Vegetable Production Level 3

Who it is for. People who have finished Vegetable Production Level 2, or who can show the same skills. In the CTVET framework, National Proficiency II is work done under limited supervision, and National Certificate I is work done under minimum supervision, with complex and varied activities. This module is written to that higher step. It is the author's judgement that it sits near National Certificate I; CTVET has not rated it.

The size. A farm of one to five acres (about 0.4 to 2 hectares), a small net house, and a crew of two to ten casual workers.

Bridge from Level 2: what you already know

Check that you can still do each of these. If not, go back to Level 2.

Level 2 left four things for later: design of your own systems, running pesticide work as the responsible person, the legal and money side of owning a farm, and growing the business. This manual covers them. The general money and venture lessons are in the hub's Money Skills Level 2 and Entrepreneurial Thinking Level 2; this manual goes deeper for vegetable farming and does not repeat them.

How the module works

Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria, the range and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent. About 70% of the time is practical, following CTVET's Oil Palm programme split of about 30% school and 70% workplace.

Competency standard

Range. Tomato and pepper; one net house or net bed; one drip block. Evidence. Design sheet; fertigation log; troubleshooting record.

Protected cultivation: what the evidence says

• A University of Education, Winneba trial of improved tomato lines in a greenhouse reported yields of 20.05 and 23.03 t/ha for the best two lines. A KNUST study in the transitional zone found greenhouse tomato out-yielded open field with higher marginal returns, but called for more study on whether farmers can afford and sustain it. Open-field tomato in Ghana is typically under 10 t/ha.
• Insect-proof nets cut sprays by 70–100% on cabbage and tomato in Benin and Kenya.
• Heat is the main problem: Ghanaian greenhouses were up to 10 °C hotter than outside, often 35–40 °C. Narrow houses, shade screens and natural ventilation are advised.
• About 100 greenhouses at Dawhenya stood idle for about eight years. A survey of 118 Ghana greenhouses found only some types profitable.
• Shoppers often see greenhouse vegetables as expensive, so a trusted label helps you hold a premium price.

Choose the cover.

Rules for a hot, wet climate: keep it narrow so air passes through; open the sides; use shade screens at midday; never let the leaves stay wet overnight; keep doors with an insect-proof lobby; keep daily temperature and humidity readings.

Drip design

Design in this order. This is the author's teaching sequence; check each number against your supplier's data sheet.

1. Count plants and rows. Example: 0.1 ha tomato at 1.0 m × 0.5 m = 2,000 plants.
2. Choose an emitter and read its flow in litres per hour (L/h) and its working pressure on the box. Example: 2 L/h, one per plant.
3. Flow needed = emitters × L/h. Example: 2,000 × 2 = 4,000 L/h.
4. Daily water = plants × litres per plant per day in the hottest weeks. Example: 2 L → 4,000 L a day.
5. Run time = daily water ÷ flow. Example: 4,000 ÷ 4,000 = 1 hour.
6. Tank must hold at least one day's water, plus a reserve if the source is not constant. Example: 5,000 L.
7. Pressure. A tank on a 1–1.5 m stand gives enough pressure for a small gravity kit. For long laterals or many blocks, use a pump and split the farm into zones that run one after another.
8. Test. Collect the water from five emitters for one minute each. If any differ from the average by more than about 10%, clean or replace them (a 10% rule taken from a sprayer-nozzle sheet and used here as a teaching rule).

Women's home gardens with drip kits saved labour and earned more, but drip fails without cleaning and follow-up (see Level 2).

Fertigation: feeding through the drip

Fertigation means putting soluble fertiliser into the irrigation water. It saves labour and puts nutrient near the roots, but a mistake reaches every plant at once.

• A venturi injector is cheap and simple but its rate changes with pressure and flow; a positive-displacement injector is more precise but costs more. Acid injection needs the second type.
• Fit a non-return (check) valve so fertiliser cannot flow back into the tank or water source, and stop the injector whenever the water stops.
• Keep pH of the solution roughly between 5.5 and 7 so nutrients stay dissolved. Measure EC (salt content, in dS/m) so the water reaching the crop is not saltier than the crop tolerates. The water's own EC counts: 0.8 dS/m water plus a fertiliser that adds 1.2 dS/m gives about 2.0 dS/m.
• Never mix calcium fertiliser and phosphate or sulphate fertiliser in the same stock tank: they can form solids that clog emitters. This is a standard hazard; confirm the compatibility chart with your supplier.
• Flush with clean water for 10–15 minutes after each fertigation.

