Thank alot @slysim. your input is valued. I am currently noticing some yellowing of the leaves in my nursery. the nursery is almost 21days old ready for transplanting in a few days. I havent added any fertilizer to it yet. Any idea what i can do to arrest this yellowing?its not a significant portion but some tiny patches.

Very intrested in the FADAMA loan.please give me headsup when anything starts. Thank you.

SLYSIM:
Wow, Thank God this thread exists. Have been looking for like-minded individuals to rub mind together on rice farming.
Want to commend kheart for explicit work done on the labour cost, but think most of the activities are now mechanized.
Like bush clearing can be done by spraying non-selective herbicides (Paraforce, Round up, Force up, Gobara, tackle, Nwura wura, Bush clear are not bad options as far as u get the original ones and sold bw N1,500-2,5000, per a bottle/litre,)
Tractor can be used to do the plough and harrow @ the rate of N7,000-8,000 per a hectare for either of plough or harrow.
Seed spraying method has been proven ok and cheaper than nursery and transplanting method. stands to be corrected anyway.
Any one around southeast can hala me lets synergize, i heared that FADAMA will dish out huge loans for farmers this year.

1hecter is not small. Thats not starting small. 1 hectare = 2 and half Acre . There are 8 100by50 plots of land in 1 Acre. So basicly 21 plots of land each measuring 100 by 50 =1hecter. How would a beginer manage this size it? For me, starting small would be planting on a 400by 400 piece of farm land and see as you do and preparing heavy for your next sowing.I digress, that i have choosen to go with nursery is to improve yield because i have seen that some farmers still practise direct seeding instead of nursery and transplanting even though there have been several evidence that have shown that transplanting actually imporves yield.i.e it is difficult to control weed with direct seeding.Poor weed controll=serious yield loss and also rice populace is guaranteed with firm root instead of being too packed in the direct seeding method. Any way, i was speaking to someone today and he says i should watchout for grasscutters? That, it is a pest to rice. Has anyone experienced it? an how was this controlled?

SLYSIM:
No information provided here is far from the truth as u claimed.
At least Kheart itemized the necessary things and steps which whoever that wants to engage in rice farming can verify.
There are many factors that can determine the amount to be spent in rice farming. what you spend in cultivating rice in upland plots wouldn't be the same with what u spend in any of the Authority plots. And location matters too, For us here, we have Anambra Imo River Basin plots whose irrigation has not been working for a long time, so rice farming are cultivated once in a year unlike some upland plots where one can make provision for artificial irrigation (at extra cost) and cultivates 2 times in a year.
Bush clearing to the best of my knowledge is a waste of time and resources because 4 tubes (or less) of non-selective chemical can do the work perfectly and the grass can be part of your manure.
Some land needs fewer bags of fertilizer, in some case 2 bags of NPK 15-15-15 for 1 Hectare (called 1 plot in my area).
Rice farming is capital intensive I agree, but anyone with interest can start with small land, say 1 hectare and expand over time afterall the whole money is not spent at once. It stretches to five months from plough (tilling) to harvesting stages.
On your nursery, i couldn't remember the last time we used nursery here and our yields have been quite great, just spray your rice well and do machine harrowing(if u wish) and your rice will germinate. no transplanting expenses is necessary.

I just recently started rice farming. Irrigation rice farming since we are in dry season. Looking at this thread,i cant help but laugh. Most of the things i read here is far from the truth especially concerning capital needed to start. I am at the nursey stage of rice farming waiting to transplant. My oldest nursery is about 10days old. Anyway, if considering rice farming, unless you have alot of money; go manual rather than mechanical. And be involved in ALL the process. From clearing the farm land to planting and fertilizers. Why i say some of the information isnt correct is that, when you are doing irrigation farming expect to spend more money than someone who would depend on rain water but the benefit is that you get to plant year round. In my case i dug a bore hole and installed irrigation channels. RIce farming is labour intensive. I am starting small as an experiment on about 5-6 plots of land excluding nursery. Would keep you guys updated as i go on. i actually came here looking for the best techniques of bird repellant. i might go for a combination method.

People are being called to confirm their state of origin.Thats pretty much the latest.