Growing raspberries is an ideal family business for those who own a country house or live in rural areas. A small allocated area on a personal plot is enough for growing berries. There was, is and will always be a demand for raspberries. Especially in the CIS countries. After all, almost every person has loved her since childhood.
In this article we will talk in detail about how you can start a business growing raspberries, and what kind of profit you can expect in the future. We also recommend that you pay attention to the previous materials on our website, in which we talk about businesses growing other crops: mushrooms, vegetables, onions, cucumbers and others.
Raspberries as a business
Growing raspberries as a business is quite a profitable activity. But you need to take into account the main characteristics:
- raspberries are a crop that does not tolerate drought;
- the plant is planted only in a sufficiently lit area;
- Roots begin to rot when there is excess moisture;
- The growing greenhouse must have good ventilation.
You can grow raspberries for sale both outdoors and in a greenhouse. At the initial stages, 10 acres is enough for a raspberry business. On such a plot, the owner can place 500 bushes.
Sales of products
Product sales areas must be prepared in advance to avoid losses. It is also worth remembering that raspberries are difficult to transport over long distances, so the place of sale should be located close to the place of production. Due to the fact that raspberries are a perishable product, they must be collected quickly.
Depending on the size of your business, you can use the following marketing channels:
- Selling raspberries yourself (from hands)
- In the markets
- In stores and other enterprises that use raspberries for further sale or processing.
- Make your own production. Raspberries can be sold in the form of jam, jam, and also as dried fruit.
Additional income in this business can come from the sale of seedlings; they can be grown in separate greenhouses.
What are the advantages of a raspberry business?
Growing raspberries as a business is more profitable than many other businesses. It has a huge number of advantages. The main ones include:
- High yield while observing all the subtleties. Farmers who adhere to technology sometimes manage to grow up to 28 tons per hectare.
- Good price for raspberries. Even if you sell berries in bulk, you still get high profitability. From one hectare you can earn about 2 million rubles.
- A bountiful harvest can be obtained within a year after planting the bushes. The main thing is to provide the bushes with everything they need.
- Opportunity to earn money in different ways. You can sell both fresh raspberries and products made from them - jam, jelly, etc.
Drying the berries would be a good option. They can be sold to medical companies, which will subsequently use raspberries to create syrups and other drugs.
The soil
The number of berries on raspberries depends on the composition of the soil, so the soil for planting is prepared in advance. Most importantly, it should not be slightly acidic. The best composition of the earth will be:
- Humus - 1 bucket.
- Superphosphate - 100 grams.
- Potassium salt - 40 grams.
If there is no potassium salt, then it can be replaced with wood ash in the amount of 400 grams. A week after planting, the seedling is fed with urea. If a seedling is given enough compost, it will have enough nutrients for three years.
Which varieties are suitable for business?
Not all varieties are ideal for growing for sale. Breeding some varieties requires more time because the subspecies is more demanding. It is better to choose easy-to-grow varieties that easily adapt to temperature changes.
Summer raspberries
Summer varieties are juicy and aromatic. They develop over 2 years. In winter, the plant may freeze, so it should be well insulated. The ideal option is to grow it in a greenhouse.
Lyashka
In Russia this is one of the most popular varieties. This is due to early maturation. This subspecies tolerates temperature changes well. The berries are hard, so they can be transported without problems. From 1 hundred square meters you can collect about 200 tons. The buds of the berries can sometimes freeze slightly.
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Octavia
A promising idea is to grow Octavia on your plot. Competition in this variety is very low. This type is well transported and can withstand frost. Planting can be done in regions with frequent rainfall. In this case, the bush does not crumble.
Remontant raspberry
It will not be possible to pick raspberries from the bush all year round, but in the fall and summer the harvest is guaranteed. Double fruiting is the main feature of remontant raspberries. This variety is not susceptible to infection, so there is no need for its processing. No matter how many berries are collected, all of them will be environmentally friendly.
Shelf
A variety with a pleasant taste and pronounced aroma. From one hectare you can collect up to 10 tons of aromatic berries. Shoots are distinguished by rapid reproduction. Disadvantages include poor tolerance to extreme heat.
Joan Gee
The berries are dark and scaly. The fruits have no thorns. The berries are easily separated from the stalk. The fruits weigh up to 6 g. The variety is resistant to drought. The disadvantages include the mandatory attachment to trellises.
Himbo top
In the past, this species grew only in Switzerland. Now it is popular in many countries. The main features are high yield, fruit hardness, high taste, ideal shape retention even in strong sun.
Zyugan
This is a versatile and promising look. The fruits are fragrant and large. The berries are easy to transport.
Other varieties
The following varieties are also excellent for sale:
- Glen Fine;
- Malling Junot.
Exotic varieties are not recommended for mass breeding.
Choosing a site for a berry garden
One of the main criteria for raspberry yield is a properly selected site. For the area where raspberries will be planted, the following requirements must be met:
- The site should be covered with sun in summer and snow in winter.
