Today, raspberries are a popular berry, due to their taste and medicinal characteristics, but few people thought about the fact that they can also serve as a profitable investment.
Recently, more and more farmers and gardeners are interested in this business, because of its profitability and the availability of the process. The raspberry growing business is common in Europe and the USA and makes up an important share of the farmer’s market. However, in Russia this niche is poorly developed, so the demand is many times greater than the supply.
Pros and Cons of Raspberry Growing Business
Any business has its strengths and weaknesses, let’s try to put the pros and cons of the “raspberry business” into baskets.
pros
- Low competition will provide an easy entry into this niche and allow you to develop without thinking about competitors.
- With the observance of existing technologies, you will be provided with high yields.
- Raspberries have a good profitability even in wholesale.
- Raspberries are an excellent raw material, because in addition to being sold, raspberries can be sold in dried form and in the form of jam. If for some reason you are unable to sell the fresh raspberry crop, you can do it dried or jam.
- Income can be earned all year round.
- Raspberry seedlings are in demand in spring and autumn, and berries and products from them are in demand in winter and summer.
- Variety of raspberries.
Minuses
- Raspberries require an appropriate type of climate, which is not present everywhere.
- The profitability of the business will depend on weather conditions.
- Choosing the right variety for you can take a lot of time.
- Empty berries with parasites or infection with a disease will lead to losses.
- The bush begins to bear fruit a year after planting.
Raspberry varieties with good profitability
To date, breeders have bred many varieties of raspberries that differ in various parameters, such as:
- frost resistance;
- fruitfulness;
- adaptability to climate;
- color;
- taste;
- smell;
- exposure to pests;
- berry size.
There are three types of varieties: “traditional”, “large-fruited” and “remontant”.
“Traditional” raspberry varieties
- Malakhovka. It is characterized by resistance to parasites and diseases. The fruit has the best balance of sweetness and acidity of its kind. From one bush it is possible to collect up to 3 kilograms of crop.
“Hussar”. Bushes are notable for the fact that they do not need additional struts. The variety has unpretentiousness to the climate. Less prone to disease and pest damage. - “Cascade”. Winter-hardy variety with a sour taste. Not subject to disease.
- “Bryansk variety”. The variety is the most frost-resistant and has a high sugar content in comparison with other varieties, due to which it belongs to the dessert species. A characteristic feature of this variety is the absence of thorns.
“Lazarevskaya”. The variety has poor frost resistance. Has recognized pharmaceutical and taste characteristics. Subject to disease. - “Meteor”. Winter-hardy variety, poorly resistant to parasites. From one bush it is possible to collect up to two kilograms of fruit.
- Novokitaevskaya. Frost-resistant variety with good yield. The fruits have a sour taste.
- “Flame”. It is characterized by unpretentiousness to climate temperature. The fruits are purple in color.
- “Early Surprise” Frost-resistant, which makes it the best unpretentious variety. The fruits have a sweet and sour taste.
- “Gloria”. The variety is notable for its good transportability.
“Large-fruited” varieties
- “Patricia”. The variety is notable for its good transportability and frost resistance.
- “Golden Giant” It is considered one of the most fruitful varieties: from one bush you can collect up to 14 kilograms of berries. The fruits are yellow in color.
- “Capital”. The variety is characterized by particular resistance to pests and diseases. The variety is resistant to cold. The berries are large – weigh about 8 grams.
- Ruby Giant. The subspecies is notable for its early maturity and good transportability compared to other varieties.
- “Abundant”. There are no thorns on the bush. In addition to good frost resistance and resistance to pests, the variety is notable for its high sugar content. The weight of one berry can reach 14 grams!
- “Arbat”. Among varieties with large fruits, this variety is considered the leader. The weight of a berry can reach 14 grams, and up to 4 kilograms can be collected from one bush.
- “Perfect”. Fruits weighing up to 10 grams with a long fruiting period compared to other varieties. The yield of one bush reaches 5 kilograms!
- “Mirage”. The frost-resistant grade having the best indicators on transportability.
“Repair” varieties
By “remontant” varieties is meant the ability of a particular variety to repeatedly bloom and bear fruit during one growing season. In other words, remontant raspberry varieties bear fruit 2 times a year.
- “Orange Miracle” Fruits with sweet and sour taste. This variety is notable for its resistance to pests and diseases.
- “Apricot”. Yellow berries have a delicate aroma.
- “Mulatto”. High yielding variety.
- “Diamond”. High yielding variety.
- “Jubilee Bryansk”. The variety needs timely watering and the addition of fertilizers. The ripening period is from July to September.
- “Hercules”. The variety is resistant to pests and diseases.
- “Eurasia”. Unpretentious to climate.
- “Polka”. The variety is notable for the absence of thorns.
Features of remontant varieties:
- Start offering in the first year of life.
- Large berries, well tolerated by transportation.
- Resistance of bushes to parasites and diseases.
- Bushes do not create permanent shoots.
- The berries not collected during the time remain on the bush, and do not crumble.
- Very demanding on the soil.
- They have a less pronounced aroma compared to summer varieties.
Raspberry business features
The peculiarities of growing raspberries include the capriciousness of the plant when choosing a predecessor, since if crops unfavorable for raspberries grew in the planned area, this can lead to plant disease and loss of fruits.
In the event that raspberry cultivation is planned on a large area, then it is first recommended to plant several small plots with various raspberry bushes and choose the option that suits you. A well-chosen variety of raspberry seedlings will allow you to harvest a fruitful harvest.
Choosing a site for a berry plant
One of the main criteria for raspberry yield is a properly selected site. For the site where the 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 not be large weeds.
- Protected from the wind.