Troubleshooting

Competency standard

Range. Tomato and cabbage; one knapsack sprayer. Evidence. IPM plan; calibration record; pesticide register; store check.

An IPM programme in five layers

1. Prevent: clean seedlings, rotation, nets, clean tools, resistant or grafted plants, field hygiene.
2. Scout and count: weekly, in a W pattern; use sticky and pheromone traps for timing; record numbers.
3. Decide with a threshold: diamondback moth on cabbage 0.5 larvae per plant; aphids on cabbage 2% of plants with five or more aphids; aphids on pepper with fruit 4 per leaf. These are from outside Ghana: adjust with your extension officer.
4. Use gentle controls first: remove infested plants, expose soil to sun, use nets.
5. Use a registered pesticide last, rotating products so pests do not become resistant.

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus is spread by whitefly; in one field trial the rate was as high as 43% in the dry season for Roma. Nets and clean seedlings are your first defence.

The law

Only products registered by the regulator may be imported, sold or used. The regulator is the Environmental Protection Authority under the Environmental Protection Act 2025 (Act 1124), which replaced the 1994 Act. About 1,070 pesticides were registered by December 2023 and 32 fake products were withdrawn. Check any product against the EPA's current registered list before you buy; I could not verify the current list or any Ghana bans, so ask EPA or your MoFA officer. As an international check, the Rotterdam Convention keeps a list (Annex III) of 57 chemicals, including 38 pesticides, that two or more countries have banned or severely restricted for health or environmental reasons; carbosulfan and fenthion (ultra-low-volume forms) were added in 2025. If a product's active ingredient is on that list, treat it as a warning sign and ask EPA before you buy.

In May 2026 all six cabbage samples tested in Accra had too much of at least one pesticide, from over-dosing, wrong mixing and harvesting before the waiting period ended.

Calibrate the sprayer

Calibration is the only way to know how much you spray; it changes with nozzle, pressure and walking speed. Recalibrate before the season and often during it.

1. Fill the knapsack with clean water to the mark.
2. Spray a measured strip at your normal walking pace and pressure; measure the area covered by one litre.
3. Area per tank = tank litres × area per litre. Example: 15 L × 20 m² = 300 m².
4. Dose per tank = label rate for the area × (area per tank ÷ area). Mix only that dose per tank.
5. Walking twice as fast halves the output per hectare, so keep a steady pace.

The pesticide register

Keep one page per spray. A registered record has: date and time; block and crop; pest and the count that triggered it; product name and registration details from the label; dose per tank and total used; water volume; weather; operator's name and PPE worn; PHI and the earliest harvest date; and the supervisor's signature. A US extension record form uses the same fields plus the re-entry interval (the time before people may re-enter the field) and advises checking local rules on how long to keep records. Keep yours for at least five years as a good habit; this is the author's rule, not a verified legal period.

Store, mix and clean up

• Locked, ventilated store away from food, children and water; products in original, labelled containers; spill kit of sand and a scoop; first-aid and wash water nearby.
• Mix in the open on a flat place, away from the stream; measure with a marked jug; never use your hands.
• Triple-rinse empty containers, pour the rinse into the tank, puncture the container and keep it for the approved disposal route. Never reuse it for food or water.
• Wash sprayers away from water sources. Wash PPE after each use.
• If poison touches a worker: remove contaminated clothes, wash skin with plenty of water and take the label to a clinic.

Competency standard

Range. One nursery cycle; a 12-month calendar; a crew of 4–10. Evidence. Nursery record; crop calendar; machine comparison; work plan.

Seed and seedling production

• Producing, cleaning or selling seed in commercial quantities needs registration, only registered varieties may be sold, and unlabelled seed carries heavy penalties. Save OPV seed for your own use; selling seed is for registered seed growers only.
• Selling seedlings raised from registered, labelled seed is a different business. Ask MoFA's seed inspection officer whether a nursery licence applies to you; I did not find a written rule.
• Grafted tomato gave better yield, earlier harvest, less disease and longer shelf life in a University of Ghana trial.

