How to start a tomato business in Nigeria

I have received an email from one of our blog readers, asking me on how to start tomato business. Though the person did not specify which aspect of the business, I have all the information required to start the business.

Starting a tomato business is a lucrative venture to embark. Many have made quite a fortune from the business. Tomato business in Nigeria is one of the business that one can start with little capital.

Two ways of starting the business

The business is a two way one. What I mean is there are two entry point to the business. So you have an option to choose from any of it.

1. Cultivating and selling the tomatoes

2. Buying the tomatoes and sell them too (especially to households, hotels etc)

Cultivating (Starting your tomato farm)

If you decide to start here, you’ll need a farm to start. The following steps shows you how to go about it.

a. Acquire land

This is a place where the plant will be planted and grow. On your business goals, acquire land that meets your demand today and the future. Make sure it’s in an area where it will be suitable for the growth of the tomatoes. If you’re using your backyard, make sure the soul is the one that will encourage growth. A sunny, well drained part of your garden is best soil for tomatoes

b. Prepare your land

Start preparing your land by weeding the grasses and making soil bed. Use organic fertilizer to work the land with it. Provide good water supply system and water the land for some days. Make sure the PH level is around 6.0 to 6.8. PH is the measure of the soil acidity or alkalinity.

c. Acquire and plant your tomato

The tomato seed comes in a sealed sachet with all the instruction on it. If you don’t understand anything, you can ask the person who an expert. Normally you can get the seedling in any of the ministry of agriculture closer to you and you’ll get the expert support there.

d. Acquire knowledge

You’ll need some knowledge about the farming methods. Sometimes you’ll need to hear it from those who are in the field doing it. Search and read also from the internet, anything you can get your hands on related to tomatoes, read it.

Growing your tomato farm

the length of time between tomato seed germination and harvest varies with the type being grown. But the average is between 65-90 days. Before reaching the harvest time, it’s important to note the following in other to attain maximum growth.

1. Make sure tomatoes are planted where they’ll get at least 10 hours of light preferably in the summer. Leave space between tomatoes for air to freely circulate.

2. Try rotating a little the tomato bed to prevent the risk of soil burn diseases like bacterial and early bright.

3. Water deeply on the soil not on the leaves. Do this every 5-7 days.

4. Remove non-fruit branches. This directs the tomato plants energy into growing bigger and better.

5. Plant your tomato at intervals. This will ensure that not all of your harvest will come at once.

Controlling your production

One major problem having an open tomato farm is it can be affected by the weather. For instance, in a hot season when tomato is yielding more tomatoes, rain will slows the production and it will take time for the tomato to readjust itself.

Hence the need to control your production and one way of doing it is by building a green house. A green house is a building where plants are grown. It comes in different sizes from small to large sized building.

In a green house tomato plants are out of the rain, also temperature won’t drop so low at night. Green house also shade tomatoes from direct sunlight and diffused the sunlight and provides the warm that enables plant to feed regularly. In low temperature, nutrients are unable to be absorbed.

Other advantages of using green house include:

o Longer shelf life

o Great tasting sweet juicy flavour

o Firm shape

o Higher yield

o Longer growing season

o Energy efficiency-requires less water to grow out fruit

o Disease tolerance.

The reason for a green house is to have crops at the time of the year when they can’t be grown.

Selling your tomatoes

You can start selling your tomato from the day you start harvesting it. Remember tomatoes are perishable things. Then starting your marketing should be done before the date of the intended sales. There are various ways people sell their tomatoes, but the most popular is using a basket and the basket comes in various sizes.

Buying and selling

Most of the people who start the tomato business here go in and buy from the farmers in bulk and sell it to people who buy in small to large quantity.

How to start chicken dressing business in Nigeria

One may ask about chicken dressing business and how it can make someone a fortune in Nigeria. Chicken dressing business have been seeing boom due to the intake of more chicken, and normally prefer to pay for the chicken to be dress.

This boom will continue as more restaurants, hotels, households are demanding for faster ways to dress their chicken. Therefore the service of a chicken dresser is required.

Most farms are beginning to setup frozen chicken business where the chicken are dressed, packaged and frozen. Not only do these farms have their own frozen chicken business, but have even started distributing their products to grocery store. This means more demand for the services of a chicken dresser.

