₦airaland Forum

papatee4:
chat me on 08066200247.
111 sucker per plots
100 naira per sucker

Really?

So how many suckers per hectare

actorlove:
The united state of American president is on live T.V show

Really?

Is he announcing visa free travel for Nigerians to the US?

spinna:
Have you gotten yours? Why not upgrade that livestock farm once and for all

We have two happy customers this week.. from Niger state and Abuja..

The north is embracing ranching bit by bit

Panicum Maximum also available

0706 346 3851

Nice. Everyone should embrace ranching

walkbrazil4k:
Wonderful, awesome, nice, lovely, beautiful, peaceful, cheerful, happy.... I can't remember more

Nice.

Do you have any problem with the language or do you find lots of people that speak English there?

somessi:
Name: SOSTED Oil
Phone: +234 (0) 8130137806
Location: Akwa Ibom State

We make Palm Kernel Nut supply nationwide, at competitive prices. Also palm kernel shells.
Thanks.

Do you have pkn now?

What is the price per ton.

Piper alpha 2.0

Nice info.

Attit:
The most common questions I received is below

FAQ 2: How can I manage cobra f1? And what should I expect?

So I will answer the two questions. Let us be honest, cobra still has the largest market share. And I can still confirm it. And the ONLY reason is that it is the cheapest and one of the best determinates so far I have checked out.

You should manage it by making sure you give it enough basal nutrition. Always install stakes before transplanting, or at least start, or your materials.must be ready on ground. Three good points:

1. Tackle viral, fungi, and bacterial diseases.

2. Tackle flower abortion due to heat and rainy season stress. This has to do with your spraying formula. The numbers of flowers you can keep depends on your harvest. There are different strategies for this. This is why pilot is so necessary at times.

3. Build the immume system of your plants. Feeding well is the secret. Build good roots, green leaves, and delay diseases. When diseases start appearing early, you cannot make good yield.

4. I cannot emphasize the essence of treating your soil with natural and scientific way especially doing soil test. . This one reason is why yield is low among farmers cos their approach is guessing.

Yield:
I do not know how people feed and they get 60g of cobra fruits. Also when you start getting 120g of fruits, that is trouble. I expect 80 to 85g all round except at the start and at the end. The highest I got was 92g during my early years and recently cos of a pilot I am doing. After the first harvest, over 80% of your harvest should above 80g. So, do your best to have above 30 fruits per plant which is 2.4kg per plant. But 40 is possible. If you manage to keep up to 50 flowers, then, you need to increase feeding.

But I see people going in with a blank nutritional strategy. They just side dress at a specific time using specific fertilizer and most of the time NPK alone. And they spray premixed micro nutrients in bottles alone. This is wrong. Feed according to what you see. The general formular I give is just a guide, you must learn about your variety and what it needs a t every stage of its development.

Yield depends on your population. To me the new style in town where farmers esp in the south of Nigeria use 1 row per bed and 50cm emitter spacing is OK. But its not the best for it. Even some use 1.5m spacing inter row cos of free air flow. It is good, but the downside is that with this variety you'd population will be around 13,500 per ha. So, your yield will be drastically low...low....low....low.

100 tons yield is what they gave as benchmark, with 30,000 plants @ 3.3kg. But I know it is achievable easier with 40,000 plants @ 2.5kg. And getting 32 fruits of 80g will achieve this, but you are always getting uninformed fruits sizes with so many 60 - 70grams....so, your yield cannot be high. And I have seen many farmers in this unproductive cycle for long, but they see themselves as experts, but they are failure to me. This is why I kicked against this kind of variety for 1 ha which I want to do. The choice is yours.

I strongly believe it should be reserved for big farms where tractors are used. And even where harvesters are deployed. Also, I strongly believe using mulch and stakes should not come in when doing this variety, and I'd possible the population should be extremely high.

With my explanation above, the best expect most NL farmers to get is 25 tons for 1 ha, and if you feed slightly well, you use mulch and stake. If you get below, you arent doing well. It is sad that with mulch, stakes, expensive forts, cocopeak, trays, etc people arent still doing well.

Today, Saturday is another weekend and I will be around to attend to as many mails as possible again via email. My condition remains same, make sure you have a farm you want to set up.

Note: Even with cobra, if you can handle 30,000 to 40,000 plants per hectare or 12,000 to 16,000 plants per acre, I believe you can achieve very high yield also. If your plan is just to use NPK and foliar spray, you cannot get it right. If you are comfortable with little yield esp the standard on NLx then, it is very ok.

Good info

Nice one.

They need to make creation of small scale refineries easy to legally set up.

Then competent people can legally fill the gaps that these criminals are currently exploiting.

