Fruits and Vegetables Growers: Farmers can check so many websites for Vegetables and Fruits growing. apeda.gov.in
is a government website in India maintaining for the progress of Fruits and Vegetables Growers. Everyone in this
business, service and farming has to see this website. It gives a Lot of information regarding everything.
It includes Infrastructure support information, Business Centers, Farming process etc.
Commercial fruit and vegetable growers:
Integrated pest management, growing guides, greenhouse management, best practices for
harvesting and storage, and marketing advice for commercial fruit and vegetable growers.
Horticultural research: Latest research from the Agricultural Experiment
Station where they are successfully breeding cold-hardy, disease-resistant varieties.
Deep Winter Greenhouses: We support Deep Winter Greenhouse research
and outreach across the state. Find information and construction documents for
building these passive-solar greenhouses.
Diagnose plant problems:
Diagnostic tools to help diagnose a plant problem or identify a weed or insect.
FruitEdge: Timely, objective information on fruit integrated pest management in the Midwest. Fruit and Vegetable Marketing for Small-Scale and Part-Time Growers:
Some farmers, such as cash grain farmers or dairy farmers, have large,
well-established markets. They can use existing organizations to perform
the marketing function for them, or they can band together, form a cooperative,
and market their products jointly. Small-scale fruit and vegetable growers generally
have more difficulty finding established markets; therefore, they usually develop
marketing systems tailored to their unique situations.
Major Markets: Fruits and vegetables are produced seasonally,
but the market requires products throughout the year. For many decades, this problem
of matching product availability with consumer demand was solved in two ways:
Fresh Markets:
Increased consumer incomes and demand for fresh produce force retailers or
to establish buying points both in different growing areas. Some retailers contract
with fresh fruit and vegetable packers, in turn contract with growers. Contracts
buying practices enable packers to obtain quantities of individual products.
Packers: Large fresh fruit and vegetable packers
may contract with growers in several different production regions to ensure that fresh
fruits and vegetables are available every week of the year. Packers contract only in
regions with growers. they contract mainly with the growers. Some packers ensure
supplies by growing commodities themselves. Large retailers and packers are unlikely
to purchase products directly from a single, small scale grower, especially a grower
in a remote production area.
Fresh fruit and vegetable grower:
Consider selling directly to retailers. Chain stores and independent retailers have
buy local programs for fresh produce, such stores and programs are not common. You
must develop your own marketing system. In effect, you must become the grower, packer,
and wholesaler.
Processing Markets:
Processors must keep unit costs low, large corporations generally do the processing.
Many of the smaller local processors have found it difficult to compete with these
corporations and have gone out of business. All processors contract with growers
for their raw product needs. Over the past twenty to thirty years, most processors
have moved their plants to major production areas. It may be difficult to locate
processors interested in buying from small scale growers. If a processor does
indicate a willingness to buy, insist on a purchase contract with the processor
before planting the crop.
Processing: If you are considering a processing
operation, contact your state Department of Agriculture to learn more food regulations
pertaining to the processing, packaging, labeling of your product. It will probably be
impossible for you to process and market produce at costs as low as those incurred by
larger processors. As a result, it may be very difficult to compete for sales with your
processed fruits and vegetables through conventional retail outlets. Consider processing
specialty items with strong local or regional demand where you will be able to charge
a "premium" price.
Quality Is the Key to Marketing Success:
It is not easy to know what is meant by "high quality" often varies from year to year.
Standards do not exist for all horticultural crops and those that have them are often
not specific. Often one recognized quality grade.
Proper disease management: Practices including picker
instruction and supervision, and post harvest handling are critical to marketing. Cooling
produce to remove heat and improve shelf life is important. Treatments to reduce decay
may be another consideration. Sorting and washing of some fruits and vegetables can also
be done to help maintain quality and appearance. For certain crops, small fruits and
delicate produce, sorting and washing is not an option; harvest crews must be
trained and quality monitored to a marketable crop.
