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Making money growing strawberries. Strawberry growing business all year round, costs and profitability How to start a strawberry growing business

Growing strawberries as a business is an excellent solution for entrepreneurs who understand agriculture. The juicy and aromatic berry is in high demand in retail stores and catering establishments; your own farm will fully pay for itself in just 2 years. The strawberry business is not too complicated, but when organizing it you will have to take into account many important details on which the success of the project depends.

  • Technology for growing strawberries for sale
  • How to start a strawberry growing business?
  • Tips for growing strawberries
  • Subtleties of implementation
  • How much can you earn from growing strawberries?
  • How much money do you need to start a business?
  • Which equipment to choose
  • Which OKVED code should I indicate for a strawberry growing business?
  • What documents are needed
  • Which tax system to choose

Technology for growing strawberries for sale

To achieve high profitability, it is better to combine open beds with greenhouses. This approach will help:

  • save energy in the summer;
  • extend the fruiting season from early spring until frost;
  • in heated greenhouses, crops can be obtained all year round;
  • the opportunity to experiment with varieties, selecting the most delicious and productive ones.

Industrial cultivation of berries has a number of features. To create open beds you need fairly large areas. To protect yourself from pests and simplify planting care, the beds can be made raised, and the space between the berry bushes and between the rows can be mulched with peat, sawdust or agrofibre. Growing strawberries in open ground makes it possible to get a good harvest; the berries have a particularly bright taste and delicate aroma. The beds have one drawback - they can be harvested no more than 1-2 months a year.

Greenhouses should be placed next to open beds. For successful cultivation of strawberries, structures made of cellular polycarbonate on a metal frame are suitable. The construction of such a structure is not cheap, but a permanent, permanent greenhouse will last for several years and will not require repairs.

Growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round is quite an expensive undertaking. The colder the region, the more you will have to spend on heating and heating the plantings. It is most profitable to grow berries in the middle zone. In summer, the greenhouse can operate without additional heating; in winter, you can save on electricity by using biofuel.

How to start a strawberry growing business?

To understand how to make money growing strawberries all year round, you need to study several business plans for similar productions. They indicate a complete list of upcoming expenses, as well as calculate future income and the overall profitability of the project. With proper operation, the enterprise will pay for itself in 2 years. The larger the production, the higher the profitability, but the initial and ongoing costs in this case also increase.

The easiest way to organize a strawberry business is on the territory of a former state farm, which has sufficient areas of fertile land. On this base you can arrange open plantations and greenhouses. Land is bought or leased, for this you can get a government subsidy or a preferential loan.

Register a legal entity. The most convenient way to run a strawberry business is on your own farm. This legal form allows you to significantly save on taxation and allows you to count on additional benefits and subsidies.

Build greenhouses. Designs from 100 to 250 sq. m. provide good profitability. m. You can start with 1 greenhouse, after a year the farm should be expanded. To grow strawberries all year round and make labor easier, the shelters are equipped with an automatic watering and ventilation system. Winter greenhouses require a reinforced cinder block foundation and a well-thought-out heating system. It is most profitable to combine electric or water boilers with biofuel from a mixture of rotted manure and straw. The mixture is laid out on the beds and covered with a layer of soil. Biofuel maintains the ideal temperature for 3-5 months and serves as additional nutrition for plants.

Choose the right strawberry variety. Hybrids of the latest generation of Dutch, Polish, and Russian selection are suitable for greenhouses. Consumers prefer large, juicy berries of bright red or red-pink color with a pronounced pleasant aroma. To increase profitability and reduce the number of defects, choose a strawberry variety with fairly dense berries that hold their shape well. These strawberries store well and can withstand transportation without problems.

    • Strengths
    • Business registration
  • 2. Sales of strawberries
    • Option 1. Sales through your own retail outlets
    • Option 2. Sales through stores and supermarkets
    • Staff
  • 4. Financial calculations
  • 4. Conclusion

The high profitability of strawberry fruit sales is due to high consumer demand and high cost relative to products with similar properties. The demand for strawberries, in turn, is ensured by excellent taste, appetizing appearance and some psychological aspects, for example, a favorite dessert or romance.

It is believed that fresh ripe strawberries are available only in the summer season; during the rest of the year they are used canned or frozen. Imported strawberries from abroad are mainly used to decorate sweet dishes and desserts, due to their high cost.

With the help of special technology and varieties of strawberries that bear fruit all year round, it makes sense to organize an enterprise for the production (growing) of strawberries with subsequent retail sale.

1. Business plan for growing and selling strawberries

Strengths

  • high profitability of the project;
  • free market;
  • lack of strong competition.

Option 3. Home delivery service

The service is relevant in a large populated area as an additional way of implementation. An exceptionally new idea for selling strawberries. Supermarkets that deliver products to your home or to order do not focus on strawberries. A well-conducted marketing campaign and advertising is required.

