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Lusekere Ade Farms, Ede (2026)

20/10/2026

**FARM NOIR – CASE FILE 27**
**TITLE:** *"My Farm Has Never Been Robbed. But a 6:15 AM Walk Around My Open Stream Made Me Realize We Were Sitting Ducks."* 🌊🚪👀

Wait first! 🛑 Before you scroll past, I need to talk about the most dangerous mindset in Nigerian agribusiness: *"Nobody has stolen from me yet, so my security is fine."*

That is not security. That is just luck. And luck runs out. Grab your popcorn, because Case File 27 is about the morning I did a ruthless security audit on my own farm and nearly had a heart attack. 🍿🔥

It was a Tuesday morning at the main Lusekere Ade Farms facility in Ede, Osun State. I pulled up to the gate at exactly 6:15 AM to start the day and prep the 50/50 BSF and commercial feed mix for the catfish.

As I walked in, I noticed the night guard, Baba Segun, was still on his mat, half-asleep. He hadn't done his final morning perimeter check. Instead of shouting, I told him to grab his flashlight and walk the boundary with me.

Our farm has a very unique, asymmetrical layout.
The West side has a full, high block fence. Very secure.
The North side has a 4-foot fence.
The South side has a 3-foot fence.
But the East side? **No fence at all.** Just a small stream that passes through, separating us from the adjoining plot of land. 🌊🌿

As we walked to the East side, the morning mist was still thick over the stream. I pointed at the water and looked at Baba Segun.

*"Baba, if a thief crosses this stream at 3 AM, they are on the property. The 3-foot fence on the South side can be stepped over by a teenager. The 4-foot fence on the North side is just a suggestion. The only thing stopping them from walking straight into the bioponds and the catfish sorting area is you, and the dogs."*

He looked at the open stream, then looked at his flashlight, suddenly realizing how vulnerable we were.

As our elders say:
🗣️ *"A kì í dúró kí olè tó wá, kí a tó wá ti ìlẹ̀kùn."*
💡 You do not wait until the thief arrives before you lock the door. You do not wait for a robbery to realize your fence is too short.

We haven't been robbed at Lusekere Ade Farms, and I thank God for that. But relying on grace without strategy is foolish. That morning, we implemented a new protocol for the open East stream. We started planting a dense, thorny hedge of *Bougainvillea* and *Acacia* along the bank to create a natural, painful barrier. We also moved the dog kennels closer to the stream at night so their territory covered the blind spot.

Security isn't just about high walls. It's about identifying your weakest point—the open stream—and fortifying it before someone else finds it.

👇🏾 **OVER TO YOU!**
Look at your own farm or business right now. What is your "open stream"? What is the one vulnerable spot that a thief could easily exploit if they wanted to? Tell me below! 👇🏾

Let's grow together! 🌱🐟👑

18/10/2026

**FARM NOIR – CASE FILE 26**
**TITLE:** *"The Truck Died on the Ede-Osogbo Expressway With 500kg of Live Catfish. The Aerator Stopped. The Clock Started."* 🚛🐟⏱️

Wait first! 🛑 Before you scroll past, I need to expose the most terrifying 10 minutes in Nigerian agribusiness logistics.

You spend five months feeding your catfish the perfect 50/50 BSF and commercial mix. You sort them. You fast them for 48 hours. You load them into the truck. And then, halfway to the buyer, the engine dies. And when the engine dies, the aerator dies. Grab your popcorn, because Case File 26 is about the day the highway tried to steal my harvest. 🍿🔥

It was a Thursday afternoon. I was driving the farm pickup truck loaded with 500kg of premium live catfish from Lusekere Ade Farms in Ede, heading to a major buyer in Osogbo.

The truck was carrying a massive water tank. The truck’s engine was powering the electrical aerator that kept pumping oxygen into the water. Everything was smooth until I hit a rough patch on the Ede-Osogbo expressway.

The engine sputtered. Coughed. And died completely. 🚛💀

I steered to the shoulder and turned the key. Nothing. Just a clicking sound.

