How to start a rice farming business in Nigeria, with the current situation of the country’s economy, most Nigerians are now looking for an investment opportunity. And what better way to invest if not in a natural and daily consumption product such as rice, as of this day, a bag of rice is being sold for N19, 500 and it can only get worse because I don’t see the foreign exchange rate of dollar to Naira coming down any time soon nor the fuel price coming back to its normal price. All of which prompted me to dig deep just so I can give millions of Nigerians an eye opener of the potential in the rice farming business.

After making up your mind to go into rice farming business, the next step is to;

Choose healthy rice seeds

It is advisable to go for healthier seeds, because the healthier they are, the higher your chances when it comes to yielding, harvesting and sales. Rice seed varies from one another and only the best variety should be selected based on the cultivation environment. Seeds are not meant to be planted in an indiscriminate manner. You need to choose the seeds manually for a good rice production.

Selecting good quality seed will help to:
1. Increase yield by 10 – 20%
2. Increase germination by 80%
3. Improve resistance to disease and pest attacks
4. Produce steady plant size
5. Decrease weed complications

Produce rice seedlings in a nursery

A seedbed needs to be prepared and cultivated in a nursery, rice is very sensitive and needs to kept on a stable warm temperature so the soil in the nursery needs to be covered with a transparent polythene sheet, this technique also helps to prevent soil borne disease. Your yielding process can decline if transplanted rice is attacked by nematodes and soil borne pathogens.

Choose a land

Rice farming needs land space for its operation to run smoothly depending on the size and scale at which you want to produce, notwithstanding the area of land needed to cultivate rice is pretty much and its worth tends to vary on the basis of the drainage facilities, type of soil and location. Rice is generally the crop of a small farmer and on an average, 6 acres of land needed. You need a large space to set your project up and dry the paddy rice prior to harvesting.

It is advisable to choose a site in a natural and organic zone where rice farming is customary.
For rice to yield, you need a fertile land with good water retention capacity, if you aim to grow rice for a long period of time, then it is advisable to consult a soil-testing agency.
Grow legumes after rice, and plough rice residues into the soil as organic matter and fertilizer.
Swampy land

Some farmers use swampy land to grow farm rice so as to save money and keep the capital required to set up to the barest minimum, when you have your farm on a swampy land, irrigation becomes one task to worry less about. The most common techniques adopted by farmers is that they get swampy land, get it cleared and use tractors to till the soil until it is ready for transplanting the rice seedlings. However, it has been found that rice production is most productive on irrigated soil. But they come at a high cost.

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