The consumption of chicken in Nigeria has increased tremendously largely due to the reduction of red meat intake. Expert say chicken meat is one of the most nutritionally enriched meats.

Why start chicken dressing as a business

There are about three reasons why you should start a chicken dressing business in Nigeria.

a. One of the business which require low startup capital in the country. The good side is once the materials are purchased, you can use them over and over again. This means that you can recover your money and continue to use the materials for years to come.

b. Learning how to dress chicken won’t take you months to do. With careful observation and practice, should not exceed three weeks.

c. There will be more people looking for the services of a chicken dresser due to increase in the consumption of chicken products and the business of frozen chicken.

Starting a chicken dressing business

Although chicken dressing might seems like a simple business, the following steps should be followed to be successful.

1. Acquire knowledge
Am always amazed at how fast chicken dressers dress chicken. They’re fast and can dress many chicken within minutes.

Learning how they do it, from the slaughtering, how many minute you need to put the slaughtered chicken in water and the dressing. Within 3-7 days you should be able to do it on your own.

2. Buy the chicken dressing equipment
In chicken dressing you only need about 4 items and are really very cheap in the market. The items include:

a. Knife-for slaughtering and cutting the chicken into various parts. You should purchase at least four knifes. Keep some as back up.

b. Small half drum-this will be used to put the water on fire for the removing the chicken hair. You can get a semi half drum which you can use for a door to door or farm to farm service.

c. Table-where the chicken will be cut into different parts.

d. Chairs-for your customers and you to sit.

e. A small tent-to give you shade.

With 5-10 thousand naira, you can do all that.

3. Device your mode of operation and prices
There are two ways to the mode of operation here. You can have a chicken dressing shop where people will bring their chicken and be dressed and or you can do a home service operation.

It all depends on you. But I recommend both because you make more money and client when you do both.

For the price, some will charge between 30-50 naira per chicken. Most people who charge 30 naira do go with the intestine, gizzard and liver of the chicken and sold to restaurant for more profit. While those who don’t go with the intestine, they charge 50 naira.

4. Spread the word
Now begin to market your business. Don’t underestimate any customer but make sure you tell people about your service to places like hotels, restaurant, poultry farm owners, households. Tell them how you operate, your price per chicken and so on.

How to start poultry farm business in Nigeria

Have you been thinking about poultry farming? Maybe you have passion for poultry farming business? Then you’re in the right place. There have been many who have written about this business in summary form. These will be as detailed as possible, to inform you on what you need to start the business of poultry farming in Nigeria.

Poultry farming is one of the lucrative business in Nigeria. The business is experiencing an unprecedented growth as more Nigerians are turning away from eating smuggled bird due to health concerns.

Why choose poultry farming business

o There is increase in consumption of local poultry product than imported ones. This is evident due to growing health concerns in smuggled imported poultry product.

According to National Agency For Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC), they observed that there is a break in cold chain during transportation of imported poultry. As microbes begin to work on the meat. Due to the poor way of transporting this product, there is increase in local poultry consumption.

o With increase effort and crackdown on fish smugglers by the Nigerian government means less smuggled poultry and more business opportunities for local farmers.

o Demand for poultry product is increasing daily due to increase number of restaurants, hotels, suya spot, social gatherings, religious gatherings, political gathering etc.

o The business can be started from the backyard of your house. However, it’s the space that will determine the number you’ll need stock.

o The poultry droppings (faeces) are another source of income as it can be sold to farmers as organic fertilizer. This can augment some of the losses incurred.

Types of poultry bird

In poultry farm there are three types of bird. They’re broilers, cockerels and layers.

Broiler and cockerel

Broilers and cockerel are food meat product. That is they’re grown to be consume as meat. For the broiler bird, it takes a minimum of 6-8 weeks depending on the breed to get to table size. Broilers are sold between 1200-2000 depending on the size and your location. The advantage of broilers over cockerel is the growth to table size is fast.

For cockerel, they need at least six month to be ready for the market. The advantage of cockerels over broilers is you can feed them with the desired poultry feed for 4-6 weeks and continue feeding with the normal food you’re feeding local bird.