My heart slammed into my ribs. I immediately looked at the back. The aerator had stopped. The water in the tank was already going still. With 500kg of heavy catfish packed tightly in that water, the dissolved oxygen would drop to lethal levels in less than 15 minutes. They would start suffocating, and then they would die. 📉😰

Suddenly, a roadside mechanic in dirty overalls appeared from the bush, carrying a toolbox. He looked at the truck, looked at the fish tank, and smelled my desperation.

*"Oga, your alternator is dead and the engine block has a fault,"* he said confidently. *"I will fix it, but it will cost you ₦80,000, and it will take me two hours."*

Two hours? The fish would be dead in 15 minutes.

As our elders say:
🗣️ *"A kì í fi ọjọ́ tí a fẹ́ rìn tún ọkọ̀ ṣe."*
💡 We do not repair the vehicle on the day we want to travel. If you wait until the crisis to fix your logistics, the highway will extort you.

I didn't argue with him. I popped the hood myself. I am a farm CEO, which means I have to know how my equipment works. I looked at the battery terminals. They were heavily corroded with white acid buildup, and the negative cable was loose. The vibration from the bad road had simply shaken it off the contact point.

I grabbed my car key, scraped the white corrosion off the lead terminal in 30 seconds, pushed the cable back on tight, and twisted it with a spanner from my glovebox.

I turned the key. The engine roared to life. The aerator in the back immediately started bubbling again, pumping life-saving oxygen back into the water. 🌬️🐟

I looked at the mechanic, handed him ₦1,000 for his "diagnosis," and drove off.

That day, I implemented a strict **Pre-Trip Logistics Protocol** at Lusekere Ade Farms. Every truck battery is cleaned weekly. And more importantly, we bought a heavy-duty, 12V backup battery aerator that sits in the truck cabin. If the engine ever dies again, the fish keep breathing.

Farming doesn't end at the pond. It ends when the live fish are swimming in the buyer's tank.

👇🏾 **OVER TO YOU!**
Have you ever had your farm truck or delivery vehicle break down while carrying live animals or perishable crops? How did you save the goods? Tell me your stressful story below! 👇🏾

👇🏾 **Do you have a backup plan for your transport aeration, or do you just rely on the truck's engine? Drop your logistics strategy!** 🧠👇🏾

🚜 **WANT TO FARM LIKE LUSEKERE ADE FARMS?**
If you want to learn the exact BSF secrets, catfish hacks, and plantain farming tips Jimi uses to protect his empire, make sure you **FOLLOW Lusekere Ade Farms** on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for more interesting innovative posts! You are also free to ask questions pertaining to farming in general in the comments, and our team will answer them. Let's grow together! 🌱🐟👑

17/10/2026

]

**FARM NOIR – CASE FILE 25**
**TITLE:** *"My Uncle Visited the Farm and Expected to Leave With Free Catfish and Plantains. I Handed Him an Invoice."* 🐟🍌🧾

Wait first! 🛑 Before you scroll past, I need to talk about the heaviest tax on any Nigerian entrepreneur. It’s not the government. It’s not inflation.

It’s the "Family Tax." Grab your popcorn, because Case File 25 is about the day I had to choose between my profit margin and my family’s feelings. 🍿🔥

It was a Sunday afternoon at the main Lusekere Ade Farms facility in Ede, Osun State. My Uncle Bayo drove down from the city to "check on me."

I was happy to see him. I gave him a tour of the 30 bioponds, showed him the catfish sorting tables, and we drove over to the plantain section to see the drought-surviving bunches.

As we were walking back to his car, he pointed at the harvested goods and smiled. *"Jimi, my boy, you are doing well! Ah, pack two bags of your biggest catfish and three bunches of those sweet plantains into my boot. I will take them home. God will bless the work of your hands."* 🚗🐟🍌

He didn't reach for his wallet. He didn't ask for the price. In his mind, because we share the same blood, my farm was his personal supermarket.