BarryLi:
The charcoal briquette machine is important forming equipment in the production process of charcoal making. It can make various kinds of coal powder into the coal briquette of different shapes. The charcoal briquette can make full use of pulverized coal resources, reduce fuel costs, and increase the calorific value of coal, which has high economic benefits. The finished charcoal briquettes have high density, good strength, and are smokeless and tasteless during processing. They have been widely used in large-scale barbecues, boiler heating, hookah, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, and other applications.

The principle of the charcoal briquette extruder
The charcoal briquette machine adopts a new screw extrusion principle to squeeze the prepared pulverized coal into a certain strength and predetermined shape of coal sticks. Our charcoal briquette machine adopts the hard-tooth surface reducer, which is small in size and high in load capacity. The impeller inside the charcoal briquette extruder is designed with thickened blades, and the impeller and the inner liner of the cylinder are made of wear-resistant precision casting materials. After the materials enter from the feeding port, they will be squeezed forward through the inner cone mold to make the compression between the materials is extremely tight. There is strong friction between the material and the cylinder, which causes the temperature of the coal powder to rise while generating heat, the moisture and the binder are more uniform, the plasticity of the coal is also greatly increased, and finally it is extruded in the flat part of the mold.

The structure of the charcoal briquette extruder
The main structure of the coal stick machine is composed of a motor, a reducer, a screw propeller shaft, a mold, and the final cutter.
We provide customers with a large number of different molds to choose from, and we can also customize them according to customer needs.

Three different cutting methods
1.Pneumatic cutting device
This kind of pneumatic cutting machine is generally equipped at the exit of the charcoal briquette machine and equipped with an induction device. When the coal rod reaches a certain length, it will automatically cut.
2. Cubic charcoal cutting machine
Cubic-charcoal-cutting-machine
This cubic cutting device is used to cut cubic coal. The cut coal rods pass through this machine to become coal blocks of uniform shape and size.
3. CNC cutting device
CNC cutting device
This is our latest coal cutting machine. It adopts an intelligent control system, the cutting length of coal rods can be adjusted freely and can be used to cut coal rods of various shapes.

Molding poor solution
Add adhesiveWhen solving the problem of the molding machine, adding a binder is a common solution. Its function is to increase the viscosity between coal powder. However, there are many types of adhesives and should be handled with care. In addition, the binder is made according to the characteristics of a certain material, so it is best to do experiments first, so as to ensure the molding effect after adding.
Change the physical state of pulverized coalThe change of the physical state is to change the distance between the pulverized coal molecules, which is more conducive to the adhesion between the pulverized coal. Time has proved that the smaller the particle size of coal powder, the greater the attraction between molecules. Therefore, before entering the rod coal machine, a large piece of pulverized coal must be crushed, and the coal gangue inside must be screened out to solve the problem of forming from the physical state.
Control water contentThe forming problem of pulverized coal is not only related to the particle size, particle size, and hardness of the pulverized coal but also related to the moisture content. The molding effect is different under different moisture content. Therefore, before the large particles or large particles of coal powder are fed into the coal stick extruder, it is not only pulverized but also a certain amount of water needs to be added. But when the moisture content is too high, it is not conducive to molding. At this time, it is necessary to squeeze it out after drying with drying equipment.

Tips for using charcoal briquette machine
Before using the machine, it must be operated empty, check whether all nuts are loose and tightened, check whether there are foreign objects or abnormal noises, and check whether the energy position is accurate.
To use the coal stick machine, you must first test the machine to check whether the machine is running normally. Before testing the machine, you must add an appropriate amount of lubricating oil in a stable position with a moderate amount of oil.
Before starting each shift, check whether the position of the machine is sensitive and there is no abnormal sound, and the machine can be used for consumption after 2 to 3 seconds of dry operation.
In order to prevent the coal rod generator from overloading, the user must install a DC voltmeter and adjust the material and moisture according to the DC ammeter.
The raw materials must be processed before production. The maximum particle size is less than 2 mm. After adding water, add the binder and curing agent, and use it after 24 hours of stirring. If the discharge port of the coal rod machine is blocked, single wood or bamboo rods must be used for excavation, and non-metal rods must not be used.
The bearings of the rotating position of coal stick machine tools must be injected with smooth oil regularly, and the measurement of the bearing position should not exceed 60 degrees.
The machine must be shut down before unloading. After the cylinder of the coal sliver machine is emptied by objects, shut it down, assemble the head, clean it and reinstall it, and prepare for work.

Do you have the furnace for turning sawdust into charcoal dust that can be converted into briquettes?

The process of making powdered milk is an interesting operation. Milk comes from dairy farms scattered across the countryside. Each morning, large tank trucks stop at each dairy farm and collect the milk that has accumulated over the past day. Then it is transported to the creamery.

