Step by step guide of how to grow potatoes in a trash bag.

Step by step guide of growing potatoes in a trash bag.Potatoes are a nutritious and delicious starchy tuber, and they're a source of potassium, fiber, protein, vitamins C and B6, and iron. There are lots of ways you can eat potatoes, but they always taste best when they're fresh, especially when you grow them yourself. 

 Growing potatoes in a trash bag is practically a foolproof way to grow potatoes and it only takes a few easy steps to do it. 

 Step 1. One week before planting, place your seed potatoes in a warm spot. When sprouts that are about one-quarter-inch to one-half-inch form, they’re about ready to plant. Cut large seed potatoes into chunks that are approximately two inches wide. Each piece should have at least two sprouts. After cutting the seed potatoes, allow them to sit at room temperature for three days. 

 Step 2. Using a pair of scissors, cut a few drainage holes in the bottom of a 30-gallon plastic trash bag. Roll the sides of the bag down and fill it with about one-third potting soil. Now, place the trash bag in an area of your garden that gets full sun.

 Step 3. To plant your seed potatoes, first, dust them with agricultural sulfur to protect them against fungal disease. Plant them by burying them with the eyes pointed up about two inches deep in the soil. Water thoroughly. 

 Step 4. When your potato plants are six to eight inches tall, add more soil and straw to the bag. There should be just enough soil so that the top few leaves are poking through it. As they continue to grow, keep unrolling the trash bag and adding more soil accordingly. They should stay well watered, but not soggy. 

 Now the fun part: harvest time. One clue that your potatoes are about ready for harvesting is that the leaves will yellow and the foliage will die back. At this point, you should stop watering and simply leave them alone for a few weeks so that the skins toughen up. 

To harvest, slit open the side of the bag and release the potatoes. You can start few other batches at regular interval to enjoy continuous harvest.

Farmer feeds fish with cassava peels and makes millions.

Farmer feeds fish with cassava peels and makes millions. Evangelist Peter Ododa, owner and proprietor of an agricultural company called New Life Farms Agriculture Nigeria Limited based in Angwan Jikwoyi, New Karu, Nasarawa State. The 54-year-old started farming with N6,000 about four years ago with a pond and a small hut. Today, he is the proud owner of 48 ponds within the farm land and also owns a plantation that is about two and half hectares where he grows guava, banana, plantain, cassava, maize and other crops. The mission of this farmer is to prove that nothing is a waste in this world. The farmer feeds his chicken and fish with various waste food items; for fish, he uses rejected bread, palm kernel, soya bean chaff, Barbara nut, cassava peel, rice chaff to mention but a few. He has also explored other waste products to produce fish feeds in such a way that in four to five months they grow very big. The fishes thrive well on these waste products ,and after feeding for two to five months, their weights were between 2-3kg which he sold and made a lot of money. This is how ,read

AGRIBUSINESS: Urban agriculture and food security.