My stomach tightened. If I gave him the fish and plantains for free, I would be absorbing the cost of the 50/50 BSF feed, the water pumping, the labor, and the 2026 drought losses. If I asked him to pay, I knew exactly what would happen: he would pay, but he would go back and tell the family that I had become a "wicked, stingy big boy."

As our elders say:
🗣️ *"A kì í fi ọ̀rẹ́ ẹ̀jẹ̀ pa iṣẹ́ ọwọ́."*
💡 You do not use blood friendship to destroy your handiwork. A business built on giving free things to relatives will collapse before it stands.

I took a deep breath and executed the **Family VIP Protocol.**

*"Uncle Bayo,"* I said respectfully. *"I am so glad you came. Because you are my family, I am going to give you the 'Lusekere Ade VIP Family Rate.' It is 10% cheaper than what the market women pay, and I will personally ensure the boys select the absolute best fish and plantains for your car. Let me write the invoice so the store manager can release them to you."* 🧾🤝

He looked surprised. He had expected a free gift. But by framing it as an exclusive "VIP Family Discount," I wasn't rejecting him; I was elevating him.

He pulled out his phone and transferred the money. He left happy with his premium produce. I kept my profit margin. And most importantly, I set a permanent precedent: At Lusekere Ade Farms Ltd, blood gets respect, and blood gets a discount, but blood does not get freebies.

Farming is a business. And you cannot feed your family's entitlement with your business's capital.

👇🏾 **OVER TO YOU!**
Have you ever had a family member visit your business or farm and expect free goods just because "blood is thicker than water"? How did you handle it without causing a family war? Tell me your story below! 👇🏾

👇🏾 Let's grow together! 🌱🐟👑

16/10/2026

**FARM NOIR – CASE FILE 24**
**TITLE:** *"I Took My Plantains to Owode-Ede Market. The Women Ganged Up on Me and Demanded a 50% Discount."* 🍌📉🗣️

Wait first! 🛑 Before you scroll past, I need to expose the most dangerous place for a Nigerian farmer. It’s not the bush at midnight. It’s the open market at 8 AM.

You can spend six months protecting your crop from pests and drought, only to lose all your profit in five minutes to a cartel of bulk buyers who know how to play on your desperation. Grab your popcorn. This is Case File 24. 🍿🔥

It was a Saturday morning at Owode-Ede market in Osun State. I had loaded the pickup truck with the latest harvest of drought-surviving plantains from the Lusekere Ade Farms plantain section.

As we established in Case 18, the 2026 rain delay meant these plantains weren't the massive, giant bunches of 2025. They were medium-sized. But because they had struggled and survived, the fruit was incredibly dense, sweet, and premium.

I parked the truck. Within minutes, the market women—the powerful bulk buyers who control the flow of food in Ede—surrounded the vehicle.

They inspected the bunches. They squeezed the fingers. Then, the lead woman, Iya Bola, looked at me and smiled a very dangerous smile.

*"Oga Jimi, we know you. You are a big farmer. But look at these sizes. They are small this year. The market is hard. We will buy everything in the truck right now, but we will pay you ₦X."*

The price she offered was exactly 50% less than the standard market rate. 📉😰

My driver looked at me, whispering, *"Oga, let's just sell it so we don't carry it back to the farm. It will spoil."*

This is the trap. The market women know that fresh produce is ticking. They know you are afraid of taking it back home. They use your fear of spoilage to force you into selling at a loss.

As our elders say:
🗣️ *"Ọjà tí a kò mọ iye rẹ̀ ni a ń tà ní pàkó."*
💡 It is the goods whose value you do not know that you sell for scrap. If you accept their price out of fear, you are not doing business; you are doing charity for middlemen.

I didn't argue. I didn't beg. I simply looked at Iya Bola and said, *"Iya, I respect your business. But my farm does not do charity. If you cannot pay the standard rate for premium quality, I will drive the truck back to the farm."*

The women laughed. They thought I was bluffing. They crossed their arms and waited for me to break.