To sell strawberries and draw up contracts with customers, you need to issue a number of permits:

  • declaration of conformity GOST R. Characterizes the test for standardization, compliance of the product with its description. Detailed features can be obtained from the SES authorities;
  • phytosanitary certificate. Data about the document and its execution are provided by Rosselkhoznadzor.

3. Basic means for growing strawberries and equipment for sales

Organization of strawberry cultivation

  • land plot area not less than 120 sq.m.,
  • greenhouse structures,
  • racks for growing strawberries,
  • drip irrigation system,
  • gardening tools and other equipment according to technology.

Organization of sales at a retail outlet

  1. commercial premises (roller shutters) on 5-8 sq. m.,
  2. refrigeration equipment for storing strawberries,
  3. refrigerated display case,
  4. electronic balance,
  5. containers for storage and packaging.

Staff

With established production, 1-2 workers are needed for maintenance:

  • strawberry picker, technologist. Collection and organization of strawberry cultivation.
  • strawberry picker, laborer, driver.
  • seller at the point of sale.

Requirements for personnel are a health certificate and a desire to work. In general, personnel are needed when expanding production, growing strawberries on 80 kV. m. can be serviced by yourself.

Watch the video - "A way to grow strawberries all year round"

4. Financial calculations

According to the technology, the predicted harvest 4.4 – 5.1 kg ripe strawberries per month from 1 sq. m.,

The minimum harvest per month will be 4.4 x 80 = 352 kg;

Analysis of the cost of strawberries is determined by the ratio of the sum of the prices of different periods to their quantity, on average the cost comes out 400-500 rub./kg.

The estimated profitability is 352 kg x 400 rubles. - costs = 140800 rub./month. minus variable costs and a percentage of fixed costs, including deductions for depreciation.

4. Conclusion

Thus, selling strawberries is a profitable and profitable business. For this, it is important to draw up a business plan for growing and selling strawberries, what the costs and income from your activities will be.

Everyone talks about super-profits, about the strawberry business - if you listen, only the lazy don’t do it, and missed opportunities. They famously calculate the wild profitability and blatant profit of 144% from 1 hundred square meters. But do you know the ins and outs of beautiful numbers, do you have an idea of ​​all the expense items? Pseudo business plans won’t tell you about them. You can guess about unexpected expenses - it’s easy to go into the minus, easier than to get out of them - much easier than I imagined.

Do you believe in the possibility of making money so easily and simply from a peasant farmstead, but at the same time you have a hard time guessing where strawberry mustaches grow? Then I will try to dissuade you, save your money, energy and time. And also nerves - you will need them if you decide to seriously start growing strawberries for sale.

Strawberry business: why don’t the numbers work?

Why don’t business plans for making money on strawberries work in most cases? And because the figures given are average-ceiling. Many expense items are not taken into account - hence the profitability above 100%.

So, the average yield is up to 25 t/ha - such a yield when growing strawberries is considered enviable, believe me, on average 16-18 t/ha. This means that from our 10 acres we will get about 2000 kg with 3000-3500 in an average year on average varieties and up to 450-500 on the most productive ones - the calculations are correct for early, for remontant - completely different figures.

First, let's estimate the scale of strawberry production: without them, all calculations of profitability are water, suitable only for dropout students of agricultural universities. It’s simple: with a larger gross harvest, the cost per unit of production, in our case 1 kg of sweet strawberries, is less. So, when purchasing seedlings in bulk, a farmer buys them 2 times cheaper than a gardener who buys 5-10 pieces, and 1.5 times cheaper than a small-scale producer who buys a couple of hundred. The same situation is with the wholesale of mineral fertilizers, organic matter and covering material - everyone who wants to know knows about this. So, about the scale.

  • Drip irrigation - on a plot of more than a hundred square meters is not a cheap pleasure: you will need to calculate the cost of the entire system, which also depends on the area being treated.
  • Costs for fertilizers: most agricultural enterprises do not recognize how much and what fertilizers are applied. Trade secret, you know. And the articles will contain only general recommendations for amateur gardeners. You will have to delve into the art of agrochemistry yourself, look for economical and effective options.
  • Costs of transportation, transportation and storage - no one knows how far a person starting his own business will have to transport goods: where can there be exact figures for transportation costs?

Unforeseen circumstances such as weather conditions, the human factor - they did not find sales, product damage, etc. are not taken into account.

I'll tell you about the expense items first. I will give the figures in conventional units, cu. that is, for the respected Internet community, living in different countries and measuring goods in different countries. I will not describe industrial cultivation - by the way, the expression is not correct: industrial means mechanized collection. Manual - simply producing berries, in my case - small-scale production.

