Family Farm Series Publications:
Vegetable Crop Production
Selecting Vegetable Crops for Profit
Hunter Johnson, Jr., Extension Vegetable Crops Specialist Emeritus,
University of California, Riverside
The process of selecting a crop which can be grown for profit is one
that should be approached with great care. The decision to grow a crop
is sometimes based upon recent high market prices or last year's high
prices, but history is not always a good indicator of the future. Neither
should a decision be based entirely upon other growers' success with the
crop. The selection of a crop involves many considerations with respect
to the culture of the crop as well as marketing. In order for a crop to
be profitable, the grower must produce a good yield of acceptable quality
and sell it for more than the cost of producing the crop. With yield and
quality as primary objectives, it will be important to learn as much as
possible about the culture and general requirements of the crop under
consideration.
General Crop Decisions
What is known about variety adaptability in your area? About the effects
of spacing on yield and quality? What is your personal experience with
the crop? How much capital will be need to be invested in growing the
crop? Are there special cultural problems of which you should be aware?
What is the research base for the crop under consideration?
Climatic Requirements
What is the crop's adaptability to the climate during the intended growth
period? What is the crop's tolerance for rainfall, frost, high temperatures?
How will the climatic conditions during the planned cropping period affect
the physiology of the crop (seed stalks in biennials, fruit set in fruiting
crops, bulbing in onions)?
Rotation Considerations
How does the crop fit into rotation with other crops planned? How much
time is required from seeding or transplanting through total harvest?
What is the effect of a selective herbicide used on the crop on the following
crops? Is the crop susceptible to the same soil-borne diseases as rotation
crops?
Equipment Requirements
Is there a need for special equipment or materials? What will be their
cost and availability? Examples: cherry tomatoes require staking; pole
beans, edible pod peas and Chinese okra require trellising.
Pollination and Fruit Set Requirements
Pollination problems for fruiting crops need to be considered. Cucumbers,
squash and melons require bees. How many hives' will be needed? How will
you determine hive quality? What will the rental cost be? Tomatoes, peppers
and eggplant have narrow temperature requirements for good fruit set.
Will temperatures be optimum at the time when fruit set should occur if
you intend to grow these crops?
Pest Management
What are the important pest problems for the crop? Are there control measures
available which are registered for use in California? Are there varieties
available which are resistant to important diseases of the crop.? If so,
do they have good yield and quality characteristics?
Labor Requirements
How many acres of the crop can you handle with the amount of labor that
you have available? Would it be more economical to buy or rent labor-saving
systems, e.g., mechanical transplanter versus hand planting; selective
herbicides versus hand weeding; picking carts which carry several containers,
etc.?
Harvest Considerations
How many harvests are required to obtain an economic yield? How is the
harvest interval affected by temperature? How long will it take with your
available labor to harvest your planting each time? How is the crop packaged
for market?
Market Considerations
Are you thoroughly familiar with the market quality standards for the
crop? Have you studied the market history and market trends of the crop?
(Crop selection should not be based only on recent high market prices.)
Have you explored various types of market outlets?
References
University of California Cooperative Extension Farm Advisors (address
and telephone number of local office usually listed under county offices
or University of California)
University of California, ANR Publications Catalog, 6701 San Pablo Avenue,
Oakland, California 94608-1239 (listing of agricultural leaflets available
to the public)
American Vegetable Grower. 37841 Euclid Ave., Willoughby, Ohio, 44094.
(monthly magazine on culture, management, equipment, etc. for vegetable
growers)
Federal-State Market News Service. 1220 N Street, Room 126, Sacramento,
CA 95814 (daily reports of prices and supplies; annual summaries of shipments,
prices, and acreage)
0.A. Lorenz and D. N. Maynard. Knott's Handbook for Vegetable Growers.
John Wiley and Sons, New York (a detailed reference on vegetable crops)
The Packer. P. 0. Box 415, Prairie View, IL 60069-0415 (weekly news related
to marketing and production of fruits and vegetables)
M. Yamaguchi, World Vegetables, AVI Publishing Company, Inc., Westport,
Conn. 1983. 415 pp.
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