Once it gets here to the creamery, it's run through a filter and put into a holding tank. As it waits it's turn to go through the first stage of processing, it's run through a battery of tests to insure it meets quality standards.

Milk first passes into the evaporator where about a third of it's water is removed. The evaporator consists of 3 colandrais, together being about 4 feet in diameter and 6 stories tall. The evaporator has a partial vacuum put on it, lowering the boiling point to about 135 degrees F. This is important for two reasons. First, it makes it possible for the water in the milk to be evaporated at a low enough temperature that it won't damage the milk. And second, it reduces the cost a substantial amount. Fresh, raw milk contains about 12% solids if you include the butterfat. During the evaporation process, water in the milk is removed until the solids increase to 50%.

During the evaporation process the milk is pasteurized. The pasteurization process reduces the bacteria content without heating the milk to the point that it is damaged. If you tried to heat the milk at home in a pan hot enough to accomplish this, you'd scorch the milk. In a creamery, the milk is run through small tubes where it's heated up to the desired temperature of 175 degrees F for just 20 seconds then it is immediately force-cooled to prevent the milk from getting damaged.

Separating the Milk: From evaporator the milk runs through the separator which removes the cream or butterfat. The butterfat is placed in a separate storage tank to be used later. The skim milk now moves to the tanks where standardizing takes place.

Standardizing the Milk: After the milk has been separated, it is then standardized which means the different components of the milk are mixed automatically until we have a consistent product. Every batch must be exactly the same. For example, in our whole milk operation, the milk must contain 8.8% solids and 3.4% butterfat which comes to 12.2% total solids. Depending on the seasons of the year and other environmental conditions, these levels fluctuate in raw milk directly from the dairies. If the solids are below 8.8%, we condense until the desired milk solid percentage is reached. Then we add 3.4% butterfat. When the customer purchases a gallon of whole milk, it's constituents will be exactly like every other jug of whole milk we produce. If we are making 2% or 1% milk, then only this amount of butterfat is added to the milk before packaging. During the standardization process, even some of the vitamins in the milk are checked to insure they meet our standards. This way the customer is assured of a wholesome, healthy product that never changes.

The remaining evaporated, condensed milk is turned into powdered milk. Depending on our customer's needs, we standardize this milk with butterfat levels ranging from less than 1% all the way up to 30% fat. Most of the milk powder we make, however is either non-fat milk or whole milk powder which contains 0% to 28.5% butterfat after it's been reconstituted. It is impossible to see the difference between these two powders with the naked eye. But there is a huge difference in the taste. After the condensed milk has been standardized, it's next stop is the drying tower.

Turning The Condensed Milk Into Milk Powder: Two types of drying are the spray nozzle and the newer atomization system. There are still many spray dryers in operation today. These dryer towers or dryers are 22 foot diameter cans that rise 12 stories into the air. In the top of the column are four spray nozzles that spray a fine mist of condensed milk into 400 degree F. swirling air. As the milk droplets fall, the swirling air quickly removes the water out of the droplets of milk until all that's left is a small particle of milk powder not much larger than a speck of dust. As it falls, the air cools to about 250 degrees F until it settles into the funnel shaped hopper in the bottom of the tower where it's removed. The operators can carefully control the moisture level of the finished product by controlling the swirling air in the tower.

Here at Humboldt we use the newer two stage compact dryer. Instead of using nozzles spraying the milk like you find in the spray tower, atomizing wheel turning at an extremely high speed atomizes the milk. This finely atomizes the milk into much finer droplets than you can get from a spray nozzle. Although our compact dryer has about the same diameter as a spray drying tower at about 20 feet, it's only 3 stories high, 1/4 as high as a spray tower. This dryer is called a NIRO 'Compact' Drying system because even though it's 3 stories high, it's still compact compared to a spray drying tower. Because the droplets in a atomizing wheel are so much smaller, they dry much more quickly in a compact dryer. In a compact dryer the dry milk falls on a 'fluidizing bed.' To the lay person this term can be misleading as there's no water, or any other liquid involved. It's called a fluidizing bed because it's constantly shaking or vibrating and the milk powder laying on it is in a constant 'fluid' motion or stirring. At this point any additives the customer wants are added to the agitating milk powder. Common additives are vitamins, minerals, lecithin or lactose as well as other compounds. The continual stirring action of the fluid bed finely mixes these additives into the milk powder. At this stage, we have regular, dehydrated milk powder.