Nursery numbers. Plants needed ÷ germination rate gives seeds to sow. Add a loss allowance for transplanting. Count seedlings by tray to sell. Keep a record of seed lot, sowing date, germination and sales.

Plan twelve months of supply

Prices swing with the season: a tomato box cost about GH¢1,500 in January 2024 but GH¢6,000–7,000 in June 2024. A government dry-season tomato programme raised gross margin from GH¢4,555 to GH¢14,150 per hectare with irrigation and a committed buyer. Build a calendar with:

Machines: hire, own or do by hand?

Government service centres (AMSECs) were set up from 2007 to hire tractors to small farmers, but an IFPRI-based review found the model not viable on its own, mainly because of low scale. Small, scattered, stumpy fields are often poorly served. In Tumu in 2022, ploughing an acre was said to have risen from GH¢100 to about double in a year because of diesel. No current price for the Western Region was found: phone two local operators.

Compare on one sheet: cost per acre by hand (person-days × daily pay), cost to hire, and cost to own (purchase, fuel, repairs, depreciation and the acres you can really cover). Own a machine only if you can fill it with work.

Supervise a crew

• Plan the day on paper: who, which task, where, what finished looks like. Show a task once, watch them do it, then let go.
• Pay at least the national daily minimum wage, GH¢21.77 from 1 January 2026. Pay on the agreed day.
• Pesticide work and cutlass work are hazardous and not for children.
• Safety: water, shade, boots and gloves, first-aid, a briefing before spraying. The employer must provide safe conditions and PPE at no cost.
• Quality checks: spot-check one row in five; give feedback privately and early.
• Casual workers are paid daily, work no more than six months continuously and are paid for public holidays.

Competency standard

Range. Tomato, pepper, okra, cabbage; one buyer specification. Evidence. Cold-chain log; GAP checklist; traceability test; contract review.

Cold chain: temperatures that matter

Chilling can ruin heat-loving crops, so colder is not always better. The values below are general extension figures from outside Ghana, summarised from search results; check them with your buyer.

Handling steps: harvest in the cool morning; keep in shade; remove field heat quickly; handle gently; keep clean crates off the ground; do not mix chilling-sensitive crops with cold-tolerant ones. A zero-energy cooling chamber kept okra, tomato and amaranth 4–7 days in Northern Ghana. A CoolBot lets an ordinary air conditioner cool an insulated room to about 2 °C on far less electricity, so set it above the chilling point for tomato, okra and pepper.

Good agricultural practice (GAP) and traceability

• GlobalG.A.P. is a private standard. It covers individual producers and producer groups run under a quality management system. Ask a certification body how group membership and farm identification work. Ghana has a National Interpretation Guideline for it, and smallholders have met it with support from development partners.
• Ghana Green Label is the national scheme for safe vegetables: pesticide use, traceability and waste. It had over 900 farmers by 2022 and sold in supermarkets. A plan to require green certificates from Accra-area vegetable growers was reported but I found no sign it was enforced. I could not find how to apply or the fee: ask MoFA or GSA.
• GSA National Organic Certification Scheme launched in June 2026.
• Chain of Custody is a GlobalG.A.P. standard that traces certified product back to certified farms.

A basic GAP file has: site map; water source and test; manure and compost use; input purchases and the pesticide register; worker training and PPE; hygiene facilities; harvest and packing records; complaint and recall plan.

Traceability test. Pick a crate. Within 10 minutes show: block, planting date, every spray with PHI, harvest date, who harvested, and the buyer. If you cannot, fix the records.

