sadique14:
Pls l need a breakdown on how to go about rearing 500 layers,excluding land.
All expenses from getting the young ones,housing them and feeding.
sadiqnaj14@gmail. com

days old or what?
and how many days?

Poultry is a very viable and lucrative business. It can be a risky business suddenly, especially when you are not concerned about poultry feed management. Poultry birds require energy. In order to obtain desire growth rate, you must have to purchase and provide highly nutritious poultry feed. It is an established business, so all types of necessary facilities are available.



There are so many questions people ask on how to start a small scalepoultry farm business. If you are wondering how? then you are not alone. This article would give you an insight on howto start the business and how you can grow it successfully.

What are the steps To Take When Starting A Small Scale Poultry Farming in Nigeria?

Select Your Poultry Niche

Poultry industry is a very broad niche with different aspects. Below are niches in the poultry business;

Egg productions (Layers breeding)
Meat production (Broilers breeding)
Chicken breeding (Hatchery)
Poultry feed production
Poultry equipment and manufacturing
Egg and meat processing, packaging and marketing
Poultry farming and consultancy
This is to tell youpoultry farming has a very broad branch. Therefore, you have to choose your area of specialization. Of course, if you have the money and the technical know how of the business you can do all, but it is better to find out which aspect is more profitable in your area in terms of demand and income.

Capital Requirement

A small scale poultry that is set up on a piece of land behind your house may require a capital of
$500-$1,500 to start with.

Farm Location

The major thing to acquire before starting a poultry farm is a suitable piece of land. Generally, a plot of 120*60 square meters is suitable for a medium sized poultry farm. The size of land depend on the number of birds you want to raise and the farming system. Acquire the land from far towns and big cities.Its advisable to buy a land in the rural area. Because lands and labor are highly available in cheaper rate. Select a fresh environment and pollution free area.

READ MORE @

http://agrobase.com.ng/how-to-start-small-scale-poultry-farming-in-nigeria/

Catfish fingerlings production starts with selecting females brood stock fish. Ideally, brood stock ponder between 500-1ooog, with larger fish being difficult to deal with and often resulting in egg losses ahead of stripping, but its advisable to make use of large fishes if someone can help in handling. In general, mature females are selected as outlined by this criteria.



In African Catfish Hatchery, catfish fry come out from eggs under an artificial condition in commercial numbers. These fry grow into fingerlings and they later become juveniles.

The past practice of capturing African catfish fingerlings or juveniles from the wild often encouraged disease infestedstocks and the supplies of the fingerlings in large numbers from the wild are not always consistent.

This practice has never beencommercially reasonable since theman hours expended in capturing the fishes are not commensurate with the fishes caught.

The African catfish breeding season inthe wild usually commences with theadvent of the rains. The coming ofthe rains in tropical Africa is mainly characterized with extreme temperature fluctuations. These fluctuations could prevent high survival of the African catfish fry.

In addition to these limiting factors for securing viable and good catfish seeds, African catfish fingerlings caught from the wild could have in one way or the other experienced stunted growth due to lack of readily available good food.

Runoff water from rainfall at times introduces polluted water into streams and rivers that house these fry and fingerlings.

The African Catfish Hatchery therefore became pertinent to strategically address these shortcomings in the African catfish seed procurement.

Fry need consistent good food provided in sufficient quantities at regular intervals for smooth transitional growth.

Water quality is equally important.

Pollution of water in the wild at certain instances cannot be easily prevented.

READ MORE @ http://agrobase.com.ng/hatching-catfish-nigeria-kenya-south-africa/

Emempaul:
But there is a simple challenge no water(and i mean alot) no ewedu. Take it from an experience hand

There is a way of doing it my brother..... all you need is Orientation from Professionals

yomie040:


It is still impossible to harvest pineapple between 9-10 months. You don't seems to have practical knowledge of what Pineapple farming entails my dear friend. It is absolutely hovious you are doing copy and paste.

THANKS my dear Brother, you don't teach me what i know. if u don't know anything, is better u dont comment dan posting wat u dont know

am so sorry guyz, i gave this account to one of my admin, so he's the one that ans the question . HERE IS THE MAIN ADMIN OF AGROBASE

ANSWER TO THE QUESTION
Pineapple takes 9-10 months before Harvesting and it regenerate for 7 years....

for more enquiries u can visit www.agrobase.com.ng

it takes 6 months

So, how exactly can anyone who wish to start poultry farming in Nigeria be able to go about it and come out very profitable? This article will cover a lot of ground, and it is written based on personal experience and continually updated to make sure the information here is as accurate as possible at all time.