I signaled my driver. *"Start the engine. We are going back."* 🚛💨

The moment the truck engine roared, the laughter stopped. They realized I was willing to lose the entire day's sales rather than sell at a loss. Before the truck could even reverse, Iya Bola tapped the window. *"Oga Jimi, wait. Let's add something small."*

I didn't negotiate. I drove out of the market.

I took the plantains back to the main Lusekere Ade Farms facility. I posted pictures of the beautiful, sweet, medium-sized bunches on our farm's WhatsApp status and page, offering them directly to our existing catfish and BSF clients who already trust our brand.

By 4 PM, the truck was completely empty. Sold out at full price, directly to people who value quality over visual bulk.

Farming doesn't end at harvest. It ends when the money is in your account at the price YOU set.

👇🏾 **OVER TO YOU!**
Have you ever taken your farm produce to the market, only for the buyers to gang up on you and force you to lower your price? How did you handle the cartel? Tell me your story below! 👇🏾

Let's grow together! 🌱🐟👑

15/10/2026

**FARM NOIR – CASE FILE 23**
**TITLE:** *"I Hired a Worker to Feed the Bioponds at 6 AM. At 8 AM, He Was Sleeping and the Maggots Were Escaping."* 🪰😴💀

Wait first! 🛑 Before you scroll past, I need to talk about the silent killer of Nigerian agribusinesses. It’s not disease. It’s not lack of capital.

It’s the phrase: *"Oga, I was coming."* Grab your popcorn, because Case File 23 is about the day I had to fire a worker to save my Black Soldier Fly colony. 🍿🔥

It was a Tuesday morning at the main Lusekere Ade Farms facility in Ede, Osun State. My daily routine is strict: the BSF bioponds must be fed and the organic waste mixed by 6:30 AM before the heat of the day sets in.

I assigned a young farm hand to handle the morning BSF mixing and the 50/50 catfish feed preparation.

At 7:30 AM, I walked into the BSF building. The exhaust fans were humming, but the feeding hadn't been done. The fresh market waste was still sitting in the buckets, completely un-mixed with the dry carbon material (sawdust).

Because it wasn't mixed, the moisture in the fresh waste was spiking. The 1.2m by 2.4m bioponds were getting too wet, and I could already see the larvae crawling up the walls, trying to escape the drowning substrate. 🌊🪰

I walked out and found the worker sitting in the guardhouse, scrolling on his phone.

*"Oga, good morning! I was just about to go inside. My alarm didn't ring, and then I had to buy pure water,"* he stammered, smiling like it was a minor inconvenience.

I didn't smile back.

Here is the reality of farm management: Insects and fish do not understand human excuses. The BSF larvae needed a 70% moisture balance immediately. The catfish needed their 50/50 protein-carb mix to maintain their growth rate. An hour's delay in a biological system doesn't just pause the clock; it creates a cascade of stress that takes days to recover from.

As our elders say:
🗣️ *"Ọ̀lẹ́ tí kò ṣiṣẹ́, yóò jẹun àbùkù."*
💡 A lazy person who refuses to work will eventually eat disgrace. You cannot build a precision biological business with people who treat time like a suggestion.

I didn't shout. I didn't query him. I walked into the BSF building, put on my gloves, and mixed the substrate myself to save the larvae. Then I called him over, paid him his wages for the days he had worked up to that morning, and told him to pack his bags.

He was shocked. *"For one mistake, Oga?"*

*"It's not a mistake,"* I told him. *"A mistake is when you try your best and fail. Choosing to sleep in while the farm is drowning is a choice. And your choice is no longer compatible with this company."*

Farming is 50% biology and 50% discipline. If you tolerate laziness at the bottom, it will rot the entire structure at the top.

👇🏾 **OVER TO YOU!**
What is the most ridiculous excuse a worker or employee has ever given you for showing up late or messing up a task? Did you fire them or give them a second chance? Tell me your story below! 👇🏾

👇🏾 Let's grow together! 🌱🐟👑

14/10/2026

**FARM NOIR – CASE FILE 22**
**TITLE:** *"I Walked to the Plantain Farm to Harvest. Five of My Biggest Bunches Were Gone. The Thieves Only Took the Best."* 🍌🔪👤

Wait first! 🛑 Before you scroll past, I need to talk about the most painful experience in agriculture. It’s not when the crops die from drought. It’s not when pests eat them.