Contracts and exports

• Most vegetable contracts in Ghana are informal and seasonal; they set quality and quantity and treat selling elsewhere as a breach.
• Aggregators serve supermarkets because they want one supplier. A hotel buyer in a government programme audited the farm and wanted approved irrigation water.
• Read before you sign: product and grade, quantity per week, price and how it moves, delivery place and time, payment days, who bears rejected produce, how a dispute is settled. Put it in writing. Have a lawyer, extension officer or association read a large contract.
• Export: the EU banned five Ghanaian vegetables in 2015, costing about US$36 million, and lifted the ban from 2018. Pepper for the EU must be free of false codling moth. Vegetable exports were US$48 million in 2024. The Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) inspects and certifies under the Plants and Fertilizer Act 2010. Exporters need a registered business, TIN and GEPA registration. Sell through a registered exporter first; confirm current rules with PPRSD and GEPA.

Competency standard

Range. A one-acre vegetable farm in or near Sekondi-Takoradi. Evidence. Form comparison; registration file; start-up budget; one-page plan.

Choose a legal form

For a first farm on your own, start as a sole proprietor, then move to a company when you hire many staff, sign large contracts or take investors.

Registration, step by step

1. Business name at the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC): about GH¢130 for a sole proprietor. A company limited by shares was listed at GH¢585 plus 1% capital duty on stated capital in the ORC 2026 fee schedule. Example: stated capital GH¢10,000 gives duty of GH¢100, so GH¢685 in total. The ORC page did not open when checked; I saw the figure in a search result. Confirm on the ORC portal.
2. TIN: the Ghana Card PIN is your TIN, and it is free.
3. Assembly business operating permit: every business in Sekondi-Takoradi must register, unregistered ones pay a 30% penalty, and fees are due by 31 March. Check the farm rate.
4. Environment: operating without a valid environmental permit is an offence, and the EPA ran a nationwide compliance drive in 2026. Small and medium farms were told permits can come within 25 working days if documents are complete. Which farms need which permit class was not verified; phone the EPA Western Region office.
5. Agro-chemical trade, seed trade, food processing or export need their own licences (see Unit 2, Unit 3 and Unit 4). If you only grow and sell fresh vegetables, none of these may apply: ask before you start.
6. Fire certificate and insurance: see below.
7. Tax route: the Modified Taxation Scheme began on 1 July 2025; turnover up to GH¢750,000 may use it if not VAT-registered. Goods VAT registration threshold GH¢750,000 from 1 January 2026. Whether farm income has a special concessionary rate was not verified: older sources give a 1% rate for a limited number of years while a current guide gives different rates. Ask GRA in writing.

Premises and location

Pick water, a road and a buyer first (Level 2). Then check: lease length of at least the payback period of your drip and net house (get a written lease); flood and animal risk; electricity or a solar option; nearness to Takoradi, Tarkwa or a junction market; a place for a store, packing shed and chemical store at a safe distance from the stream. Do not build a net house on land with no lease or on a path the Assembly may widen.

Start-up budget (example, one acre)

All figures are examples to show the layout; replace with your own quotes.

Financing options

• Own savings and a VSLA or susu: cheapest; Ghana had about 34,000 savings groups in 2021 and a government programme links groups to banks. Keep the box rules.
• Microfinance or bank loan: get the full cost (APR) and the repayment schedule first (see Money Skills Level 2).
• GIRSAL guarantees can lower bank interest for agribusiness. GHATSI (September 2026) offers a GH¢20,000-per-acre tomato package with insurance in 35 districts. Feed Ghana Programme gives seed, fertiliser and training, and its next phase moves to storage, processing and markets.
• GEA (Act 1043) supports MSMEs with advice and access to credit. NEIP/PBSP gave GH¢5,000–50,000 loans at 10% to people under 35 in an earlier round; whether a round is open is not verified.
• Persons with disabilities: the Assemblies' disability fund rose to 5% in 2026, and GEA ran a grant for 150 such businesses in 2023. Rounds open and close.
• Grants from agri-challenges exist, such as the Kosmos AgriTech Challenge for young start-ups.

The one-page plan

Fit on one page: who you are; the crops and buyers; your proof (a trial block, a buyer's letter); the start-up budget; the funding you ask for and your repayment; the main risks and your answers; 12-month cash forecast (Unit 7); and the first 90 days.