Our wild market is wild, but there is plenty of variability

There are many ideas for industrial cultivation of strawberries - growing in a greenhouse, hydroponically, in bags - we will not touch on these topics. Our grandmothers also started their business of growing Dutch strawberries on their 6 acres; the grandchildren who remained behind the broken trough of the economy continue it - on a larger scale, and not at home, in the front garden, but on plantations, in greenhouses. Of course, indoor soil provides many advantages - but we are not talking about greenhouse farming, but about growing in a private backyard, in the field, so to speak.

About varieties - if you buy seedlings from famous nurseries, you are a wealthy person, but if you buy seedlings from unfamiliar farmers, without a guarantee, you will not be a wealthy person. Pure seedlings are expensive - but it’s worth it: it’s more profitable not to bother with the queen cell, but to make a profit from turnover by purchasing frigo seedlings. However, if there is something to buy for. And if not, we buy expensive ones in trusted nurseries, from well-known sellers, in trusted stores - and grow our own seedlings.

As for the best, they are a separate matter. The main thing is that it corresponds to its intended purpose - industrial, productive, transportable and tasty - there are many main things - but, alas, this is not what we are talking about.

Cost calculation: both as a joke, but seriously

If you are interested in the cost and profitability of strawberry production in Ukraine and Russia, pay attention to this point - practice is practice, it’s not about drawing beautiful numbers on paper. Pay attention, despite the author's humorous tone.

Let’s imagine a small cozy plot of land – a plantation of 10 acres. For every hundred square meters there are on average 500 bushes, 10 x 500 = 5000 pieces.
We further calculate: the price of planting material, each ZKS strawberry bush, is up to 0.2-0.5 USD. depending on the variety, class and type of seedlings - I take frigo class A, A+, A++ - it costs more if we take from 500 pieces. Total – 2500 USD (according to today’s exchange rate CU to UAH – 1:25).

If we want frigo, we will have frigo. And even better, the seedlings are clean, free from all kinds of bacteria, viral and fungal spores, have not seen pests, from nurseries - A class, the highest. This one is so expensive. It is good - there is no risk of a sudden disease of the entire planted plantation, means of prevention are needed, not protection - it is already cheaper. But the cost of production, alas, is rising, and the pocket is scared from such expenses, isn’t it - after all, we were promised a strawberry business with almost zero costs - were we really deceived? No, they simply kept silent about its real side - the real cost.

A small digression: we will talk about early varieties of strawberries. About growing remontant plants for sale - in the next article, a completely different conversation. By the way, in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, industrialists primarily grow early varieties, while remontant varieties are grown in a smaller proportion. Why - oddly enough, it’s more profitable, the turnover is faster despite the visible advantages of a larger number of repairmen, there are fewer risks.

Workshop

We will plant at the end of summer, when the heat subsides, not reaching autumn. At this time, every day is precious - it pushes back or brings next year’s harvest closer. Late July – August depending on the region.

Saplings are exclusively ZKS. Or transplant with a clod of earth. The later we plant, the more soil there is.
There should be no heat that kills the seedlings - this is the main thing. And watering and mulching must be organized.

About mulch and covering material: under film or on film - you still need it

Mulch – you can’t live without it. It can be planted on agrofibre, on film, or on straw. Vegetable - an economical option. It will protect the soil from drying out, overheating, save watering, and weeds will not break through. But where did you see the same free straw - if you saw it, then tell me - I’ll come running for it. The pleasure is not expensive, but you will have to pay for it: at least 10-15 USD. leave in your wallet a satisfied straw truck who tossed you a couple of bales.

But the economical option is often not the best. Organic mulch, humus + peat on top of straw, will cost more, 30-35 USD. it will work if you're lucky - the option is good for a garden where a dozen bushes grow. Give us something cheaper. And cheaper - expensive film or agrofibre, on which you can plant. Its price - can you handle it? If not, let’s remember about straw and forget about agrofibre and film.

The worst thing is the covering material – 150-180 USD. didn't want to pay for a roll? Like it or not, even if you don’t mulch, you need to cover it from frost in winter and early spring and for early ripening.
Since we are talking about the open-ground strawberry business and its profitability, let’s remember tunnels, canopies, not to mention greenhouses. No, we are not talking about greenhouses - just about shelter that accelerates ripening. We will cover it with either white agrofibre or film. Will we pay? One more roll please. We won’t - we’ll do without early ripening, when strawberries are so expensive.

So this roll may not be enough, you know. And without it, you can’t cover it with a newspaper. Tea, not in grandma’s garden, when you can mulch the bed with straw and litter: it’ll be covered with snow and everything will overwinter. Once you have decided to seriously engage in the industrial cultivation of strawberries, please, cover them correctly - icing of the roots with subsequent attacks is expensive nowadays.