Layers

Layers are the type of poultry bird that lay eggs. A layer takes a minimum of 19nweeks to start laying. A single layer production cycle last from 52-56 weeks. That is just over a year. A crate can be sold for 650 naira. The layers can also be sold after their laying cycle is complete as spent layers between 800-1200.

Factors affecting poultry farming

 Poor breed will not give you the desired outcome at the end of the day. No matter how you feed their will still be little improvement. These have affected many poultry farms especially small scale farmers because of the adulteration of the bird by middle men. The main problem is at day old, it’ll be difficult to know the breed. Always buy day old from reputable farms.

 It’s difficult to raise these birds without mortality. According to standards, 5% mortality is expected, anything beyond that, then consult an expert.

 Poor ventilation can lead to their dead especially during hot weather.

Steps for starting poultry business

Step #1: choose your poultry type

As mentioned above, there are three basic poultry type. Take your time to choose the type you think you can start with. For a beginner, I recommend starting the farm by using a single product. This gives you focus and practically learn how the farm works. Remember broilers need 7-8 weeks to grow to table size, cockerels 6 months and layers at least 19 weeks to begin laying.

Step #2: Acquire and prepare your space

If possible, acquire a land that can meet your demand for today and future. This is to enable you expand with little stress. Once you bought the land, fence and construct your poultry house. The most important is constructing a house that can have cross ventilation. Poor ventilation might lead to their mortality.

If you’re using a spare room in your backyard or have even finish constructing your poultry house, then move to preparing the space by disinfecting the place using strong disinfectants at most two days to the arrival of the bird, putting necessary majors to prevent rodents and lizard from entering the house and so on.

Your space determines the number of bird to stock.

Step #3: acquire the knowledge

There is nothing wrong in trying to know more. The number one thing that is affecting most poultry farm is poor farm management. Learning proper management like changing the water or food when there is faecal contamination reduces the chances of disease, cleaning places where there is water spillage which reduces the breeding of germs which causes diseases to this bird are all management methods. Getting to know them will help you great deal.

Step #4: Target market

There are poultry farmers who are seasonal farmers and maybe you want to be one. They stock there bird to target festive period. For instance, a farmer targeting Christmas will stock broilers at the end of October so that by the third week of December, they’re ready for the market. Who you target will determine how frequent you stock. For those who choose layers, their market will be all year round since layers requires more than 52 weeks for the laying cycle to complete.

In my opinion and base on what I’ve seen, the demand for both meat and egg is not a seasonal thing. That is to say there is market for the product at any time.

Step #5: What it takes

When it comes to poultry farming business the following are required.

Feeders

The feeders are of two types the big one and the small one. The big one is sold at 500-700, while the small ones at 170-200.

Drinkers

Like feeders, there are big drinkers which can cost about 500-700 and the small ones between 170-200.

Feed

Let’s assume we’re stocking 100 birds, for broilers, you’ll need 16-20 bags of 25kg feed to feed them from day old to table size.

For layers, you’ll need 35-40 25kg bags to raise 100 layer birds to point of lay.

For cockerels, you’ll need 3 bags to raise them to the point where you can start feeding them with local food.

The prices for feed vary from one company to another. Choose the feed you’ll use. I personally have used vital feed and livestock with great success. There are other feed around that are equally good.

If you’re raising 100 poultry bird, you’ll need about six feeders and four drinkers. This is to ensure equal growth as both small and big bird will feed with little stress.

How to start fish farming business in Nigeria

Many questions have been asked about how to start fish farming business in Nigeria and answers have been provided.

For most of the questions I have come across, they were not detailed enough. This article will however goes a step further to be as detail as you can think about fish farming in Nigeria.

So are you looking forward to starting your fish farm? Are you an entrepreneur with the passion for fish farming? Then this article is for you.

Every year the federal government spends millions of naira in other to meet domestic demand. With domestic production stood at 600,000 tons as against the demand which is at 2.1 million per year. There is no doubt higher demand than supply.

Why start fish farming

o There are plans by the federal government of Nigeria to stop 700,000 metric tonnes and this is to boost domestic production. This is opening more opportunities for aspiring farmers to start.

o Fish is one of the best and cheap source of protein and often recommended for both young and old due to its low cholesterol.

o Fish farming business is one of the most lucrative business you can start in Nigeria. With return on investment almost 100%

o The water the fish stayed in for some days serves as a good source of fertilizer for plant, as it contains useful nutrients for plant growth.

o Fish farming business is an environmental friendly business which poses no health risk or environmental hazards.

o Due to high demand than supply, fish meat are sold faster because domestic farmers are yet to meet the demand.

