Grow the Sweet Herb for Profit!
November 2010 — Stevia rebaudiana is a natural, low-glycemic, low-calorie alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners. It’s also a promising crop suited to a wide variety of climates and soils
Growing Stevia For Market is your complete guide to growing, harvesting, and marketing stevia leaves and bedding plants. Valuable information is compiled from growers, research trials, and the author’s own experience. Includes stevia leaf buyers, sellers, and other resources. Illustrated with 40+ grayscale photos.
Learn about:
- How day length affects stevia leaf yields.
- Propagating from seeds, cuttings, or divisions.
- Field preparation and plant spacing.
- Irrigation, pruning, and pests.
- Yield, income, and expense estimates.
- Harvesting, drying, and marketing stevia.
Author Jeffrey Goettemoeller has been growing and studying stevia for over a decade. In college, he completed a published research study on the production of Stevia seeds. Jeffrey is also the author of Stevia Sweet Recipes: Sugar-free—Naturally!, with over 300,000 copies in print, and Growing and Using Stevia: The Sweet Leaf from Garden to Table with 35 Recipes.
Growing Stevia for Market is available from www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, or Prairie Oak Publishing
From the Book Preface
Governments around the world are approving stevia for wider use in food and beverage products. In the United States, sales of stevia leaves, extracts, and powdered leaf have long been allowed under the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). More recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved certain stevia extracts for use as food additives. Elsewhere, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have issued positive opinions on the safety of glycosides from stevia for use as food additives. This could lead to widespread approval in the European Union. Clearly, the time for expanded stevia production has arrived.
Stevia rebaudiana thrives in a wide variety of climates and soils. It can be a perennial crop in some climates or an annual crop where winters are cold. However, the cultivation of stevia is fairly new. We’ve only begun to optimize procedures for commercial production. There is great potential for improvement in stevia yield, quality, and profits. This book provides a head start for academic and on-farm experimentation. Best practices for stevia cultivation are suggested based on research studies from around the world as well as the author’s own experience of growing and using stevia for over a decade. Growing Stevia for Market will help farmers, researchers, market gardeners, nurseries, and greenhouse operators succeed with stevia.
For a succinct history of stevia use and cultivation, see W.H. Lewis, “Early uses of Stevia rebaudiana (Asteraceae) leaves as a sweetener in Paraguay,” Economic Botany 46 (1992): 336–337.
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Book Contents
List of Figures – vi
Acknowledgements – viii
Preface – ix
Introduction – 1
1. Climate and Day Length – 7
Plant Hardiness Zones – 7
Perennial or Annual Production – 8
Choosing a Stevia Field Production Cycle – 11
Perennial Production with Winter Dormancy – 11
Photoperiod and Leaf Yield – 15
Sunshine and Glycoside Content – 16
Stevia’s Critical Day Length for Blossoming – 17
Determining Day Length – 19
Field Transplant Timing Above 15° Latitude – 21
Field Harvest Timing Above 15° Latitude – 24
Field Transplant Timing Below 15° Latitude – 27
Field Harvest Timing Below 15° Latitude – 28
2. Plant Propagation – 33
Choosing a Propagation Method – 33
Growing Media – 38
Starting Stevia from Seed – 39
Propagating Stevia from Stem Cuttings – 44
Propagating Stevia with Crown Divisions – 53
Breeding through Selection – 54
3. Field Preparation and Plant Care – 57
Field Location – 57
Soils and Fertilization – 58
Field Tillage – 65
Irrigation – 68
Mulching – 70
Weed Control – 77
Row Covers – 78
Plant Pruning – 82
Nutrient Deficiencies and Toxicities – 85
Pests and Diseases – 86
4. Field Planting – 93 Planting Density – 93
Transplanting to the Field – 100
5. Harvesting and Postharvest – 103 Cutting and Gathering – 104
Drying Stevia Leaves – 110
Separating Leaves from Stems – 116
Leaf Storage and Shipping – 121
6. Marketing and Economics – 123 Enterprise Budgeting – 124
Selling Dried Leaves Wholesale – 125
Dry Leaf Yields from Small‐Scale Trials – 130 Dry Leaf Yields from Large‐Scale Trials – 131 Selling Dried Leaves Retail – 132
Selling Stevia Plants – 133
Fresh Stevia Leaves – 136
On‐Farm Processing – 138
Appendix 1: Field Trial Summaries – 141
Appendix 2: Stevia Leaf Buyers – 167
Appendix 3: Selected Resources – 169
Glossary – 179
Bibliography – 187
Index – 193
About the Author – 205
Growing Stevia for Market PowerPoint photographic introduction PowerPoint Slide Show Digital Download |
 | PowerPoint Slide Show for Farmers! Get the free pdf version on the downloads page. Based on the "Growing Stevia for Market" book by Jeffrey Goettemoeller. Color photos! Great for talks to more advanced gardening or farm groups. $11.00, 46 pages & 58 photos/illustrations Prairie Oak Publishing | Prairie Oak Publishing $11.00, US dollars digital download |
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