Without water - not there or the cost of watering

Drip irrigation will cost us about 200 green tugriks, depending on the amount of drip tape. There is no need to be stingy: there is root watering, water saving, fertigation, and optional fog installation - any whim for your money.

Let's feed and feed: how much does garden and field chemicals cost?

Let's draw up our business plan for growing strawberries next. The next cost item is organic matter and mineral fertilizers.
Organics - manure in our style: per 1 hectare there are up to 100-120 tons for planting, i.e. per 1 hundred square meters - up to 10 kg, per 100 - hundred, centner. How much good is there in your places - you know, then enter the number yourself. In Nashensky, for the delivery and for scattering honey with a mechanical cultivator - it cost only 50 USD. – it’s cheap, very cheap – my friends helped in a friendly way. And organic production is good, of course, but it is a costly business - mineral fertilizers are cheaper, and many times cheaper.
Mineral fertilizers - we will calculate the application in the year of planting, and the next year - in the phase before flowering, budding and ripening - we will reach another 55-60 USD. This is also expensive - industrialists, due to wholesale, get sweet berries cheaper, as evil tongues say - or maybe good ones - who knows.

Everything is in the shade!

And also, due to the heat and drought, not only in the south, shading nets have become fashionable. It’s a brilliant invention, you know – the berries don’t bake, the leaves don’t burn: the strawberries stand vigorous and fresh, the berries are filled with juice and sugar.

Protect yourself!

And they haven’t yet calculated the main thing: not only we love sweets, but also pests: beetleworm and strawberry mites, etc. And also diseases - spotting, Alternaria and others like them. What to do - stock up on preventative means so as not to overpay for means of control. The pleasure of using the achievements of agrochemistry will cost 30-35 USD. for our site – not too much, not too little – just right. We will add it to fertigation systems, the newfangled way, but it’s not worth it the old fashioned way - it’s ineffective, and why would a drop sit idle.

Tired of cleaning up the economy? No - then we’ll move on externally to next year - we’ll harvest the harvest. Enjoy your profits early, gentlemen, young ladies, ladies and gentlemen: new expenses await us, and at the same time we will finally calculate the income and profitability of growing strawberries.

We waited for the harvest: how much does a meter of strawberries cost?

We talked about household chemicals - sorry, we talked about fertilizers and protective equipment above. We won't take it into account.
About the covering material - is there enough, is it worn out - even if it is enough for 2-3 years, but 2 rolls are needed. We’ll buy one in the year of planting to differentiate costs and minimize risks - in case we change our minds about suffering with agribusiness, the second - in the second year. We will cover with this material both in winter and spring. And on the third, when you have to arrange the sockets, you will still need it, don’t worry.
Pots for seedlings - in case you want to continue a good cause, for starting your own planting material and saving hard-earned money. they will come in handy. Seedlings in pots as planting material are much more valuable with an open root system.

Waiting for a miracle or the second year

Are you bored again? Then let's get down to the main thing - harvesting. You will need:
Containers (plastic containers, blisters, glasses for retail and others). And also - the same baskets, baskets made of simple veneer - only they are more expensive than plastic. You shouldn’t skimp on capacity: the less containers we fill for the fresh market, the more intact the product, the less losses. Europeans are smart: they pack almost 100 g for supermarkets. And we are baskets and baskets, broad is the Slavic soul!
Jokes aside: the collection container should not exceed 2 kg - bring compote. Delicious, but only you need it. Or maybe it’s not even necessary - because it’s tasteless.

The container will cost at least 20-25 USD. - this is really not enough, considering the area planted with strawberries.

Stop, whoever is coming, we protect what has been grown

As you might guess, it’s not just spider bugs that can encroach on your harvest. Moreover, if your plantation is far from the estate, or even in an open field outside the city. The latter is very risky, since even in the village there will be individuals who do not hesitate to profit from other people’s goods. This point should not be ignored: strengthening the fence, wire, installing an alarm system - I went through all this from my own experience.

Who would have thought that a 70-year-old neighbor would deftly bend under two rows of a stretched homemade signal and harvest our harvest with enviable speed? No, I didn’t even say anything to her - a couple of kilograms didn’t make me poorer, and I had to treat her, although people are not poor, children and grandchildren come in such cars - oh, right. But in the event of an invasion by a dysfunctional family living on the outskirts of our dacha village, I had to involve my father as an honored electrician in the matter: he finally got it right.

And there are also video cameras - to see and intimidate potential thieves and other delights of civilization. If we are ready to include them in the budget for commercial strawberry growing, then we add them to our list of expenses.

As a result, modest attempts to protect the territory from invasion will cost from 50 USD. up to 250 – it all depends on your fantasies. I’ll take a modest minimum - for the wire and connection of the alarm system, lighting - lanterns and other Chinese things.