Fish cultivated in Nigeria

Many fish are cultivated in Nigeria, the most popular ones been cat fish and tilapia fish. Cat fish by far the most popular fish that is cultivated in Nigeria today. It’s easy to cultivate and prepared for exportation.

For tilapia fish, there is also increase in number of fish farmers trying it. Tilapia has lower omega 3 fatty acid than the one bred in sea water.

How to start your fish farming

The following steps are the procedures to follow to be able to start your fish farm in Nigeria. Note that each step should be taken series if you want to be successful.

Step #1: Acquire your land

First thing to do is to acquire a land. A 100×100 land can build ponds that can be used to stock up to 10000 fingerlings. This pond can raise these fingerlings to broad stock.

Use 50meter per square to build your ponds. Use 25 meter per square for your farm house and store and the remaining 25 meter per square for expansion. When buying your land, make sure it’s in a water lock area.

Step #2: Get good water supply

The reason why you should get a water lock area, you’ll need water for the growth of the fish. Preferably dig a borehole for the farm as these can give you guarantee of water.

Step #3: Acquire knowledge

Get to know the fish farming methods or how the farm works. Knowing when to change the water, how to sort the fishes, method of feeding and managerial practices are all part of what you need to know. Every day, new farming methods are been innovated, getting to know the farming method is key for your success.

 

Step #4: Start marketing your product

Don’t wait until your fish is ready for your market before you can start marketing your product. Start marketing so that people will begin to know your farm and what you do.

If your farm will be producing fingerlings and selling it, then early marketing will be necessary in other to build your customer base.

What it takes to start

Let me do some financial analysis so that you know what it takes to start this business.

Land

A 100×100 land can raise up to ten thousand fingerlings to the required size for the market. Depending on the location, a land 100×100 land should cost between 1,000,000 -1,500,000.

For those who have an extra space in their backyard, they can equally use the space to start.

Borehole

With 450,000 naira, you can sink a borehole and build an overhead thank for storing the water.

Fingerlings

If you’re buying fingerlings, it goes for 30-40 naira.

Fish farm housing

Today there are many types of fish farming housing in Nigeria. We have the earthen pond: which is the most popular.

Constructing an earthen pond depends requires the services of an architect which will provide the required estimate.

There are half tanks which are becoming more popular too by the day. The 5000 litre tank goes for 45,000 naira and can raise up to 400 fish. The half tank is good for those who want to start a backyard farm.

Feed

There are several feed in the market. It’s all dependent on which one you want to use. To raise 100 fish from fingerlings to broad stock, you’ll need four bags of feed. That is if you’re going to grow 1000, you’ll need 40 bags.

Succeeding in fish farming

Start small

Don’t overdue things and bite more than you can chew. Starting small gives you the required knowledge to learn how fish farming works. The advantage of starting small is you’ll get to know the nitty-gritty of the business and the mistakes won’t be beyond you to correct.

Know your target market

– Who are your target market?

– How do they need the product?

– How are you going to reach them?

Knowing all the answers makes it easier to market and sell your product.

Manage your business wisely and expansion becomes easy

Your number enemy in your business is your first success. Some think it will be all rosy from that point (sure it will) if you manage your farm as a business.

Don’t waste your money buying things that doesn’t enhance your business. Your first five profits are required to be reinvested in the business towards expansion. The more you expand, the more you dominate the business.

Keep updating yourself

Don’t stick to one method of doing things and think it’s the ultimate method. Keep improving yourself with new methods of fish farming.

Be ready to welcome change and when there is a new method, it’s simply saying the old method won’t give you what you want. Updating yourself always makes you manage your fish farm effectively and the desired end result certainly will be achieved.

 

Take your fish farm as a business

If you’re in the fish farming business as a get rich quick scheme, then you might want to change that notion. Success in business comes in a gradual process.

Hire an experts

Don’t think you know it all. Get some expert advice. It might seems like spending money, but saves you from loses that may arise.

Sorting is a continues process

No matter how good the fish breeds are, there may be few that might not grow as you want. Sorting or separating them should be a continues process to avoid the big ones eating the small ones.

