Sell dried cabbages and earn more money. Cabbages are sliced using a cabbage slicer. The slices are then placed on a clean tray in a shelter to dry. The drying takes between six and seven days.
Many farmers who grow cabbages face challenges in prolonging their shelf life given their high perishability.
Because of this, mostly at the peak of the season, farmers sell them at low prices as they are in a hurry to sell them off before they perish.
However, drying the cabbage and selling it dried can in a way save farmers from being paid peanuts for their produce.
Some farmers who used to sell fresh cabbages have since began drying them. Since they started adding value to their vegetables they no longer want to sell them fresh since they earn more by selling dried cabbage.
A farmer sells two cabbage products namely, the dried cabbage and cabbage powder. From one big cabbage which goes for Shs1,000 when sold fresh, he or she gets two big packs of dried ones which sell at Shs10,000 each.
This means a farmer gets a profit of about Shs18,000 from one cabbage. She buys plastic containers at Shs850 each, a big one and small ones at Shs450 each.
The process
The process starts with harvesting mature cabbage.
The cabbages are washed with lukewarm water mixed with little table salt. The salt helps in ensuring that all bacteria or germs are killed.
The cabbages are then sliced using a cabbage slicer. The slices are then placed on a clean tray in a shelter to dry. The drying takes between six and seven days.
However, when a solar drier is used, it takes only three days.
The dry slices are then packed or pounded in a mortar using a pestle to get cabbage powder, which is also packaged. The product is sold under the trade name, Dried Cabbage.
Prices
A big pack of dried cabbages goes for Shs5,000 while cabbage powder goes for Shs10,000 for a big pack and Shs5,000 for a 600-gramme pack.
Market
The produce is sold to super markets and shops. The dried vegetables have a shelf life of seven months.
