farming business. 

Farming Inputs

There are several farming inputs needed for your cabbage farming business. Most importantly you need the cabbage seed or seedlings. There are several different varieties of cabbage cultivars which are used in Zimbabwe. The vary in their shape, texture, pest and disease resistance, colour, yield and days to maturity. Thus before you start your cabbage farming business you have to decide which cabbage cultivar you want to use. That choice will be determined by the availability of the seeds, the yield of the seeds, the resistance to diseases of the cabbage seeds, and your target market.

The cabbage cultivars which are used in Zimbabwe include Star 3301 , Star 3311 , Golden Acre,  Conquistador, Megaton Hybrid, Green Coronet, Brunswick and Hercules among others.  Ensure that you buy good healthy cabbage seed/seedlings from certified suppliers or nurseries. It will be a very expensive mistake to buy cheap cabbage seeds/seedlings of low quality. Cheap is not always the best. You can start cabbage farming using seeds or seedlings. If you buy seeds you will have plant them in a nursery and then transplant the seedlings into the field after 4 weeks. Alternatively you can buy the seedlings from nurseries and just start by transplanting them into the field. From transplanting to maturity, cabbages take 10-18 weeks, depending on the cultivar and season. You can get a yield of 26 000 to 40 000 cabbages per hectare.

You also require herbicides for your cabbage farm, for effective weed control at your farm. You may use Lasso 480EC, Ronstar, Agil 100EC and Agriquat herbicides among others. Pesticides and fungicides are required for protecting your cabbage plants against insects and fungi. The types you can use include Dimethoate 40EC, Malathion 25 WP, Dedevap 100 EC, Diptrex 95 SP, Thionex 50 WP among others. Fertilizers are required to support the efficient growth of your cabbages, by providing all the nutrients needed by cabbages to grow to their full potential. The fertilizers you use include Compound S for base dressing and Ammonium Nitrate as the top dressing.

Labour

You need to hire part time farm workers as and when necessary. The duties which they will do include grading cabbages; transplanting cabbage seedlings; top dressing; line marking; discing ; ploughing; harvesting, herbiciding and pesticiding. You will be paying them per number of days worked. You also require supervisors, farm manager, finance & accounting staff, and logistics staff depending on the scale of your cabbage farming business.

Market

There is huge market for cabbages in Zimbabwe. The potential customers for your cabbages include transporters/middleman (they will come to your farm to buy your cabbages to resell in the city), supermarkets, traders & wholesale distributors (E.g. Mbare Musika is the largest market for cabbages, the traders buy cabbages from farmers in bulky for reselling), Fruit and Vegetable open markets, organisations and individuals. The prices of cabbages vary throughout the year depending on market forces ie supply and demand. The price also depends on the size and quality of the cabbages.  These prices allow very huge profits margins for a cabbage farming business. The profits you will get depend on the cost of inputs, the yield from your cabbage farm, and the selling prices of the cabbages.

Pre-Written Cabbage Farming Business Plan (PDF, Word And Excel): Comprehensive Version, Short Bank Loan Version, Automated Excel Financial Statements

For an in-depth analysis of the cabbage farming business in Zimbabwe, purchase our cabbage farming business plan. We decided to introduce the business plans after noting that many Zimbabweans were venturing into the cabbage farming business without a full understanding of the industry, market, how to run the business, the risks involved, profitability of the business and the costs involved, leading to a high failure rate of their businesses.

Our business plan will make it easier for you to launch and run a cabbage farming business successfully, fully knowing what you are going into, and what’s needed to succeed in the business. It will be easier to plan and budget as the cabbage farming business plan will lay out all the costs involved in setting up and running the cabbage farming business. The business plan is designed uniquely for the Zimbabwean market.

Uses of the Cabbage Farming Business Plan (PDF, Word And Excel)

The cabbage farming business plan can be used for many purposes including:

• Raising capital from investors/friends/relatives
• Applying for a bank loan
• Start-up guide to launch your cabbage farming business
• As a cabbage farming project proposal
• Assessing profitability of the cabbage business
• Finding a business partner
• Assessing the initial start-up costs so that you know how much to save
• Manual for current business owners to help in business and strategy formulation

Contents of the Cabbage Farming Business Plan (PDF, Word And Excel)

The business plan includes, but not limited to:

• Market Analysis
• Industry Analysis
• Automated Financial Statements (monthly cash flow projections, income statements, cash flow statements, balance sheets, break even analysis, loan repayment calculations, start-up costs)
• Marketing Strategy
• Risk Analysis
• SWOT & PEST Analysis
• Operational Requirements (e.g. type of land,  type and quantities of inputs required e.t.c.)
• Management of Cabbages
• Operational Strategy
• Why some Zimbabweans in cabbage farming business fail, so that you can avoid their mistakes
• Ways to raise capital to start your cabbage farming business in Zimbabwe

The cabbage farming business plan includes technical aspects of how to plant and to take care of the cabbage. It also includes a mini-directory with contacts which will prove to be helpful in launching and running your cabbage farming business. E.g. We will provide the contact details of the companies that produce seeds, fertilizers, herbicides e.t.c.

The Pre-written Cabbage farming business plan package consist of 4 files

1. Cabbage Farming Business Plan – PDF file (Comprehensive – 78 pages)
2. Cabbage Farming Business Plan – Editable Word File (Comprehensive – 78 pages)
3. Cabbage Farming Business Plan Bank Version – Editable Word File (Short version for applying for a loan – 34 pages)
4. Cabbage Farming Business Plan Automated Financial Statements (Editable Excel file)

The business plan financials are in USD currency. 

The financial statements are automated. This implies that you can change eg the number of hectares, cabbage price etc, and all the other financial statements will automatically adjust to reflect the change. 

Get the Cabbage Farming Business Plan (PDF, Word And Excel)

We decided to make them affordable for anyone who would want a business plan, and the price for pre-written business plans is only US$10 for soft copies.

You can purchase via Paynow (Ecocash/Innbucks/One Money/MasterCard/Visa Card) or via Paypal. You just click Buy Now (scroll down)  and you will then be taken to payment website where you make the payment. Just follow the instructions; you will be done with the payment process in 2 minutes. We will email the business plan (PDF format, Microsoft word format, and a Microsoft Excel file with the financial statements)  to you within 24 hours, using the email address you provided when you were paying.

You can also purchase soft copies at our offices in Harare. Visit StartupBiz Zimbabwe, Suite 201, 2nd Floor, Morgan House, George Silundika Avenue (between 1st Street & 2nd Street), Harare . The cost of the business plan is US$10 (soft copies).

For any questions, other payment options, email us on shop@startupbiz.co.zw , call/whatsapp us on +263778798072 (Whatsapp us by clicking the link https://wa.me/263778798072) .