Don’t think down on implementers: when the time comes, you will go yourself. Maybe…

Sales: if you grow strawberries for the fresh market, even with 10 acres you will need lightning-fast sales speed. Lightning fast means fast: a perishable product will not wait. Do you otherwise have refrigerated, stationary circulation refrigeration units? Is a refrigerated minibus good for business - both transportation and storage - are you ready to buy it in case you expand your strawberry fields?

In any case, you will have to spend money on fuel and lubricants for your own transport or someone else’s. How much is fuel now - remember and multiply by the required distances. At a minimum, you will have to spend at least 25 USD in a season. Either toss straws, then run away to get the film, and when the shaft starts moving - oh, how you will run into it.

If not, then again, let’s remember about the fresh market and several retail outlets where everything should be in order with the documentation, the paperwork, the so-called. sanitary and epidemiological stations - we have heard about such organizations that love to check goods, and about the patents of an honest trader - individual entrepreneurs, etc. called in different states. By the way, we also need money to officially register our activities - we are law-abiding citizens, and we don’t want to risk our goods and profits.

The surest way is to hand over the good part remaining from the market deduction to the good hands of wholesalers or supermarkets (they also take it at a favorable price for themselves). And give it away quickly - otherwise the goods will be left behind. Another option is to hand it over for processing, but you need to worry about it in advance, at the flowering and ovary phase, so to speak - a spoon is good for processing plants for lunch, and lunch is prepared in advance.

Having managed to find all the points of sale, we will not leave the chance of losing at least a large share of the harvest, which, as it turns out, costs a lot of money.

About the hands of our workers, workers with you

By the way, we forgot about the main thing. The most important expense item in the harvest year is labor. you just won't have time on your own. You won’t have time and that’s it. At a minimum, your family contract should consist of 3 people who deftly operate both gardening tools and know how to trade and bargain. As necessary, which is most likely the maximum, you will need to hire one or two people for collection - for 10 acres this is enough under conditions of collection every day, and one more seller. How much you will pay is, of course, your commercial little or big secret. Just don’t forget to subtract this amount from the profit amount and add it to the cost of strawberries for sale. And, of course, don’t forget about it when calculating strawberry profitability.

Let's sum it up

Thus, summing up the main costs, we get a large amount.

For beginners - how much strawberries can be harvested per hundred square meters - from 220 to 250 kg in a good situation, more often - less. From our site we will count the minimum, subtracting substandard conditions, losses during transportation, etc., 200 kg.

  • The cost of early strawberries on the market fluctuates 1.2-1.7 USD - depending on the region and time: in early May - more expensive, by June it becomes cheaper. Wholesale and processing are even cheaper. Let's take the average.
  • According to our business plan, the cost of strawberry production is approximately as follows: 1 kg – 0.6-0.8 USD.
  • Thus, we earned dirty, so to speak, 3700 USD. How much did you spend? Yes, about the same, count it. If in the first year we paid for all purchases - the same planting material, drip irrigation, film, fertilizers and protective equipment - then we did well. If you make money on top, you’re a svurkhumnitsa.

How so - you ask. But what about the profitability of the strawberry business - at least 50%, they say? This is how it will be in the following years. That is why you need to start with small volumes - if there is no free capital. Do not strive to purchase everything and everyone at once - if you are not prepared for the possibility of going into the red, not making a profit or even a payback.

Thus, to summarize the above - who said that growing strawberries as a business is 100% profitable, who talked about incredible benefits and virtually no costs? And we didn’t talk about possible losses, unexpected expenses and pitfalls awaiting the strawberry plant - the further into the forest, the more wood you can break. However, it is beneficial. This is really beneficial - if you really imagine all the expense items - I described some of them in such an unusual way.

Strawberries are a tasty and healthy berry, the cultivation of which for the purpose of building a business can bring good profits. If the owner of such an enterprise follows all the recommendations and requirements regarding the cultivation of strawberries, then he will be able to get a good income, especially in the summer, when the season begins.

If you organize the growing procedure correctly, the strawberry business will be able to generate profit all year round.

Growing strawberries all year round becomes a very profitable business, because in one season you can collect about 20 tons of tasty, ripe and juicy berries from 1 hectare. And in some cases, the yield can reach 50 tons! Suppliers set the highest prices for their goods out of season or at the very beginning of it. Usually the harvest begins from mid-spring to the end of autumn.

To start such a business, an entrepreneur will need to make a certain monetary contribution, purchase seedlings, auxiliary materials for planting and care, fertilizers, and create an effective irrigation system. Perhaps the main advantage of this area is that this berry does not require any special care or the use of expensive technological solutions.

When starting a new business, the first thing an entrepreneur needs to do is create an effective business plan.

