Aloe Vera (forum)

S&P starts with ...
Can someone tell me what is the minimum area required for growing aloe vera commercially & where I can find requirements & figures on same,

Thanks

Time: 24th February 2010 7:04pm

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Damo says...
What is the minimum you want to earn?

Time: 24th February 2010 10:42pm

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S&P says...
We live on 5 acres, 33% would be arable, have not idea of how much would be involved in cultivating this plant from a commercial aspect, ie whether its on a small area only or a much larger area is required.

Time: 25th February 2010 4:14pm

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amanda says...
Hi S&P - Latest copy of Organic Gardener (ABC) has a an article on this (pg 10) - there was a link to:
www.biomassmagazine.com
(Oct 2009 article by Lisa Gibson)

Apparently it's being considered for ethanol biofuel.

I have blue agaves - they off-shoot fairly readily when there is water about. They are completely unirrigated and tough as. The rabbits like to eat them though.


Time: 25th February 2010 9:17pm

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speedy says...
Agave spp. sometimes (not much these days) called 'American Aloe' are from North and Central America.
They're (all except one or two species) monocarpic. the rosette dies after flowering.
Aloe spp. on the other hand are mainly from Africa and fower year after year.

Agaves mature and flower between anywhere between 8-25yrs depending on species.
when they initiate flowering, enzymes convert inulins (starch like compounds) stored in the heart of the plant into sugars (manly fructose).

Fructose being a fermentable sugar is used to make alcohol ,traditionally Mescal- for drinking or (some may say wastefully...) as a biofuel.
It can also be concentrated to a syrup as a low GI sweetener known as Agave nectar.

I'll be watching with interest, the agaves for biofuel thing , coz I know of an already failed business in Sth Africa
useing Agave americana from hundreds of acres of feral plants there.
The business was producing a potable Agave spirit.
Compare the price of a bottle of spirit against a litre of alcohol for fuel.

Growing Agaves as a crop is a big undertaking. prep., planting, weeding, desuckering, harvesting.
at least a 8-10yr cycle at best for A.tequilana.
or 18-25yrs for A.americana.
Most of this is done as manual work.
there will need to be a lot of development of mechanisation systems before it even looks like being viable.

Sorry S&P .... off topic a bit there.

Time: 26th February 2010 12:33am

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Speedy says...
Aloe vera as a crop.
Do you intend to sell fresh leaf
or process and sell the gel, or process and value add as a food?
You may need to grow some as a trial to see how they fare in your climate.
they dont like frosts and they dont like too much full sun in mid summer in dry climates.
I find that they do better in a bit of shade to grow big plump leaves.
Just a few suggestions of things you'll have to investigate

Time: 26th February 2010 12:46am

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trikus says...
Several failed plantations up here . Think it was more of a tax dodge scheme . They sucker so much a mate had a part time job taking tip trucks full of suckers to the tip . nb the plant usually sold as Aloe vera at markets is not the true sp. but a much smaller related species .

Time: 26th February 2010 8:50am

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speedy says...
Yeah , back in the 1980's people were gonna make fortunes from investing money in plantations ....like jojoba, ostriches, babacos, 'kiwanos', emus, alpacas, bamboo shoots, grapes, olives and the list goes on.

dunno about ostrich, alpaca or emu 'plantations' though...lol :-)

usually after all the hype settles down,
then there are a few people who do the research, maybe find a niche market and then make a bit of a living from any of these things.
usually they're the ones who have land, a plan and start small from the ground up and grow a business steadily.
often they have to work elsewhere to support it before the business can support them.


Time: 26th February 2010 10:54am

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BJ says...
S&P; I'd suggest that the "how much can you earn" has a lot more to do with your business plan, investors, market research, and commercial structure you use along with how you manage tax and the like. The return on investment is typically not that high for agriculture which can make finding investors more difficult than if you had black goo pouring out of the ground. You really need to research your market, business structure, exit strategy and cash flow before you determine how much of what you will plant!
Good luck, I love to hear of cottage industries that make it work.

Time: 26th February 2010 11:23am

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