Hire, insure, comply

• Labour Act basics. A job of six months or more must have a written contract; leave is at least 15 working days a year; hours are up to eight a day and 40 a week; notice is one month for contracts of three years or more and two weeks for shorter ones; unfair dismissal can be taken to the National Labour Commission.
• SSNIT and tax for staff. Several payroll guides give 13% employer and 5.5% employee contribution on basic pay, but they disagree on how the 13% splits, so confirm with SSNIT. Self-employed people can contribute 13.5% of income. Example only: on GH¢1,500 basic pay, employee 5.5% is GH¢82.50 and employer 13% is GH¢195.
• Insurance: the law requires business premises to be insured against fire and similar risks, though section numbers were not verified. Market fire and small business policies exist. Ask GHATSI-type schemes about crop cover. Get three quotes and read exclusions.
• Safety and fire: get the Ghana National Fire Service certificate for your packing shed and stores (see Workplace Safety Level 2). Have first aid, a chemical store and a spill kit.
• Accessibility. The Persons with Disability Act 2006 (Act 715) is reported to give employers a tax rebate for hiring persons with disabilities. A project in Banda lets about 250 persons with disabilities grow vegetables with solar irrigation; a district assembly has trained them in vegetable farming. Farm design: waist-high beds, wide firm paths, drip rather than cans, long handles, large-print labels, work in pairs.

Market yourself

WhatsApp Business: catalogue, quick replies and labels. Google Business Profile: free listing on Search and Maps; never pay to be verified. Add a farm-gate sign, a portfolio of graded produce, and weekly harvest messages to regular buyers. Ask every happy buyer to name one more buyer.

See the hub's Money Skills Level 2 for the basics of cash book, profit and loss, balance sheet and cash forecast. This unit applies them to a vegetable farm and goes deeper.

Competency standard

Range. One month of own or sample farm records. Evidence. Cash book; month-end sheet; costing sheet; balance sheet; reconciliation.

The records a vegetable farm keeps

Two purses. Keep farm and personal money apart. Pay yourself a wage. Money you take out is a drawing, not a cost.

Sample cash book page (example)

Opening cash and mobile money (MoMo) GH¢800.

Month-end routine.

1. Total both columns: in 2,680; out 1,590.
2. Closing cash = opening + in − out = 800 + 2,680 − 1,590 = GH¢1,890.
3. Reconcile. Count the cash box and read the MoMo and bank statements. Example: box GH¢740 plus MoMo GH¢1,150 equals GH¢1,890. If not equal, find the gap (missed fee, wrong amount, unrecorded cost).
4. Check debtors and creditors. Hotel paid; the input dealer is still owed GH¢300.
5. Count stock and compare with the record.
6. Calculate profit. Sales 2,680 (the hotel sale counts on 12 October, when it was made, not on 20 October when cash came). Direct and running costs: fertiliser 400 + labour 240 + crates 150 + pesticide 180 + fuel 120 = 1,090. Gross profit 1,590. Less depreciation GH¢75 (below). Net profit before the owner's wage = GH¢1,515. The GH¢500 drawing is paid out of profit, not counted as a cost.
7. Update the forecast and note the next three months' cash needs.
8. File receipts by month. Keep tax records (below).

Costing, pricing, margin and mark-up

• Cost per kg = total cost ÷ kg sold. Count lost produce in the cost.
• Margin is profit as a share of price; mark-up is profit as a share of cost. Buy pepper at GH¢8 and sell at GH¢11: profit GH¢3; mark-up 3 ÷ 8 = 37.5%; margin 3 ÷ 11 = 27.3% (author's arithmetic; see Money Skills Level 2).
• Break-even kg = fixed costs ÷ (price − variable cost per kg).
• Pricing strategy. Price must cover your cost, your wage and a margin. Check the market price and buyers' contracts. Sell grade A at a premium, grade B for less, rejects to processors. Do not cut price to match a rival if you cannot cover costs.

Depreciation (straight-line)

Tools and kits wear out. Yearly depreciation = (cost − expected resale value) ÷ years of life. Example: drip kit GH¢4,000, resale GH¢400, 4 years: (4,000 − 400) ÷ 4 = GH¢900 a year, GH¢75 a month. Book value falls each year. Depreciation is a cost in the profit calculation but not a cash payment: it shows you must save to replace the kit.

Simple balance sheet (example, 31 October)

A balance sheet is a photo of what the business owns and owes on one day. Assets = liabilities + equity.