For this purpose, a study of the advantages and disadvantages of the activity is carried out. A novice businessman should understand that the accessibility of a business and a low level of capital investment are not yet a harbinger of success. At the start, problems will certainly arise, the skillful resolution of which will allow the new business to develop in the right direction.

Strawberries are often grown in greenhouses, since this approach allows for a year-round harvest. In open ground, this berry bears fruit in the spring and summer, but in greenhouse conditions the berries can be picked at any time of the year. In addition, the greenhouse growing procedure has a number of other positive properties:

  • Bad weather cannot affect the quantity and quality of the harvest, as happens in open ground. The berries are reliably protected by film and will not rot due to high soil moisture.
  • This kind of home business is characterized by a quick payback. The entrepreneur will be able to return the invested funds in one season.
  • Strawberries grown in a greenhouse look more beautiful. Supermarkets are more willing to sell them.
  • The cost of greenhouse strawberries can be increased in the fall, winter and early spring, when the season for such a berry has not yet arrived.
  • Greenhouse strawberries occupy a much smaller area than those planted in open ground.
  • In some cases, profitability may exceed the 100% barrier.

Among the significant disadvantages of greenhouse cultivation are:

  • The need for serious capital investment. Despite the fact that, compared to other business areas, growing berries requires minimal start-up costs, sometimes entry into it is still quite expensive for the average person.
  • Berries need constant care. Regular artificial pollination and the creation of optimal lighting and irrigation conditions are required.
  • Greenhouse berries differ significantly in taste from those grown in natural conditions.

Growing methods

In modern gardening, there are several ways to grow strawberries. Each of them has its own characteristics and advantages. Among these methods there are those that are used most often:

  • Planting in open ground.
  • Growing in a greenhouse.
  • Dutch way.

Open ground

Growing in open ground is cheaper at cost, but the entrepreneur will receive a much smaller harvest than when cultivating berries in a greenhouse. The use of special equipment is not required here.

Greenhouse

Growing in greenhouse conditions is a more complex process, but this does not detract from its popularity among professional gardeners. The main advantage is the ability to harvest all year round.

Out of season, an entrepreneur can set a higher price for berries without increasing his own costs. However, to cultivate plants in a greenhouse you will have to spend more money than when growing them in open ground.

Dutch method

The Dutch cultivation method involves planting mustaches in special long bags (their size reaches two meters in length). Fertile soil is poured inside the bags before planting. Next, holes with a diameter of about 8 cm are made across the entire surface of the bag, and they should be located in a checkerboard pattern. It is in them that the seedling is planted.

The main advantage of the Dutch method lies in the fact that even in small areas you can grow a large crop of strawberries. You can hang bags of shoots not only in greenhouses, but also in any heated rooms. This could be a garage, balcony, barn, etc. The main thing is to properly organize the cultivation system, think through the principles of irrigation and proper lighting.

Choosing a variety

To develop your business, it is better to purchase strawberry shoots (tendrils) of the first or second order. As for the varieties of this berry, it is better to give preference to those that have a well-developed rosette part and also have fairly strong roots.

The level of berry yield also plays a big role in choosing a variety. Among the most successful varieties that are most suitable for building a business are:

  • Will;
  • Elsanta;
  • Glima;
  • Red Capulet;
  • Cambridge;
  • Vizhe;
  • Kama.

Planting and care

Strawberry productivity depends not only on the correctly chosen variety. Proper care is of great importance, as is compliance with recommendations when planting a mustache.

It is first recommended to place strawberry seedlings in small pots filled with a peat mixture. These containers must have drainage holes that will ensure the drainage of excess moisture during watering. If they are not there, the roots will begin to rot. It is advisable to purchase soil for planting in specialized garden stores. However, if desired, you can prepare it yourself by taking ordinary soil from your garden plot and treating it with a high concentration of potassium permanganate solution.

If you prepare the soil yourself, then you should definitely add fertilizers containing nitrogen, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus.

In the first ten days of April The seedlings can now be transplanted into open ground. After harvesting in the first season, it is definitely recommended to thoroughly plow the plantation where the strawberries grew. This will make it possible to increase the yield of berries in the next season.

Caring for the plant requires regular but moderate watering. This procedure is carried out at the root, and it is advisable not to touch or injure the fruits and leaves of the plant. The optimal solution is drip irrigation technology.

If strawberries are grown in greenhouses in winter, then the entrepreneur needs to take care of protecting the berries from frost. Plants will do well at a temperature of +18-20 degrees. It is good if they are pollinated artificially and periodically fed with nitrogen. Pollination of strawberry inflorescences on small plantations is done manually. To do this, pollen is transferred from the pistils to the stamens using a brush.