Turning Regular Powdered Milk Into Instant Powered Milk: It's also in the drying tower where regular milk is turned into instant milk. This can be done 'on the fly.' First, not more than 0.2% lecithin is sprayed on the finer, dry milk particles that have been sifted out of the rest of the milk. The lecithin makes the powdered milk dissolve better. It's then moved back to the top of the drying tower and fed into the top of the tower near the spot where the atomizer is breaking up the condensed milk into microscopic droplets. As the dry and wet particles are mixed together, the wet particles stick to the dry particles and at the same time form air pockets. This larger particle dries as it falls down through the swirling air. This process gives you a much lighter product that is much more easily penetrated by water. Nutritionally, there's very little difference between instant and regular powdered milk. It's virtually the same product except the instant milk powder is less dense and mixes more easily in water. Although Lecithin is a very healthy food, there hasn't been enough added to the instant milk to show any differences in the nutritional data tables between the two. Concerning flavor, you shouldn't be able to tell the difference between them, either.

The last step in the process is to package it and send it to the customer. We send powdered milk in plastic lined 50 lb bags. Then they repackage it for long term storage.


Of the 30 million pounds of powdered milk we make each year, between 1/2 and 2/3rds of it is sold overseas. Many third world countries have neither a strong dairy base or transportation or processing capabilities to meet their population's needs for liquid milk. In addition to this, many of the homes in these countries have no refrigerators like you and I have. Powdered milk is the perfect alternative for them. Much of our whole, powdered milk with the added fat that doesn't go to the confectionery business here in the United States, goes to these third world countries. Because of the fat content in whole powdered milk, it's shelf life is limited. It's life span is only 6 to 9 months in 75 degree F temperatures. After this the fats start going rancid. This is why USA Emergency Supply, which sells products for long term storage doesn't pack whole powdered milk. While on the other hand, our non-fat powdered milk will store for two years under the same conditions, packed in plastic lined, paper bags stored in temperatures between 70 and 90 degrees F. A company like USA Emergency Supply that puts non-fat powdered milk in air-tight containers then uses oxygen absorbers to remove the oxygen extends the storage life two or three times. And it will keep even longer if it's stored in a cool place at 60 degrees F or less.

The Humboldt Creamery has stringent quality and control both internally and externally. We have our own rigid inspection and control programs. Externally, we are also frequently inspected by the USDA, the state of California, FDA and also the Interstate Milk Shippers (IMS) as we are an international sales company with our milk being consumed all over the world. You can rest assured that the products you get from us meet the very highest standards of quality and cleanliness. We are proud of our national and international reputation in the market place. Bringing you the best products obtainable brings us here at Humboldt Creamery a strong feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Really nice info

preacherz:
The business is good but u need to have a lot of capital to enable u make any meaningful profit.

Some who have less than or equal to a Million Naira may end up losing it all.

Current price
Pk 2.64tons @340,000===== #897,600
1.5 bags of Charcoal @3500 = #5,250
2 gallons of Diesel @8,500 = #17,000
Labor ====#7,000
Misselenous = 7,000
Total =933,850


Pko price @850,000 by middlemen = #850,000
1 ton of PKC@70,000 = #70,000
0.3 tons ok pksl@ 200,000 = #60,000
Total #980,000[b][/b]

Difference #46,150

This can be turned over once in a week
Cos u need to toast crush before selling
And go back again to source Pk all over again.

It’s not easy boss

Your calculation is closer to reality

ozornet:
Not that they will not deal with you but that it is more convenient for then to lifts as many tons as possible from one place or from one cluster. You can also laise with other crushers near by to make up the load. Again, you can also negotiate with the vegetable oil company at the normal price ten tons and when they advance you cash you can even act a middleman and buy up from other small producers who may not have ingenuity and the accumen to approach the vegetable oil company. If you have a good consultan, he can front for you and even link you up with companies that can pay up front.

In my experience consultants are more interested in the money they will get from you than in getting the pko business to succeed.

After machine installation, they will abandon you and leave you to your fate.

Interesting

PlayMaker001:
We sell in tonnage

How much per ton?

And what is the .minimum order quantity.

Attit:
The response to your comment:

https://guardian.ng/features/agro-care/kaita-debunks-closure-of-dangote-tomato-factory/
In 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-09/tycoon-dangote-can-t-get-enough-tomatoes-to-run-plant-profitably
In 2021.

There had been many downtimes before these ones, the longest was well over a year. The ones in 2019 and 2021 are even after he has started farming tomatoes on hectares of land. That's Dangote ooo. If he is not super rich, hmmm.

No one who understands the value chain of tomato paste will ever erect a plant without a farm. So, do you think it is electricity or whatever challenge that made the new 8 factories he is talking about to close down. Mallams can replace the whole factory if replaceable parts are scarce as long as the business is succesful. And what makes it not to be successful? Also, read the story of TomatoJos.

People who know nothing just talk anyhow that tomatoes waste in Nigeria cos we have no paste factory or preservative facility. Which kind of waste? I don't know about it.