It’s when you wake up, walk to the farm to harvest, and realize someone else already harvested it for you in the middle of the night. Grab your popcorn, because Case File 22 is about the midnight harvesters. 🍿🔥

It was a Friday morning at the Lusekere Ade Farms plantain section in Ede, Osun State. This farm is located a few kilometers away from the main catfish and BSF facility.

I drove there with my workers, carrying crates and a cutlass, ready to harvest the bunches that had survived the 2026 drought. I had my eye on five massive, beautiful bunches that were perfectly ripe.

I walked into the rows.
Stem 1: Empty.
Stem 2: Empty.
Stem 3: Empty.

The five biggest bunches were gone. Cleanly cut. No broken leaves. No trampled grass. The thieves knew exactly what they were doing, and they did it in the dark. 🍌💀

My workers were angry. *"Oga, let's go to the market! We know who buys stolen plantains in this town!"*

I stopped them. Here is the psychology of plantain theft: The thieves don't steal the small, green ones. They only steal the premium, heavy, yellowing ones. This means they had been watching the farm. They knew exactly which stems were ready. This wasn't a random passerby; this was someone with local knowledge.

As our elders say:
🗣️ *"Ẹni tó gbìn, tí kò ṣọ́, ẹlòmíràn ni yóò kà á."*
💡 He who plants but does not guard, another person will harvest it. You cannot rely on the morality of hungry people to protect your investment.

I didn't just lock the gate and pray. Locks can be cut. Fences can be jumped. I implemented a **Community Security Protocol.**

**Step 1: The Neighbor Watch.** I went to the nearest local farmer whose house borders our land. I didn't ask him to fight thieves. I just told him, *"If you see anyone carrying plantains from this side at night, call me immediately. I will pay you a finder's fee for every recovered bunch."*
**Step 2: Accelerated Harvesting.** I stopped leaving ripe bunches on the tree. If a bunch was 80% mature, we harvested it green and let it ripen in the secure storage room at the main BSF/Catfish farm. Thieves can't steal what isn't in the bush.
**Step 3: The Dog Patrol.** We moved one of our fierce Rottweilers from the main farm to sleep at the plantain gate. Thieves hate noise, and they hate dogs even more. 🐕🔦

By the next week, the theft stopped. Not because the thieves became moral, but because the risk of getting bitten or caught became too high.

Farming is 50% biology and 50% security. If you can't protect it, you don't own it.

👇🏾 **OVER TO YOU!**
Have you ever gone to your farm to harvest, only to find that thieves beat you to it? How did they get in, and how did you stop them? Tell me your story below! 👇🏾

Let's grow together! 🌱🐟👑

13/10/2026

**FARM NOIR – CASE FILE 21**
**TITLE:** *"The Plantain Looked Perfect. Then the Wind Blew, and It Snapped in Half. The Killer Was Hiding Inside the Trunk."* 🍌🪲💀

Wait first! 🛑 Before you scroll past, I need to talk about the most heartbreaking sound in plantain farming. It’s not the sound of theft. It’s not the sound of drought.

It is the sharp *CRACK* of a heavy, healthy-looking plantain trunk snapping two feet from the ground. Grab your popcorn, because Case File 21 is about the invisible killer that eats your profit from the inside out. 🍿🔥

It was a Thursday afternoon at the Lusekere Ade Farms plantain section in Ede, Osun State. The drought of 2026 had been brutal, but the plantains were fighting back. I was walking through the rows, inspecting a massive, beautiful bunch that was only two weeks away from harvest.

The leaves were green. The fruit was filling up perfectly.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind swept across the farm.

*CRACK.* 🌬️🍌

The entire tree collapsed. The heavy bunch hit the dirt, and the trunk broke clean off, barely two feet above the soil.