AGRIBUSINESS: Urban agriculture and food security. Urban agriculture is simply the growing of plants and the raising of animals within and around cities. The most striking feature of urban agriculture that sets it apart from from rural agriculture, is that it is integrated into the urban economic and ecological system. Urban agriculture can be aptly termed city farming or city agriculture. Urban agriculture usually takes place in locations within the cities that is intra-urban or around the city termed peri-urban areas. The capacity /intensity of activities depends on space. as the venture can be practiced within living quarters such as on a on-plot of land or on land away from the residence (off-plot), on land owned or leased and on public space such as parks, conservation areas, along roads,,sidewalks streams ,alleys or semi-public land like schools, and hospitals. AGRIBUSINESS: Urban agriculture and food security. Urban agriculture includes agricultural activities as well as related processing and marketing activities and affiliated agribusiness ventures. Read here The ever growing population has brought with it a demand for more food to ensure food security.The rapid urbanization has put pressure on the land as more structures for houses,companies and stores are competing for available land ,thus urban agriculture is the key to ensure food security. By 2020 the developing countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America will be home to some 75% of all urban dwellers, and to eight of the anticipated nine mega-cities with populations in excess of 20 million. It is expected that by 2020, 85% of the poor in Latin America, and about 40-45% of the poor in Africa and Asia will be concentrated in towns and cities. Urban agriculture may improve both food intake by providing improved access to a cheap source of proteins and the quality of the food may improve as families involved in urban farming eat more fresh vegetables than other families.The contribution of urban agriculture to food security and healthy nutrition is an important asset to urbanization. Urban farmers produce substantial amounts of food for urban consumers aside from producting for their own consumption needs, large amounts of food are also produced for other categories of the population for sale. According to UNDP 1996; FAO 1999 , 200 million urban residents provide food for the market and 800 million urban dwellers are actively engaged in urban agriculture in one way or another. The international development research center(1998) shows that urban agriculture to a large extent complements rural agriculture and increases the efficiency of the national food system because it provides products that rural agriculture cannot supply easily such as perishable products, that require rapid delivery upon harvest. Food that can substitute for food imports and can release rural lands for export production of commodities are also added advantage of urban agriculture. Urban agriculture is as an important strategy for poverty alleviation and social integration as the participants in the project may feel enriched by the possibility of working constructively, building their community, working together and in addition producing food and other products for consumption and for sale. This is the case of former convicts that have returned to their communities to practice urban agriculture and keep youths out of drugs. see Benefits of urban agriculture is not limited to food security but encompasses the environment,as its eco-friendly.Farmers use wastewater for irrigating their farms when they lack access to other sources of water or because of its high price. The use of fresh (untreated) wastewater has the additional advantage for urban farmers because it contains a lot of nutrients. Technologies such as hydroponics , drip irrigation, zero farming substantially reduce water needs and health risks and are of value in the urban environment and can be found in many cities. Urban agriculture impact the green effect and cleaning of the city by turning derelict open spaces into green zones and maintaining buffer and reserve zones free of housing, with positive impacts on the micro-climate.

Urban farming using sacks for food security.

Agriculture is the future of our work, with the ever growing population and climate change the techniques of growing food and raising animals need to be improved to cater for the population and ensure food security. Land now is a scarce resource and many more farmers are utilizing what they have to maximize profits. Agriculture today is not only practiced on farms,today urban farming is the driving force in food production. Urban farming refers too city farming or better still smart farming to produce vegetables that augment income of farmers and provide a means of livelihood for others. Urban farming can be practiced in various areas such as sidewalks,rooftops,flowerbeds,terraces or even lawns. This type of farming can also be practiced with various items such as in bottles, jars, trough plates ,flower pots,plastic bottles and even in sacks. The hydroponics system is a type of urban farming that utilizes minimal space but still gives the required harvest of vegetables and fish. Urban farming is fast taking root in Africa as a source of income for the young,old and the young at heart. The sack farming involves planting vegetables in prepared sacks,these can be stacked in courtyards,corners and gardens.The advantage is that more is produced using minimal space,its easy and cheap to start. Urban farming with sacks is done as follows 1) sacks are filled with manure, soil and small stones that enable water to drain. 2) plant vegetables,onions,spinach from the tops and sides of these sacks referred to as multi-story gardens. The plant are usually watered once a day in the evenings,and the plants are spread with correct pesticides to prevent attack. Urban farming using sacks is a good and cost effective way to introduce farming to schools, this initiative in the school agric project will not only be a source of learning but can also be a means of income for the school and food for the students. Sack farming will provide a means of income for young school leavers, and unemployed youths who want to farm but they have no land. City farming, either in sacks or on small bits of land, has taken root in Cameroon, Malawi and Ghana with 25 to 50 percent of all city households said to be engaged in food cropping. In Malawi, 700,000 city dwellers have home gardens while in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo and some schools have their own gardening programs. continue