I am busy now, I could have put here facts, figures, and data as proofs. Anyway, make a thorough investigation, and if you have more question, I will reply you later.

Successful businesses solve problems.
Before starting the tomato paste business, he identified the problem he wanted to solve. He observed that there is a glut of fresh tomatoes during the harvest period. He should concentrate on processing tomatoes seasonally during the glut in the harvest period.

If you say he should process tomatoes all year round then he will have to offer competitive price during the period of tomato scarcity to be able to secure raw material supply, that will not be economical because his paste is competing with cheap imported tomato paste.

Moreover, if he is unable to get supply of raw tomatoes, that means there is no glut of tomatoes, which means that the problem he is trying to solve does not exist.

I will not advice him to go into tomato cultivation because from his writeup, he did not come out as someone who is knowledgeable on tomato farming. Tomato is a difficult crop to cultivate with lots of disease pressures, if he is to take on the risk of growing his own tomato, then he need to develop the competence to grow tomato profitably. Moreover if the local farmers are getting better price offers for their tomato than he is willing to pay for, then even if he grows his own tomato, it will still be better for him to sell it raw just like the local farmers are doing and getting better prices

FreelanceRebel:
Thanks for the Compliment.
We've had looked into fundraising, but based on the false reports that it is impossible for small startups to scale in Tomatoes Business, prevent people from investing, without them considering our success rate. If we are to go into PiggyVest, we will have to spend so much on royalties and commission. so what we are looking at is a direct investment without the middle platform.

About your Application for TEF, you can contact Nafarm founder, you might get some idea from him

If you are already making a profit, why do you need more investors?

Why not put back some of the profits to grow the business?

Since you have a functional factory, you should be able to get loans from the bank of industry. Check with them for loans for expansion.

I will not advice you to take money from individuals unless you are selling shares in the company. That way the investors take part of the risks of the business and you don't get bugged down with debts that you need to service.

FreelanceRebel:
I have been giving some guys a clue on this forum that we are into Tomato Processing Business, some felt like it was a scam, like am planning to part people with their money. Of course, we are for real.

I am sharing How we made it into Tomato Processing Business to let the youth know that SMEs are the powerhouse of a Nation economy, especially in the Food industry. We can help drive down the price through stiff competition and control of the local market. We are into Tomato Business, but if we have other young people in other food processing either packaging or processing across the country, competition will make it hard for the big brands to inflate price at will.

Presently, besides what our Founder is doing, I am personally planning research in the production of Malt drinks.

Without wasting your time, below is our story as covered by #howwemadeitinafrica. Also, you can search Google for AbdulLateef entrepreneur to know what else we have done.

CC: SeaTrade, lexy2014 , xxxxtentacion

Lalasticalala, let's motivate the our fellow young people this January

Nice that you wrote about your struggles and successes in processing tomatoes. Thanks for sharing. I learnt some things from what you shared.

Attit:
I am super busy these days, but I wanted to make comment yesterday. Unfortunately, I was so tired that I had to abandon it and just left the quotes the way it is up there. And since I want to make comment, I had to do it early this morning before moving out. I know I will be super busy again. So here is my comment below:

Failing Forward-
Founder - $195 m,
BOA - $1,220 ,
Tony Elumelu Foundation - $5,000
Kenyan Award - $4,000

And you wrote, you almost lost it all.

And then..
Govt grant $7,300.


Total - $17,715 (N10,097,550)
I am sure more have been spent.

Your initial production is 1 ton per day. I know how hard it is, there are many days you may not produce since you lack raw tomatoes. It is even hard to track your progress since you did not post cost of production and other expenses. You only gave sales. So, it will be hard to convince someone like me to invest. Maybe you reserve that for private discussion which I would do if I was your founder too, but at least, more figures should be here cos what you have cannot make any serious investor contact you.

Growth
At 1 ton, you have challenges with raw tomato supply, and the founder went ahead to tweak production in a single factory, and them increased production to 7 tons. But where are the tomatoes? Today, you get huge supplies, tomorrow less. Hmmm! Maybe, it still is profitable like this. I doubt you would do such if not. But how consistency can you perform optimally?

And then, you mentioned additional 8 factories which you might likely tweak again to increase productivity. And yet, where are the tomatoes to use?

This is the main area I am so scared. You are doing it cos you arent the one who set the factories up, so the huge initial burden is not on you. Also, maybe the factory released the equipment cos they want to understudy you. If I were you, setting up my own would be my target. Not saying you should not expand and lease more factories, but it seems you and your founder are getting too much comfortable with leasing and not setting up yours. People are not that good in this country. It is one of your boys they will use. it's normal, they offer him more pay, he will leave you. And they'll take over their machine after the lease expires. Anyway everything depends on the contract you have. Just be smart about it. It is a good concept and very thoughtful.

