New water tank for low cost drip irrigation

Agnes-vivian

Kitengela, Kenya

57% repaid

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How it Works

Entrepreneur

Name

Agnes-vivian

Member since

January 2014

On-time repayments

128 installments • 34%

About Me

My Name Is Agnes Vivian but Vivian is what many call me.. I come from a place known as kano plains in Nyanza Province Kenya.. My home is at Ahero Tura Village .I come from a humble family of 6 siblings. I am married with 2 beautiful children a 8year old boy and a 13 month old daughter.I work as a Customer Care associate for Bridge international academies. I started my business to supplement my income. With two children and siblings dependent on me there's a lot to be bought, purchased and bills to be paid for. Also coming from a family where my mum is a primary school teacher and not paid as much i have a
responsibility of helping out with my siblings so farming is a major lifeline

My Business

Coming from an area known of “failed” Rice farming (Ahero)
my mum and i took the mandate of using the irrigation
scheme as a lifeline for a source of income. I started Mixed
farming (Mboga both European and traditional) .Capsicum
(green bell peppers)., tomatoes and Onions and yellow
passion fruit by the riverbank of Nyando river. We have a
farm at the river that we use but we also rent 1 other farm
for about 5,000 shillings every three months.. The reason I
decided to do mixed farming was so that when one crop is
out of season another is blooming so we do not have the
land left empty.
Farming is a good source of income in our area since its
mostly dry and the people appreciate fresh farm produce.
Since I am on full time employment and not able to travel
frequently, we have a farm manager who is paid something
small to help take care of the farm.When free i travel over
the weekend to oversee the progress of the farms. During
dry season we pump water from the river. I invested in 2
generated water pumps to assist with this.
During harvesting period we do not take our product to the
market to cut on transportation expenses but we let the
buyers come to us. They are at the farm as early as 6.am to
get the producethemselves. For all mbogas(leafy
vegetables) we sell per sack at a rate of between1000-1500,
for tomatoes and onions , green bell peppers(hoho) we sell
per crate between 700-1800 depending on season and
product demand. We have set aside specific days for the
harvesting to give breathing time to the crops.
We get our advice from the local horticulturalist and they
also advise us on the best product i.e manure and
ferterlizers to use for our crops. Our main expense goes to
ploughing the land either by tractor or a yolk pulled by
cows, Fertilizers and fuel for the generator.
My main aim of getting a loan is to expand our business .
By this I mean rent more land, get more seeds, plant more
crops hence more returns. I joined Zidisha to help my dream
come true I am also planning to venture into rice farming as
I have tried it before.
I do believe a great mind is a great potential but only when
the ideas are put in action . This world needs risk takers
and big dreamers doesn’t it?

Loan Proposal

This will be my second time taking a loan with zidisha
After much research i found out that the use of drip irrigation will enable our farm produce have sufficient water coverage therefore maximize on the harvest.This will enable me to grow more vegetables with much less water. This will also help me reduce on labour cost and the cost of fuel that i use on the water pump each day to water the farm, meaning i can put the money into other use.The who set up will cost me around 120,000 kenyan shs/1400 USD for a 2 acre piece of land
For my drip system i will need 4 main equipments
a storage water tank,
lateral,
emitter pipes,
Filter etc
My loan will be used to buy a 3400 litre Roto water tank that will be used to store the irrigation water.
The tank cost is 25,000 ksh an equivalent of around 278 USD.
The rest of the project i will fund with the savings that i have received from my previous harvest a month ago. With this system installed i see my vegetables sales going up by 20-30 percent.Some farmers in my area are already using this system which has turned very effective.
I will appreciate help from all the lenders who will support me and promise to keep you updated on my project

Show original English

About Me

My Business

Coming from an area known of “failed” Rice farming (Ahero) my mum and i took the mandate of using the irrigation scheme as a lifeline for a source of income. I started Mixed farming (Mboga both European and traditional) .Capsicum(green bell peppers)., tomatoes and Onions Kales of Nyando river. We have a farm at the river that we use but we also rent 1 other farm for about 5,000 shillings every three months.. The reason I decided to do mixed farming was so that when one crop is out of season another is blooming so we do not have the land left empty.
Farming is a good source of income in our area since its mostly dry and the people appreciate fresh farm produce. Since I am on full time employment and not able to travel frequently, we have a farm manager who is paid something small to help take care of the farm.When free i travel over the weekend to oversee the progress of the farms. During dry season we pump water from the river. I invested in 2 generated water pumps to assist with this.
During harvesting period we do not take our product to the market to cut on transportation expenses but we let the buyers come to us. They are at the farm as early as 6.am to get the produce themselves. For all mbogas(leafy vegetables) we sell per sack at a rate of between100-1500, for tomatoes and onions , green bell peppers(hoho) we sell per crate between 700-1800 depending on season and product demand. We have set aside specific days for the harvesting to give breathing time to the crops.
We get our advice from the local horticulturalist and they also advise us on the best product i.e manure and ferterlizers to use for our crops. Our main expense goes to ploughing the land either by tractor or a yolk pulled by cows, Fertilizers and fuel for the generator.
My main aim of getting a loan is to expand on the farming business as i realised that the weather constitutes alot to what we get during harvest. Being in a plain dry area the rains received at the highlands affect our crop production more so the tomatoes and cucumbers. My plan is to use drip irrigation to enable us maximize especially on the harvest of our tomatoes
I do believe a great mind is a great potential but only when the ideas are put in action . This world needs risk takers and big dreamers doesn’t it?

Loan Proposal

After much research i find out that the use of drip irrigation will enable our farm produce have sufficient water coverage therefore maximize on the harvest.This will enable me to grow more vegetables with much less water. This will also help me reduce on labour cost and the cost of fuel that i use on the water pump each day to water the farm, meaning i can put the money into other use.The who set up will cost me around 120,000 kenyan shs/1400 USD for a 2 acre piece of land
For my drip system i will need 4 main equipments
a storage water tank
lateral
emitter pipes
Filter
My loan will be used to buy a 3400 litre Roto water tank that will be used to store the irrigation water.
The tank cost is 25,000 kenyan shs an equivalent of around 278 USD.
The rest of the project i will fund with the returns that i have received from my previous harvest
I will appreciate help from all the lender who will support me and promise to keep you updated on my project