I stood there, stunned. This wasn't a young, weak tree. This was a mature plantain. It shouldn't have snapped from a simple breeze. I walked over, grabbed my machete, and chopped into the fallen trunk to inspect the damage.

The inside was not solid. It was hollow. It looked like a piece of Swiss cheese. 🕳️🤢

Thousands of tiny tunnels were carved upward from the base into the core. And crawling out of the tunnels were small, hard-shelled black insects.

**The Plantain Borer Weevil.** 🪲💀

Here is the science of the attack: The adult female weevil crawls up from the soil and lays her eggs in the base (the corm) of the plantain. When the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow deep into the trunk, eating the vascular tissue that carries water and nutrients. They hollow out the structural support of the tree.

From the outside, the plantain looks perfectly healthy. But inside, the foundation is gone. One gust of wind, or even the sheer weight of the heavy bunch, is all it takes to snap it in half.

As our elders say:
🗣️ *"Àrùn inú igi ni ó ń pa á, kì í ṣe afẹ́fẹ́."*
💡 It is the disease inside the tree that kills it, not the wind. External strength means nothing if the foundation is compromised.

I looked around the farm and realized my mistake. After the previous harvest, some of the old, harvested stumps had been left standing tall instead of being properly destroyed. Those dead stumps had become breeding grounds for the weevils.

I immediately executed a **Sanitation Protocol.**
1. We went to every old, harvested stump and chopped it down completely.
2. We split the stumps into tiny, small pieces and scattered them in the sun to dry out completely, killing any larvae hiding inside.
3. We cut thick slices of healthy plantain trunk and placed them upside down on the soil as **traps**. Weevils are attracted to the smell of the cut trunk, they crawl underneath to feed, and we return every three days to collect and destroy them.

By Friday, the trap pieces were covered in weevils. We crushed them. It was brutal, but necessary.

That is Case File 21. If you leave dead stumps standing in your farm, you are not farming. You are running a weevil nursery.

👇🏾 **OVER TO YOU!**
Have you ever had a plantain or banana tree fall over right before harvest? Did you chop it open and find tunnels inside? Tell me your experience below! 👇🏾

Let's grow together! 🌱🐟👑

11/10/2026

**FARM NOIR – CASE FILE 20**
**TITLE:** *"My Plantain Farm Looked Lush and Green From the Road. Then I Walked Inside and Realized the Weeds Were Stealing My Fertilizer."* 🌿🔪📉

Wait first! 🛑 Before you scroll past, I need to expose a visual lie that destroys amateur farms.

When you drive past a farm and see tall, thick green grass everywhere, you might think, *"Wow, the soil is rich."* But if that green isn't your crop, it's a thief. Grab your popcorn, because Case File 20 is about the week my plantain farm almost got swallowed alive. 🍿🔥

It was a Wednesday afternoon at the Lusekere Ade Farms plantain section in Ede, Osun State. I was driving past the gate and the farm looked beautifully green.

But when I parked the truck and walked into the rows, my heart sank.

The "green" I saw from the road wasn't plantain leaves. It was **Elephant Grass** and **Spear Grass** that had grown up to my waist. And right at the base of my precious plantain mats, the w**ds were wrapped tightly around the suckers, choking them. 🌿😰

I called the farm workers. *"I thought you cleared this section last week?"*

One of the boys smiled proudly and pointed to his cutlass. *"Oga, we slashed it! Look how flat it is."*

I shook my head. *"Slashing is not w**ding. You just gave the w**ds a haircut."*

Here is the brutal science of w**d management, especially in a year like 2026 where the rain abandoned us and our wells ran dry: Weeds like elephant grass have massive, aggressive root systems (rhizomes). If you just slash the top leaves, the roots stay alive in the soil. Within three days, they shoot right back up.

But worse, those roots are actively drinking the little moisture left in the soil, and they are eating the **BSF frass** (our premium organic fertilizer) that I specifically applied for the plantains. In a drought year, you cannot afford to feed your crops and the w**ds at the same time. The w**ds will always win. 📉💧

As our elders say:
🗣️ *"Igbó tí a kò sá, yóò pa igi ńlá."*
💡 The bush we do not cut will eventually kill the big tree. You cannot share your farm's resources with invaders and expect a premium harvest.

