The most important and required things needed to start rice farming in Nigeria are: capital, land, labour (manpower & skills), mechanical and technical
facilities, raw materials such as the plant seeds itself, the seedbed, etc.
NB. Rice farming is one of the most lucrative and profitable business in the agricultural sector of Nigeria and it continues to grow better year by year. With the tons of rice Nigerians consume annually which has led to high importation of rice since the locally produced ones are barely enough. Going into this business is a Goldmine for anyone.
This is a simple guide on what you should do and how to do it, if you plan on starting rice farming in Nigeria.
You can either start your rice farming business by focusing on one, few or all of these areas; cultivating and harvesting rice, milling and processing rice (by constructing rice mills), distributing rice in wholesales.
Things Needed To Start
1. Capital
As it's usual with every business. You will need startup capital. You can get startup money by getting investors. It is also important that you get cash flow for the rice business in order to avoid things like indebtedness or frozen business, you should be able to get money for your business whenever it is needed.
2. Information
Information can't be overlooked because no business can survive if the owner is lacking informations. Information helps a business owner overcome certain obstacles. So, a rice invariably also needs information either through, if possible training on how the business of rice farming is done in Nigeria, seminars, articles on rice farming and so on.
3. Rice Seeds
When choosing rice seeds, make sure they are healthy and good. Do not settle for anything less. The healthy of the seeds determines the quantity of yield you will achieve. The benefits of choosing healthy seeds are thus;
- Choosing healthy seeds will help in improving your yield up to 10%.
-Will improve germination of the seeds.
- Reduce weeds problems that can be experienced during cultivation.
- Improve the resistance to diseases and pests and also harvest plants with consistent size.
4. Rice Seedlings
This is done by preparing seedbeds that will be enough for the seeds you have selected, then prepare yowur plant seeds also.
After this has been done, then take the seed beds to the nursery where they will be raised. Once done, you should cover
them (especially the soil) with a polythene bag to avoid soil borne diseases and also to maintain the environment temperature.
At this stage only attack from nematodes and soil borne pathogens can reduce yield.
5.Land for Production
Your choice of land is also very important. Therefore, you need to be careful in choosing the land for your rice production. Factors to consider are drainage equipments and facilities, soil type, location, land space (such that rice farming requires a large piece of land especially for drying the rice after harvest). choose a land that is in a zone
where rice is made locally, is fertile and can retain water well. You should choose a swampy land because it reduces the hassles of irrigation and also reduce expenditures.
6. Management of Soil Nutrients and Weeds
It's important because rice can’t do well with weed around. Constant removal of weed is necessary from your rice farm after some months of transplanting the rice seedlings. Apply herbicide to destroy weeds and also apply fertilizer to boost the growth of your rice.
Please, don’t just use any fertilizer on your rice farm. Get a specialist to know the kind of fertilizer that will do well on that soil.
7. Harvest
A duration of 4-5 months of planting the rice, it is ready for harvest. Make sure to be extra careful when harvesting and picking your rice, to avoid stones. If you can afford the machine, it will be better or get a farmer that has and pay to sort it properly.
More important things to consider when starting rice farming in Nigeria is marketing, price policy and distribution strategies.
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