Profit and loss follows the income statement layout: sales, less cost of goods sold, gross profit, less other costs, net profit. Working capital is current assets minus current liabilities. A cash forecast has opening cash, money in, money out and closing cash.

Tax records

Keep for each year: cash book, sales invoices, purchase receipts, permit receipts, bank and MoMo statements, wage sheets, fixed-asset list. Under the Modified Taxation Scheme, turnover up to GH¢750,000 may pay 3% of sales on the turnover route; the scheme began on 1 July 2025. The VAT threshold for goods is GH¢750,000 from January 2026. Whether fresh vegetables are VAT-exempt or farm income has a concession was not verified: ask GRA in writing. Keep records for at least five years as a safe habit (the author's rule). Employee SSNIT records: see Unit 5.

Competency standard

Range. The team's farm plan; a panel of three. Evidence. Quality manual page; scaling plan; loan file; panel presentation.

Quality systems and customer care

• Write the 10 steps from field to buyer on one sheet: who, what, check, record.
• A complaint log records the date, buyer, problem, cause, and fix. Answer the same day; replace or credit rejected produce honestly.
• A customer list with phone numbers, usual order, payment habit and delivery day. Phone a regular buyer each week.
• Test one batch against the buyer's specification before dispatch.

Scaling and partnerships

Grow in steps: perfect one block; add a second only when the first earns, records are clean and a buyer is ready. Join other growers to supply larger orders and share transport, a cold room or a packhouse. Government clusters bring solar irrigation, a packhouse and a committed buyer. Tenders: some institutions buy vegetables by tender or framework contract; ask schools, hospitals, hotels and caterers for their procurement rules, and bring your registration, TIN, GAP file and references. Write down every promise; never promise what you cannot deliver.

Records for loans and for the next owner

A lender or funder wants: registration papers, TIN, 12 months of cash book, sales invoices, a balance sheet, a forecast, a repayment plan from the forecast and your contracts. Never give a Ghana Card, SIM or passbook as security to an unlicensed lender, and avoid investment promises of high returns.

Succession. Write who can sign, who holds the keys and passwords, where the files are and who takes over if you are ill. Teach one person each key task.

Ethics. Weigh honestly, grade honestly, tell the truth about spray dates, pay on time, no child labour, no bribes (see Entrepreneurial Thinking Level 2).

The 12-month cash-flow forecast (example)

Build monthly: opening cash + money in − money out = closing cash. This example is for a one-acre farm with a GH¢4,000 loan repaid GH¢400 a month from March (interest left out to keep the sums short; add it in your own plan). All figures are examples.

The January 'in' of 4,000 is the loan. The lowest cash is in August (GH¢1,200) when the glut cuts prices.

The capstone: one-page plan and panel

One page, plus the forecast: who you are and your farm; crops, area, buyers and proof; the system (water, protection, IPM, post-harvest, standards); the team; registration and permits; start-up budget and funding; 12-month forecast with the lowest month marked; risks and answers; and the ask. Present for five minutes, then answer questions for ten. Each team member answers at least one question alone.

1. Why is the water's own EC part of the fertigation sum?
2. Why fit a check valve on an injector?
3. Give the order of the five IPM layers.
4. Why must a sprayer be calibrated again during the season?
5. How do you work out seeds to sow from plants needed?
6. Why is okra not stored near 0 °C?
7. Name three items in a GAP file.
8. What is the first step in registering a business name, and the TIN?
9. Calculate the straight-line depreciation of a GH¢4,000 kit with GH¢400 resale value over 4 years.
10. Is the owner's drawing a cost? Why?
11. What does the forecast month with the least cash tell you to do?
12. What must a farmer check before signing a buyer's contract?

Best next reads: your Level 2 manual; the hub's Money Skills Level 2 and Entrepreneurial Thinking Level 2; the Green Label farmers' manual; GlobalG.A.P.'s Integrated Farm Assurance standard for fruit and vegetables.

What this module does not cover: large-scale greenhouse engineering, hydroponics, full export certification, payroll tax tables and a company's annual returns.

Every source used in this manual is listed, with links, in the Teacher Copy.