Consultants wreck owners
From the lesson here, you had toncoreect many things. Even, replaceable parts arent available, and no technician. Lol. When the owner knkw morning about it, what donyou expect? In that north, there was a case like this where luckily the owner almost committed suicide. It is not just buying anything, but knowing what works, what one can easily handle, and preparation on how to get replaceable parts ahead must be made. There are many issues in this thing. People just think it is easy. Lol. And the owners themselves are their own killers.

But wait...I give this business just 10 years, you will see the number of plants that will come up in Nigeria. This is how Nigeria is. As soon as one person does it right, others follow. Rank Xerox. Lol. And it's why as the leader, think of ways to always be ahead. And the fight for raw tomatoes will be serious.

See eh....many of these people here are already thinking of starting such and buy tomatoes from farmers. But it is a wrong approach. This is where I see you and your founder not getting it right.

Focus more on farming and investors will take you more serious
Personally, I do not know how your founder can be comfortable opening more factories without planning to start producing tomatoes on his farm. Nothing about such was mentioned in your article. But this is the main challenge. The plant challenge is 10 - 20% of the overall business model. Good that you have also solved distribution and sales. And this success is what likely blinded your founder into thinking he can source for more tomatoes and rent more plants, when he is supposed to quickly start tackling farming challenges on his farm.

Since you are not the founder, I shouldn't take all you put here has his mind.

What you all did is commendable, and your founder should be applauded. But is it sustainable in the long term? Can he assure himself he will continue getting farmers to produce for him? Personally, before I invest in such, I want to see the company showing me the minimum raw tomatoes needed to make the business profitable. And then show me the plan to produce that quantity. If there is no plan, forget it...I can not invest. Never. If he can convince me that 10% of the total tomato needed is what he needs to make it profitable and gives me my little share annually, I am ok. I will not ask him by force to give me large share and go into sourcing of tomatoes. But if he can produce that 10%, he is free to get the 90% outside. And anytime he cannot get that 90%, I dont have any trouble. On the other hand, if figures shows me its 90% he needs to produce himself, I will make sure the plan to produce that 90% is already perfected.

This is about mathematics. I want to see the ratio. Then, we will sit down if he is able to do it or not. When people start crying their investment vehicles crash and start lamenting and calling out the companies, I ask myself if they dont ask questions before releasing their money. The red flags are there already. Didn't they see them? Or they just took the words of the companies to be true without checking?

The $40,000 sales you put above is sweet to read, but what is the profit? And what is left over after paying dividend in the year. Only govt loans and grants can have mercy. Tell your founder to think twice before collecting money from individual investors. They will not forgive him like how he was pardoned by those who gave him grants.

Farming should be your immediate goal
If you produce your own tomatoes, you and your founder will never think of borrowing at this early stage. To me, you want to operate in the value chain close to processing. This is not advisable in Nigeria. The Nigeria of the olden days is where you can operate like this, and not in the modern days. You are already thinking of malt production also. Hmmmm! Do you think you will have the opportunity if Malta Guiness can produce its raw materials? Yet, the same mistake they made, you want to again. You will only make a small success before you realise the truth.

Yes, you may be getting it now and things may start getting better, but the reality will come upon you at the right time. And that time will be when your competitors followed your steps. And since you have refused to produce yours, that's when you crash. And then huge debt is there.

You may come around to say you have plans to produce and bla bla bla. Nope. Put on paper the minimum you need for your production and work towards it. Not just saying you are a farmer yourself and you teach farms. Nope, it wont work. You can teach all the farmers, and they can decide to sell to another person. Price dictates who they sell to.

While I applaud you for the progress so far, it is still dangerous to endorse you and your founder. This is the honest truth here. And he should think well before scaling up leasing more factories. Fine, it seems he knows his way around getting grants...let him focus on that if there is any one coming up again. But investment? Be careful. It may break you.

Way Out
Your founder is a farmer according to the the name of his company, tell him to work out producing the minimum tomatoes needed to survive and make reasonable profit himself, and then he can buy the rest from those farmers.

He should start a pilot. He knows he is going to fail forward. So, he needs to take it easy and learn it slowly. Going to rent 8 more factories should be a decision to reconsider. It might be a trap, and it might be eventually succesful. But how long will it be sustainable to pay off all the huge acquired debt.

This is not America or the UK you can apply for bankruptcy ooo. Your investors will chase you to the last end especially if they are individuals. They will come here to spoil your names.

