Earn Ksh. 800,000 from one acre of Onions in 3 months

when you want to cook Managu what do you use? Onions. When you want to cook meat, what do you use? Onions! Nearly every meal of the average Kenyan has to have onions as part of the ingredients. This tells you something about the market out there. There is a high demand for onions! Here is how you can tap into that demand and make a profit from it.

In 3 months an acre of Hybrid bulb onions will give you an income of Ksh 800,000. After 3 months of transplanting the onions it can produce a yield of 20,000 Kgs bulbs. 1 Kg of Onions at market price goes @ Ksh 40 i.e 20,000 Kgs × 40 Shillings = Ksh 800,000 minus average cost of production which is Ksh150, 000 per Acre = Ksh 650, 000 Net income (Cool stuff right?). High yielding varieties in Kenya today include, Jambar F1, Red Pinoy F1, Red Comet F1, Red passion F1.

How to Plant

To get the best results with onions you need to start them in a Nusery. Here is how to do this;

1. Make a raised nursery bed 1 metre wide and any desired length. Apply well decomposed manure at a rate of 15kg per square metre.
2.  Mix and Apply DAP fertilizer at a rate of 20 grams per metre square
3. Make shallow furrows 15 cm apart. Mix the seeds with dry ash, sand or soil at a ratio of 1:3 to help spread the small seeds. Plant the seeds and cover lightly with soil and apply mulches ( Grass or Polythene cover spread over the soil on the nursery bed).
4.  After planting irrigate the nursery bed liberally for the first 10 days and continue watering regularly.
5. Germination of seeds will take about 7-10 days after which the mulches are removed and used to make a shade above the tender plants which have not fully developed.
6. Transplanting of the seedlings takes place 6 weeks after planting seeds in the nursery. Transplant when the seedlings have pencil thick base and a height of approximately 15cm. Seedlings should have 3 to 5 well formed leaves at transplanting time. Two weeks before transplanting reduce the shade to improve seedling survival rate in the field.
7. It takes about 4 months for onions to mature

Onion farming in Kenya can be done in greenhouses and open gardens.

NB: Before you begin onion farming you need to check and confirm Market availability, Price of the onions and the variety of the plant.