I made the team stop slashing and start **uprooting**.

We dug out the stubborn rhizomes of the spear grass. Then, we took all the slashed elephant grass and used it as **mulch**, spreading it in a thick ring *around* the base of the plantain mats, keeping it a few inches away from the actual stem to prevent rot.

This did two things: it killed the w**d competition, and the dead grass acted like a blanket, trapping whatever microscopic moisture was left in the soil from the late September rains.

By Friday, the farm looked bare and brown at the base, but the plantain leaves were standing tall, finally getting 100% of the water and nutrients.

Farming isn't about making the land look pretty for the road. It's about making sure your crop is the only thing eating from the soil.

👇🏾 **OVER TO YOU!**
Do you know the difference between just "slashing" w**ds and properly "w**ding" them? Have you ever lost a crop because the w**ds choked out the roots? Tell me your experience below! 👇🏾

Let's grow together! 🌱🐟👑

10/10/2026

**FARM NOIR – CASE FILE 19**
**TITLE:** *"I Just Harvested the Mother Plantain. Then I Had to Execute Her Babies to Save Next Year's Harvest."* 🍌🔪🌱

Wait first! 🛑 Before you scroll past, I need to expose the biggest mistake casual plantain farmers make right after harvest.

You spend months waiting for the bunch to ripen. You cut it down, celebrate the harvest, and walk away. But left behind is a stump surrounded by five or six baby suckers fighting for the same soil. If you don't manage them, next year's harvest will be a disaster. Grab your popcorn, because today we are doing surgery on the plantain farm. 🍿🔥

It was a Saturday morning at the Lusekere Ade Farms plantain section in Ede, Osun State. I had just finished harvesting the latest batch of drought-surviving plantains. The bunches weren't as massive as 2025 due to the delayed rain, but they were healthy and sweet.

As I walked through the rows to inspect the freshly cut stumps, I noticed one particular mat (a cluster of plantains) that had been neglected.

Sprouting from the base of the mother stump were **six different suckers.** Some had broad, floppy leaves. Some were tall and spindly. They were all tangled together, shading each other out, and aggressively pulling water and BSF frass nutrients from the soil. 📉🌿

Here is the science of plantain management: A plantain mat is like a single stomach. If you leave six suckers, the mother plant splits her limited nutrients six ways. The result? None of them get enough food, and next year, instead of one massive bunch, you will get six tiny, unmarketable fingers.

Furthermore, not all suckers are equal.
1. **Sword Suckers:** These have narrow, sharp leaves and a wide, strong base. They are the future champions.
2. **Water Suckers:** These have broad, wide leaves and a weak base. They are parasites that will drain the mat and produce poor fruit.

As our elders say:
🗣️ *"A kì í jẹ́ kí ọmọ mẹ́ta fa ọyàn kan."*
💡 You do not let three children suck one breast. If you don't manage the resources, everyone starves.

I grabbed my machete and executed a strict **Desuckering Protocol.**

I identified the single strongest, healthiest "sword sucker" positioned on the opposite side of where the mother tree was cut. That one was the chosen heir.

Then, I ruthlessly chopped off the other five. For the water suckers, I didn't just cut them at the surface; I pierced their growing point (the heart) deep inside the stem to ensure they wouldn't waste the soil's energy trying to regrow. 🔪💀

Within an hour, the farm looked clean. Every mother stump had exactly one or two strong successors. The BSF frass we apply to the soil will now go 100% into growing massive, premium bunches for the next cycle, rather than feeding a crowded jungle of w**ds.

Farming isn't just about harvesting. It's about curating the future.

👇🏾 **OVER TO YOU!**
Did you know the difference between a "sword sucker" and a "water sucker"? Have you ever left too many babies on a plantain mat and regretted it when the next harvest came out tiny? Tell me your experience below! 👇🏾

Let's grow together! 🌱🐟👑

Lusekere Ade Farms

20/10/2026

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