Risk taking is part of business, don’t be afraid to take one.

Never give up, keep moving and keep learning

Challenges of fish farming in Nigeria

Even though fish farming is a lucrative business in Nigeria, there are certain challenges faced by some farmers. Note this is not to scare you, but to ensure you know and avoid it for success.

Poor fish breed

Poor fish breed will not make the fish to grow as expect and there will be variations in the size of the fish. At their fingerling stage, you won’t know their sizes until they’re 4-6 weeks old before you start noticing it.

Never buy fingerlings from any farm. Ensure that you ask or see the fish growth from the farm before you go ahead. Good fish breed gives you the maximum benefit.

Poor water supply

Before starting a fish farm, ensure that there is good water supply. Because fish grows in water and the water is often change in days. It’s better to get a land where you can sink your borehole which gives you the guarantee water for the farm.

Farm location

Due to need for land with good water supply and accessibility to the market is a serious challenge to most farmers.

Feed

Most commercial feed are quite expensive. And the price will continue to go up. For maximum benefit, you should look for ways to start compounding your own feed.

Packaging your product

Fish farms are beginning to package their fish to build more market for the farm. Installing fish smoking kiln to smoke your fish makes it easier to sell your product. Today in Nigeria, there are farms packaging their smoked fish and exporting it to the US.

Having a fish smoking kiln is easy today in Nigeria. All you will need to do is to fabricate the machine and when done correctly, it does the work.

Commercial Vegetable Farming In Nigeria

Every business in Nigeria shouldn’t be about buying and selling, vegetable farming is one aspect of farming in Nigeria that is capable of bringing quick cash to the would be farmer this season. There are so many people in the streets of Lagos who have no business being in Lagos. While they waste away in poverty, hoping for a better tomorrow; opportunity to make good money through farming keep passing them by on daily basis.

In Nigeria of those days, the term ‘Farmer’ is heavily associated with poverty and illiteracy. But that was then, not now anymore when farmers are becoming the richest people (I heard that one of the richest man in China is a farmer) and leaving the best of life possible.

Vegetable farming happens to be one of the easiest agricultural engagement, and any kind of edible vegetable is always in hot demand all year round. One good example is Fluted Pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) popularly known as Ugu (It’s Igbo name) across Nigeria.

Ugu vegetable is by far, the most consumed vegetable of any kind in Nigeria. An acre size Ugu farm is capable of turning in above N500,000 and it will take you less than N60,000 to cultivate one acre farm of pumpkin vegetable.

If you are in Lagos, the entire Power Line of hundreds of Acres, that stretched from Egbin power station in Ijede, Ikorodu, down to almost Ikorodu garage are extremely good for Ugu farming and you can get them almost free to cultivate your pumpkin and other vegetables.

Lucrative Types Of Commercial Vegetable Farming

Fluted Pumpkin (Ugu Leaf) Farming – Like I’ve said before, Pumpkin vegetable is the most consumed vegetable by Nigerians of all class. It is used to prepare varieties of dishes and it’s very nutritious too. When you talk about soup in Nigeria, you are directly talking about ugu because, almost all Nigerian soups are cooked with this vegetable.

Apart from cooking, pumpkin vegetable has been known to increase the volume of the red blood cell when consumed fresh, without being cooked. It’s blood enhancing nutrients gives it the ability to expand the volume of your blood at a very short time after consumption!

It is of course natural for a vegetable of these benefits and usage to be in high demand, anyone who can cultivate Ugu, is absolutely going to make good money selling it and can be cultivated in every part of Nigeria due to the plant’s tolerant of drought and poor soil.

Green Okra Farming – Okra, which is popularly known as the lady’s finger and gumbo, in many English speaking countries is a very nutritious edible green pod vegetable. When sliced, the okra’s edible green seed pods produces slippery sticky substance that make the soup tick, smooth, and delicious. My personal experience with okra shows that eating fresh vegetable soup prepared with plenty of okra can relive constipation and increase digestion.

If you are a Nigerian, you don’t need to be told about okra soup. It’s one of the most popular soup in Nigeria restaurants, usually prepared with Ugu vegetable and smoked fish – very delicious and taste good.