There is no short cut
Ask succesful ones, there is no short cut. If you want to make it in Nigeria in Agro business, you must get involved in the lowest part of the value chain which is farming and get out the minimum production for your minimum profit. You do not have a business yet if you cannot do this. This is the secret Dangote Sugar is still in existence and it is the reason he is returning to the tomato paste gradually. Soon, he is going to be a champion and he will expand again. You cannot import raw tomatoes, and if possible, govt can ban importation anytime. So why take such huge risk?

I appreciate you
I want to start reading more models and solutions like this. This is quite impressive. Perhaps, you were first criticized initially because you didnt explain very well. In fact, there are still areas there you could have explained better.. but it's ok.. At least, it is commendable you succeeded where giants failed. This is great. But the giants are not sleeping sir. They are ready to chase you out if you slack.

Yes, enough of cutlasses and hoes templates. I am sick of people coming here to post their backyard gardens and then afterward ask for investments. And then, some other ones would start supporting them. For what? Cant they think like this founder? Yes, if this founder keeps it up, and takes to the area I have addressed above he will make it. And it will be nice to show case him to the world also like the TomatoJos lady. If he goes into real farming, ElRufai will support him even more than how he supported TomatoJos. Just imagine the grants he got here and there. To even get Tony Emelume grant is tough. It means the guy is not bad. I know many who have asked me to assit get that grant, but when I listened to their ideas, I just smiled inwardly.

Recommendation
If it seems OK to lease those 8 plants and quickly make a turn over without loss, it may be OK. But I am going to suggest you start at least 3 to 5 ha. You want to do something tractor and farm machines can do, and not what cutlasses and hoe can do. You will need to make choices now like to use mulch or not. If you use mulch, can you cover more, more and more hectares later even up to 100 and going to 1,000? So, you need to continue fine tuning it. It is not just about producing for dry or raning season....it is all round. To stake or not to stake. And many more. If you do not start now, you wont start after installing more factories. And you will hit the rock later. So, make this a priority NOW. Start today if possible. It is a long journey ahead. You arent producing now to take to your paste factory, but to learn. And if you get it right just one time, then congrats. But you still need both rainy and dry season techniques. If you and your founder ignore this advice, hmmmm...be ready to put the whole blame on yourselves when you are kicked out of the business in the nearest future.

Scale up farming raw tomatoes in the right proportion as you scale up your paste production which is directly proportional to the number and output of leased factories you operate.

Thanks for taking time to comment on the guys story and plans. I agree with some points that you have raised. What they have gone through captures the challenges many SMEs pass through. The founder had some technical knowledge and he decided to create a product using his technical knowledge, but then there are legal and commercial knowledge also required in setting up and running a successful business, these are areas you are highlighting as possible future pitfalls.

But a small entrepreneur has to start with the knowledge tht he has, he can not pay for expert lawyers to draft solid lease agreements neither can he pay economists to help him plan a reliable supply chain for his raw materials.

Where I disagree with you is in asking him to go into tomato farming. He does not need to farm tomatoes. He has identified a niche in the tomato value chain that he can operate in and make a profit, and it is possible to be successful buying raw tomatoes and processing it for profit.

Going into tomato farming introduces additional failure risks. He can concentrate on processing tomatoes, we already have millions of small holder tomato farmers whose cost of production are very low, why compete with them when he can buy from them?

Emmatheo:
Hello! Please a brother really need your advice, I'm a young man that want to go into farming but I'm really not sure which of pepper or tomatoes farming I should go into,I've gotten a piece of land,thanks .

From your writeup, it seems like you are new to farming.

Farming is a business, and lack of adequate training before venturing into a business is recipe for business failure and losing your money.

Pepper is more hardy than tomatoes in terms of disease resistance, as a novice I will advice you to go for pepper when compared to tomatoes.

But it will be better for you to grow what the locals in the area are growing. That will be your best bet of getting a successful farm as you will be following a known path and not experimenting, unless you have undergone specific training or research that will help you succeed in growing plants that are not native to your area.

GBagro:
1,200 seed yams will be enough for 1 hectare of land. Yam planting season is between now and March

1200 looks to be on the low side.

What spacing are you calculating with?

I was planning of using 1m by 1m spacing and that will give a plant population of 10,000 plants per hectare.

What is the cost for each seed yam?

What will it cost to buy enough seed yams to cultivate one hectare of land?

I want to try yam farming next farming season.