- Soil fertility is average or higher.
- Groundwater should be no closer than one and a half meters to the surface.
- There should be no large weeds.
- Protected from the wind.
- The area should be either level or have a slight slope to avoid stagnation of water.
- It is not recommended to use an area where nightshade crops previously grew, as there is a high risk of raspberry disease.
Areas that are flat or with a slope of no more than 6%, protected from the wind on all sides, are considered suitable for planting raspberries.
Which variety to choose
Unpretentious varieties are suitable for growing on your own land for further sale of berries. They must be resistant to frost and sun. Ideally, they will be resistant to parasites and diseases.
Harvesting and storage
The crop is harvested in warm, dry weather. Raspberries are carefully placed in plastic containers. It is not recommended to wash them. The collected fruits are stored in the refrigerator. To get income and not losses, you need to place raspberries in separate refrigerators.
Important. Berries absorb the smell of other foods well.
You can also freeze the fruits. In this case, they are placed in the freezer immediately after collection. The next day there is no point in doing this, since the presentation will be spoiled.
To dry, the raspberries are placed in a special chamber.
Equipment
If the business plan involves large turnover, then you definitely need to acquire modern and technological equipment. You will need an automatic cultivator, a harvester, a freezer and a refrigerator. If you plan to dry the berries, you need a powerful dryer.
Planting seedlings
In order for the raspberry tree to grow healthy and prolific, you need to follow the rules for planting seedlings:
- They are planted at a distance of 1 meter from each other; the distance between the rows should be at least 1.5 meters.
- Planted in spring or September so that it has time to adapt to the new place.
- Only healthy seedlings are selected for planting.
- In northern areas, early or late varieties are not planted, as they will not have time to ripen.
- Cut off excess shoots in a timely manner, because all the nutrients will go into the greens and not into the fruits.
- Pruning is done only with clean and sharp tools, this will make it easier for the cut to heal.
- After pruning, be sure to disinfect the cut area.
- From spring to autumn they feed twice. Fertilizers should include nitrogen and potassium. After applying the fertilizer, water the soil generously so that the roots do not get burned.
- To prevent raspberries from becoming infected with diseases and pests, they are treated with suitable preparations before flowering. This treatment is not carried out during and after flowering.
- If the summer turns out to be dry and hot, then the bushes must be watered.
- To prevent moisture from evaporating, after watering, the soil around the trunk is slightly loosened and mulched with hay.
Business calculations
At the initial stages you will need to spend *300 thousand rubles. This amount will be used to purchase 300 bushes, pest control products, and equipment. From the specified amount it will be possible to collect 900 kg of berries. Revenue will be *175 thousand. With this calculation, it will be possible to recoup the project in 2 years.
The raspberry business is profitable. The main thing is to draw up a business plan and think everything through. You must take into account your own location - village or city. Transportation from remote settlements will be more expensive and more problematic.
Harvest
Harvesting must be done in dry weather. The berries need to be freed from the receptacle and placed in a dry container.
If you are selling fresh raspberries, then you need to take into account the fact that freshly picked berries must be stored in a refrigerator at a temperature of up to 3 degrees for no more than 5 days.
The shelf life of berries can be increased to 2-3 weeks if modified atmosphere packaging is used; this type of packaging will also allow the fruits to retain their original smell, color and taste.
Conclusion
Growing raspberries is a profitable and very promising business in the field of agriculture. This berry has excellent taste and is very healthy, and one bush produces an average of two kilograms of harvest. In addition, the farmer can choose from many varieties, some of which can be grown year-round in greenhouses. Raspberries can also be processed into preserves and preserves and receive additional income through the sale of seedlings. But the raspberry business has its own characteristics that need to be taken into account: it is a perishable product that does not tolerate transportation well, so it is important to immediately think through distribution channels.
Hello my dear friends!
In this article we will continue the conversation about raspberries , about remontant varieties of raspberries, which in their merits are significantly superior to traditional “old” raspberries.
The name of these raspberry varieties comes from the French word remontant , which means - blooming several times a year, blooming again.
The yield of remontant raspberries is much higher (almost 2-3 times) than ordinary raspberries; the bulk of its berries ripen in late August - early September. It can bear fruit both on two-year-old stems and on shoots of the first year, and therefore you can get two harvests per season.
However, this leads to weakening of the plants and delays the ripening of the autumn harvest. Therefore, in order to get a harvest in late summer - early autumn, it is best to grow this raspberry in an annual crop.
Picking berries is not an easy task
Harvesting is one of the most difficult processes in the raspberry business. Raspberries for fresh sale are collected exclusively by hand. The berries are small, which makes the process very protracted. Plus, cleaning occurs most often in extreme heat.
It is necessary to attract a large amount of labor, which seriously increases the cost of the harvest. The technique for picking berries is used only in case of processing. It is worth saying that only large farms can afford to buy a raspberry harvesting machine.