Okra contains good amount of Vitamin-A and is known to be anti-oxidant due to it’s good content of beta-carotene. It is also rich in Vitamin-C, Vitamin-K, and some form of Vitamin-B Complexes. Like Fluted Pumpkin, it tolerate all kinds of soil.

Cabbage Farming – Cabbage is another popular vegetable in Nigeria and is popularly used to prepare salads. The only part of the plant that is normally eaten is the rounded leafy head (the spherical cluster of immature leaves) excluding the partially unfolded outer leaves.

Because of it’s spicy flavor, Cabbage is used in a variety of dishes, and is widely consumed raw as well. It is in high demand in Nigeria and sells for reasonably good price.

Cabbage really does not like the sun, it grows better in a cold environment but must get at least 6 hours of sunlight everyday. It grows well on a well fertile, well drained manured soil.

Cucumber Farming – As I always says: Great skin starts with Cucumber; If you really want your skin to be happy, your number one answer is cucumber. This is because, cucumber and skin is known to share the same level of hydrogen content, which makes it easier for cucumber to deal with the skin problems by engulfing them. It works well in soothing, softening, and relaxing your skin very quickly.

Cucumber can be eaten raw and is used for preparation of many kinds of food in Nigeria. Cultivating this vegetable will surely put money into your pockets.

Cucumbers like every other vegetables like soil that is well drained and rich in organic matter, but don’t stress about the soil conditions. Cucumbers are hearty plants and easy to grow. Just make sure they have full sunlight and soil that is rich in organic matter.

Cucumber sells quick to in markets across Nigeria and is widely consumed. It is another vegetable farming that makes a lot of money.

Ewedu (Jute Leaf) Farming – Ewedu is probably the most popular vegetable among the Yoruba people of Western Nigeria. I have seen people make good money cultivating ewedu in commercial quantity.

When you engage in farming, you will have plenty of food to eat, you sell to make good cash, and it gets you closer to nature. These will increase your overall well being as a human-being. So, give it a trial today and see yourself happy.

CARROTS

Description

Carrots are a popular root vegetable that are easy to grow in sandy soil. They are resistant to most pests and diseases, and are a good late season crop that can tolerate frost. Not all carrots are orange; varieties vary in color from purple to white.

Botanical Name: 

Daucus carota

Plant Type: 

• Vegetable

Sun Exposure: 

• Full Sun

Soil Type: 

• Sandy

Soil pH: 

• Neutral

Hardiness Zone: 

• 10
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10

Planting

• Plan to plant seeds outdoors 3 to 5 weeks before the last spring frost date.
• Make sure your soil is free of stones; carrots need deeply tilled soil that they can push through.
• Have you ever seen a carrot that has grown “legs” or forked? Fresh manure, or even recently applied rotted manure, can cause carrots to fork and send out little side roots. Don’t use it before you plant your seeds.
• Plant seeds 3-4 inches apart in rows. Rows should be at least a foot apart.

Care

• Gently mulch to retain moisture, speed germination and block the sun from the roots.
• Soil should be well drained and loose to prevent forking and stunting of the root growth.
• Once plants are an inch tall, thin so they stand 3 inches apart. Snip them with scissors instead of pulling them out to prevent damage to the roots of remaining plants.
• Water at least one inch per week.
• Weed diligently.
• Fertilize 5-6 weeks after sowing.
• Carrots taste much better after a couple of frosts. Following the first hard frost in the fall, cover carrot rows with an 18-inch layer of shredded leaves to preserve them for harvesting later.

Pests/Diseases

• Wireworms
• Flea Beetles
• Aster Yellow Disease will cause shortened and discolored carrot tops and hairy roots. This disease is spread by pests as they feed from plant to plant. Keep weeds down and invest in a control plan for pests such as leafhoppers. This disease has the ability to overwinter.

Harvest/Storage

• Carrots are mature at around 2 ½ months and ½ inch in diameter. You may harvest whenever desired maturity is reached.
• You may leave mature carrots in the soil for storage if the ground will not freeze.
• To store freshly harvested carrots, twist off the tops, scrub off the dirt under cold running water, let dry and seal in airtight plastic bags, and refrigerate. If you simply put fresh carrots in the refrigerator, they’ll go limp in a few hours.
• Carrots can be stored in tubs of moist sand for winter use.