If the planting area is large, then pollination can be carried out, creating conditions as close as possible to natural ones. If in nature pollen is transferred from flower to flower by a wind flow, then in a greenhouse it is worth creating such a flow with the help of a switched on fan. In summer, you can install hives with bees on the site. These hard workers will help pollinate the flower stalks.

Sales of goods

To ensure the prosperity of a business, it is necessary to collect berries correctly and efficiently. The harvest should not be crushed or damaged, so after harvesting strawberries should not be poured from box to box. Ideally, it is better to collect it in pre-prepared boxes, which are then sent to the place where the products are sold. The optimal container would be plastic boxes or plastic baskets.

The method of implementation depends mainly on the season. In summer, producers send berries to the market, and in winter – to supermarkets. It should be noted that supermarkets have high demands on the quality of berries, so the supplier must carefully monitor it.

There is a third implementation option. The berries can be sold to processors involved in the production of various juices, yoghurts, jams and other goodies. In this direction it is possible to sell about 30% of the harvest.

Project costs

Most experts agree that individual retail outlets for selling homemade strawberries will not always be profitable for an entrepreneur. In winter, he will have to establish cooperation with the owners of supermarkets, where, in fact, about 80% of the harvest goes. In spring and summer, the berry is in greater demand in the markets.

In order for home growing to be effective, an entrepreneur needs to invest heavily in starting his business. It is advisable to store the collected berries in the refrigerator, so you should take care of purchasing such a unit in advance. A good refrigeration chamber will allow the product to remain in its marketable condition for two weeks.

Start-up costs are related to the following aspects:

  • Purchase of seedlings. This plant reproduces by means of tendrils. And to start growing, it is better to choose mustaches that are not only healthy, but also have well-developed roots and a rosette.
  • Greenhouse equipment and room selection. Depending on how large the business is, the optimal material for constructing the greenhouse is selected.

This design can be polycarbonate, film frame or glass. The most inexpensive is a film greenhouse. A glass greenhouse provides the opportunity for year-round cultivation of berries. However, equipping a glass room will require large financial investments, which is not always advisable for a novice entrepreneur.

The golden mean in this case would be a greenhouse structure made of polycarbonate. It is a frame structure for which there is no need to build a foundation. The frame is made of galvanized metal, and polycarbonate sheets are already attached to it. Such a greenhouse maintains optimal temperature conditions, and polycarbonate allows a large amount of sunlight to penetrate inside. Polycarbonate structures are recommended by many experts as the optimal solution for year-round cultivation of berries.

Payback period and profit level

Business profitability is a concept that provides for the relationship between its cost and the profit received. You can determine the profitability of an activity by finding out either its cost or the cost of growing berries with the addition of a trade margin.

How is the cost determined? It is made up of the price of planting material, building rent, fertilizers, and payment of wages to employees. If the scale of the business is small, then the entrepreneur has the opportunity to reduce costs by independently performing the cultivation procedure, without resorting to the help of hired workers. The cost of strawberries per 1 kg averages $1.5.

Many entrepreneurs experience an increase in profits in the strawberry business in the winter, when it is very difficult to get such berries.

A few years ago, the cost of strawberries per 1 kg was about $6. If the manufacturer uses modern technologies, he will certainly be able to achieve a significant increase in yield (from 40 to 50 tons can be harvested from 1 hectare). If you make calculations, it will become clear that for such a harvest the entrepreneur will be able to receive $225 thousand net income. The profitability in this example will be 75%, which is very good.

Many professionals who have been involved in strawberry cultivation for a long time say that the profitability of this area is almost 100%. Moreover, all invested funds will pay off very quickly - literally for 1-2 seasons.

Video about this business

In the video you will hear a detailed story about caring for this berry using modern methods:

It is better for farmers to build medium-sized greenhouses (100 - 120 sq. m). Polycarbonate can be replaced with a double layer of polyethylene film, but this coating will have to be renewed after 1-2 years.

Large greenhouse farms often use steel frame greenhouses covered with glass. The pitched roof structure provides good natural light and does not allow snow to linger. Glass retains heat well, but it costs significantly more than film and polycarbonate.

Strawberries are grown in industrial conditions using a rack method, or hanging Dutch technologies are used. Industrial greenhouses for strawberries with this arrangement save space and make harvesting easier. It is also possible to plant strawberry bushes directly in the ground.

Hydroponic technologies reduce the cost of the process, but significantly worsen the taste of the berries. They acquire a characteristic watery taste and lose their aroma. A greenhouse with a blank wall made of cinder blocks will help you save on heating costs. Usually the northern wall is made blank.

The blocks reliably protect the greenhouse from cold winds, and they can also provide additional heating using the solar panel principle. There must be a greenhouse equipped with a ventilation system and drip irrigation, good lighting.

Advantages and disadvantages of business

Business for growing strawberries in a greenhouse has many advantages, which makes it especially attractive for beginners.