Teechawa:
10 reasons Why Cashew nuts are so Expensive

Cashews are one of the world's most delicious nuts, but did you know they're also one of the most expensive? It should come as no surprise that eating roasted, salted, or plain cashews is pure bliss, but what makes this rich, crunchy, silky nut so expensive? The factors influencing cashew nut price have created a situation in which cashews sell at a premium.
1. Extraction Is Difficult And Risky
Cashew nuts are popular for their flavor and texture, but the extraction process is so difficult and dangerous that touching them with bare hands can be dangerous. Cashews are typically grown in tropical areas such as Nigeria, Ghana, India, Vietnam, the Ivory Coast, and Sri Lanka.
The shell that surrounds cashew seeds contains toxic oils known as Anacardic acid. The pepper-like shells are extracted by hand, making the extraction process even more difficult. Poison ivy is a common source of anacardic acid.
The cashew tree is related to poison ivy, which is why the secretion from cashew shell is poisonous, and cashew plants, like poison ivy, contain a compound called Urushiol. This compound can be found in the brown oil contained within the cashew shell. It is so dangerous that it can cause blisters, burns, and allergic reactions. This is why eating raw cashews can be dangerous and even fatal in some cases. Cashews must be properly processed before they can be eaten, but the majority of the extraction and processing is done by hand, making this a difficult task!
2. Cashews are a foreign import in most countries.
Cashew trees can only grow in tropical climates, which means they are not suitable for the vast majority of the world's countries. Countries that do not have tropical climates must import cashews from tropical countries that have become major cashew exporters: Vietnam, India, Ivory Coast, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Tanzania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Brazil. To complicate matters further, it takes two to three months for a cashew fruit to produce a cashew seed or cashew nuts suitable for human consumption. As a result, cashews are becoming increasingly scarce in a world that craves them.
3. Cashew Processing Is Dangerous
The cashew seed is encased in a shell that contains toxic oils such as anacardic acid. This is the same acid that can be found in poison ivy. The oils in the shell irritate the skin of the workers who process the seeds. Roasting the cashew nuts to destroy the toxins is also risky because the toxins are released into the air. Following the removal of the toxins, the cashews must be graded and sorted. The entire process is time-consuming and dangerous, which explains why cashews are so expensive.
Beyond the Nut ensures that each worker has the necessary protective equipment to process the cashews safely and efficiently. Furthermore, repeated exposure to cashew shell oil will deteriorate the protective equipment, which must be replaced to ensure the workers' safety. Other countries and companies reduce or ignore worker safety equipment, incurring a high cost in terms of workers and their quality of life.
4. Supply and demand have an impact on prices.
Cashew processing companies have consistently reported a poor crop season, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of cashews available. Complicating matters was the fact that cashew demand continued to rise year after year. Cashew nut prices rose as a result of the combination of low supply and high demand. This trend may cause additional complications in the coming years, when cashews are expected to account for 37.8 percent of the global nut market.
5. Their nutritive worth
The nutritional value of cashews is one of the reasons they are so popular around the world. Several studies have praised cashews for their benefits, which include lowering bad cholesterol, boosting the immune system, and fortifying muscles and nerves. Cashews are a popular snack even during times of surplus due to their health benefits.

6. The prices of middlemen and market women are added together.
From the producer (owner of the orchard) to the consumer, the product changes hands, and the price rises with each step until the final product reaches the consumer.

7. Low end-product yield
The cashew kernel weighs only 25% of the raw nut weight. As a result, 75 percent is wasted in the process of making it edible. As a result, it necessitates a large amount of raw material. This raises the price.
8. Extensive demand
Cashew is a high-quality nut. Because supply is limited and demand is high, prices are high.
9. In general, all dry fruits are expensive.
The input to output ratio of cashew is 4:1. Furthermore, raw cashew nut is expensive from the farm gate, making cashew kernel expensive.
10. It is not grown in every country like peanuts.
Cashew is grown in only a few countries. Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya are examples of such countries. Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia are among the countries represented. As a result, its production is also limited. Any disruption in production in these countries will have an impact on the price of the product in the global market.

https://thenewkokoro.com/2021/12/25/10-reasons-why-cashew-nuts-are-so-expensive/

I have 100 acres of cashew plantation I want to sell. I can sell 50 acres out of it and keep the remaining 50 acres

The trees are 3 years old

They should ask him why he is weeping. Might be the man did remit a large sum of money before he died,

This is a lie. North is safe.

Nigeria has been producing vaccines for decades.

iamGholdaniel:
It wasn’t easy, I never wanted to study agriculture.
But I had no other choice than to study it.

With time I got used to the system, I fell in love with Agric.
I learnt some many things, both in practical and theoretical aspect.

Agric should never be underestimated, it is a nice course I confirmed it... imagine offering basic mathematics, Econometrics, Statistics and other mathematical related courses!!


But thank God I Ogah Nkem daniel made it, and this is the end of an ERA in Ebonyi state university

Cc: Olawalebabs fynestboi

Congrats

Op is funny, buy egg and keep as investment.

Eggs tht will be rotten in no time

htdot:
Only send your kid abroad when you received in dollar... We can't waste our dollar on foreign soil.

Clap for yourself. You think you have made sense