- The site should be either flat or have a slight slope to avoid stagnant water.
- It is not recommended to use the site on which solanaceous crops previously grew, as there is a high risk of raspberry disease.
Suitable for planting raspberries are flat or with a slope of not more than 6%, areas protected on all sides from the wind.
Soil preparation for planting raspberries
An important element in the process of growing raspberries is the preliminary preparation of the soil, which includes:
- Selecting an area with a suitable predecessor crop
- Improvement (sanation) of the soil
- Creating the necessary habitat
The soil for raspberries is prepared in advance: a month in advance if planting occurs in the fall and from autumn if planting occurs in the spring.
It is also worth paying attention to the culture that previously grew on this land. Precursor crops that have a positive effect on raspberries include plants such as: mustard, cabbage, rice. These crops help prevent further development of unfavorable organisms for raspberries.
planting
- Raspberry seedlings are planted in pits, 40x40x40 centimeters in size, while there should be 1 meter of distance between the bushes, and 1.5 meters between the rows of bushes.
- If raspberries are planted in trenches, then the trenches should be 50×40 centimeters in size, the distance between the bushes should be 50 centimeters, and between the rows 2 meters.
- 3-4 stems are planted in one hole, but if planting occurs in trenches, then 1 stem is planted for every 50 centimeters.
- Before planting the seedlings in the ground, the roots of the seedlings should be briefly placed in thick clay mixed with water.
- After planting, the roots are covered with earth. The ground level should be 5 centimeters before the beginning of the stem.
- Next, the bush is watered with warm water – 10 liters per bush.
- Raspberry planting should take place on a dry day, preferably a sunny day.
Harvest
Harvesting must be done in dry weather. Berries need to be freed from the receptacle and put 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 the berries can be extended up 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.
Growing raspberries using greenhouses
Growing raspberries in a greenhouse will allow you to harvest year-round and sell raspberries at an inflated price in the season when the market is in short supply. In order to grow raspberries year-round in greenhouses, remontant varieties are used, which, by their specificity, are able to bear fruit all year round. The greenhouse business also involves the parallel cultivation of other berries or crops.
Growing raspberries in greenhouses has its advantages:
- The period of ripening of berries is extended, due to which the bush bears fruit until late autumn.
- The greenhouse protects the crop from the vagaries of the weather.
- Growing in a greenhouse helps prevent pests from infecting the plant.
- Closed ground provides the necessary moisture level for the plant, which has a beneficial effect on the characteristics of the crop.
- Can be harvested in winter.
Sales of products
Places of sale of products must be prepared in advance in order 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 perishable, they must be harvested in a short time.
Depending on the size of your business, you can use the following ways to market products:
- Sell raspberries on your own (by hand)
- In the markets
- In shops and other enterprises using raspberries for further sale or processing.
- Make your own production. Raspberries can be sold in the form of jam, jam, as well as dried fruits.
Additional income in this business can bring the sale of seedlings, they can be grown in separate greenhouses.
Paperwork for business.
For legal earnings on the sale of raspberries, you must be a subject of legal relations who can perform commercial actions.
An easy way to run this business is to register as a “sole trader” . To do this, you should contact the “multifunctional center of public services” (MFC).
Money to start a business
The cost of starting a business will depend on your location and the planned size of the business.
Due to the fact that prices are different everywhere, you should independently find out the cost of the following main components:
- seedlings
- Agricultural equipment
- Irrigation system
- IP opening costs
- Renting or buying a plot
- The cost of fertilizing if the soil on the site is “poor”
You also need to calculate the cost of heating the greenhouse (if you grow in a greenhouse)
Raspberry as a business – profitability
Let’s take a farm with an area of 1000 square meters, then this area will have approximately the following costs:
- Payment for the lease of an agricultural plot – 20,000 rubles
- The cost of purchasing planting material at a wholesale price (1,500 seedlings at 250 rubles) – 450,000 rubles
- Acquisition of agricultural equipment for cultivating the land – 30,000 rubles
- Purchase of fertilizer for seedlings – 35,000 rubles
- The cost of material for sheltering seedlings – 30,000 rubles
- Labor force payment — 35,000 rubles
- Storage chambers 100.000 rubles
- The cost of organizing irrigation – 10,000 rubles
If we do not take into account the costs of transportation and organization, then the costs will be about 635,000 rubles.
The monthly costs will go to 20,000 per month , that is, 240,000 per year.
The fruitfulness of one raspberry bush depends on the variety and growing conditions, but let’s take the average, which is about 3 kilograms per bush.
If we planted 1,500 seedlings, then we will collect about 4,500 kilograms of berries. The average market price of raspberries in the market for 1 kilogram of fresh berries is 100 rubles, while at retail a kilogram of raspberries can be sold for 150-200 rubles. If we sell the harvested crop in bulk, we will get 450,000 rubles from this.
In this case, the profit for 1 season is about 300,000 rubles.
It should also be taken into account that the opportunity to harvest appears only a year after the sowing of the first seedlings, so the payback period is from 4 years.
Possible business risks
As in every agricultural business, the main risk here is a sudden change in weather conditions, there is also the possibility of infection of plants with diseases and damage by parasites.
It is worth considering carefully the selection of working personnel, since the human factor also plays an important role. To minimize possible losses associated with these risks, it is recommended to insure the business.
Summary
Raspberry business, like every business, has positive features and disadvantages. On the one hand, it is profitable and there is practically no competition in the niche, and on the other hand, the amount of harvest depends on weather conditions.
In order to succeed in this niche, you need to draw up a clear business plan and take into account the nuances. Subject to agrotechnical standards and choosing the right raspberry variety, the enterprise can be a profitable investment.