  1. Strawberries are very popular. It is readily purchased by both end consumers and shops and catering establishments.
  2. Competition is low, strawberries are present in sufficient quantities on the market for no more than 3 months a year.
  3. Imported berries are significantly inferior in taste and aroma to domestic varieties grown in soil.
  4. In the winter-spring period, premiums for strawberries increase significantly.

Among the disadvantages business can be noted:

  • costs for the construction and equipment of greenhouses;
  • high cost of electricity for heating;
  • the need to register a legal entity to operate stores;
  • During the summer season, the markup on products decreases.

Variety selection

Remontant strawberries that do not require pollination are ideal for this. Both early and mid-season varieties can be planted in closed ground.

It is important to choose options with fairly dense berries that can withstand transportation well. Consumers prefer brightly colored large strawberries regular shape with a rich aroma.

Among the most popular varieties:


Entrepreneurs with experience in greenhouse farming recommend choosing varieties of Russian, Dutch, American and Polish selection. They take root well in protected soil, do not get sick and produce good yields.

Greenhouse equipment rules

Still at the construction stage of the greenhouse it is important to think through the system. The most convenient option is to combine biofuel with artificial heating. An infrared cable or pipes are laid underground, through which warm air is driven. For heating, you can use an electric boiler or fire, as well as stoves.

Prepare biofuel, mixing horse, pig or goat manure with straw, spilling the mixture with water, covering it with film and leaving it for several days. Rotted manure is spread under the top layer of soil. This mixture maintains the temperature in the greenhouse up to 25ºC.

Very important point – soil preparation. For strawberries, you need a light mixture of equal parts of turf and humus with the addition of ash and mineral fertilizers.

To optimize acidity, a mixture of superphosphate and potassium chloride is suitable. The soil must be thoroughly loosened.

For suspended technologies, you can use a peat-perlite mixture, which must be steamed. The prepared substrate is poured into plastic sleeves and placed on racks installed along the walls of the greenhouse. Nutritious the mixture retains moisture well and accelerates the development of strawberry bushes. The Dutch system increases strawberry yields, allowing you to remove 8 kg of berries from one sleeve.

Strawberry care

The grown seedlings are planted in the greenhouse. When using Dutch hanging technologies, each bush is placed in a separate pot filled with nutritious substrate. When planting bushes in the ground placed in rows with a distance of 30-45 cm. To optimize watering and maintain the required level of humidity in the greenhouse, you should install an automatic drip system.

The soil should not dry out, but flooding is also unacceptable. Stagnation of water in the soil provokes the disease gray rot, which can destroy the crop. Humidity in the greenhouse should not fall below 80%. After the bushes take root, you need to ventilate the room daily.

Once every two weeks it is necessary to apply mineral fertilizers: ammonium nitrate and potassium chloride diluted in water. After flowering begins, you need gradually increase the temperature in a greenhouse, this will speed up the ripening of the berries, making their taste bright and rich.

Accounting for income and expenses

Before starting work, a detailed business plan is drawn up, taking into account upcoming expenses and planned income. The list of expenses must include:

  • rent or purchase of land;
  • building materials for greenhouses and costs for its construction;
  • greenhouse equipment (ventilation, irrigation, lighting systems);
  • purchase of planting material, fertilizers and insecticides;
  • fare;
  • registration of a legal entity (required for working with retail chains);
  • salary of hired personnel.

Growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round as a business is not cheap for a private owner.

Construction and equipment of a polycarbonate greenhouse with an area of ​​100 square meters. m will cost 90,000 rubles. You will have to pay for heating and fertilizers from 15,000 rubles per month. Another 15,000 rubles will have to be spent on purchasing planting material; about 10,000 rubles costs to register a legal entity and obtain certificates for products.

Helps reduce costs:

  • use of combined fuel;
  • growing seedlings yourself, from seeds;
  • refusal of hired labor;
  • replacing polycarbonate for covering the greenhouse with a cheaper film.

Calculate your expected income from the farm. With a yield of 5 kg per 1 sq. m can be removed from 400 kg of berries. The average purchase price is 600 rubles per kilogram. The price varies throughout the year from 200 to 800 rubles per kg, depending on the time of year. Thus, profit from one greenhouse will be 240,000 rubles per month. The profitability of a strawberry business in a greenhouse is from 50%.

In winter, the markup on berries increases 1.5 times. This is due to a decrease in supply and high demand from retail chains. However, it is worth considering that heating costs also increase during this period.

Many farmers refuse from growing strawberries in winter, preferring earlier planting and extending the fruiting period until November.

If you decide to start another business growing, or, then look at the articles on our website.

Entrepreneurs who decide to grow strawberries in winter should sign agreements with retail chains and enterprises Catering. This will help minimize the percentage of defects and stabilize income.