Poultry Farming in Nigeria is probably one of the most lucrative farming business you can do in Nigeria especially when it is setup and managed properly. The farmers we currently have are not producing enough poultry and will not be enough even in the next ten years! This aspect of livestock farming presents one of the finest opportunity for entrepreneurs to make good money within the shortest period of time possible. This is made possible due to the quick maturity of chickens.

With over 160 Million consumers in the country who buys poultry products on daily basis, the market is always here waiting to be tapped. The demand for eggs is so high that people go about everyday looking for where to buy eggs for supply.

This very post will take more critical look at the business and how entrepreneurs who are interested in this business in Nigeria could start easily without wasting much time and resources.

Anyone can engage in poultry business, it doesn’t matter your educational or financial background, you can start at any level and grow as big as you want with time. The most important thing is that you are interested in starting somewhere.

http://agrobase.com.ng/start-lucrative-poultry-farming-nigeria/

[quote author=Dadanoah post=48929241][/quote]

i dont understand u boss

Cassava does very well in most parts of West Africa like Ghana, Senegal, Benin Republic, Nigeria, Cameroon. The Brazilians are also know for cassava farming and production which they use for Tapioca.

The industrial processing of cassava in Nigeria holds much potential for successful investment. The crop is increasingly attracting attention of serious business people and processing businesses are slowly starting to spring-up all over the country. You also know how useful cassava is to Nigerians in general in terms of consumption. Cassava forms the major part of our daily foods. Almost no family can survive a whole year without cassava related foods.

It is unfortunate to see how many people who go to bed hungry every night, suffering of starvation and malnutrition. How we constantly complain of lack of good paying jobs, and no money to spend and take care of our immediate needs. How many sell themselves into slavery in the hands of Chinese and Lebanese merchants right in their own country all in the name of working in a factory. While in reality, we are sitting on a cash goldmine known as cassava farming and production!

As a smart person, you should be thinking about how to take advantage of the government support for agriculture and the increased budget to make wealth for yourself because cassava production surely provides opportunity for investors. If you are ready, here are what you need to start your own cassava farming.

http://agrobase.com.ng/start-cassava-farming-technics/

GROWTH OF SNAIL

Within the same snail population and under the same condition, some snail will grow faster than others. Some will take twice as long as to mature. This may help the specie survive bad weather etc. in the wild. Most of the differences are probably due to environmental factors. However, to whatever as well breed large, fast growing snails instead of snail slower ones.
FACTOR AFFECTING GROWTH OF SNAIL

Snails will grow when provided with proper environmental and nutritional conditions. The following factors affect growth of snails;

STRESS: sudden noise, vibration, excessive light and excessive touching of snails are stressors that prevents Normal growth of snail
POPULATION DENSITY: Keeping too many of snails per floor space, results in cannibalism, reduced growth and expected turn over.
FEEDING: Snails can thrive on fruits, vegetables, and compounded ration, but to get the desired growth the snail needs to place on supplement to boost growth of the snail
READ MORE @ http://agrobase.com.ng/factor-affecting-growth-of-snail/

SOIL PREPARATION
The land must not be waterlogged but well drained. During land preparation, the existing fallow weeds, trees and shrubs in the site are cut down manually, or slashed with a tractor and fallen trees should be removed. This should be followed by plowing and harrowing, using a disc plough and harrow. Some 4 to 6 days between each operation should be allowed to enhance good soil tilth for good seed germination. The land may be ridged or left as flat seedbeds after harrowing.

FIELD LAYOUT AND DESIGN
Both inter-row and intra-row spacing will be determined by the type of variety and growing pattern. More space between plant and rows will be required with trailing types relative to the upright growing pattern. Generally for grain production, a plant population of 200 000 to 300 000/ha at 30 to 50 cm inter-row spacing is preferred to wider rows (70 to 100 cm), which could be suitable to the trailing types.
PLANTING
For optimum yield, cowpeas should be planted late November to early December in lower rainfall areas of South Africa. The seed should be planted at 3 to 4 cm deep. The early-sown crops tend to have elongated internodes, are less erect, more vegetative and lower yielding than those sown at the optimum time. Date of planting manipulation is utilised by farmers for various reasons. The reasons include escape from periods of high pest load or to plant cowpea at such a time that harvesting of the crop would coincide with the period of dry weather.
Plot layout
The field is marked into blocks of known areas with alleyways between blocks to enhance movement of materials and agronomic operations.

Cowpea is a food and animal feed crop grown in the semi-arid tropics covering Africa, Asia, Europe, United States and Central and South America. It originated and was domesticated in Southern Africa and was later moved to East and West Africa and Asia.

The grains contain 25% protein, and several vitamins and minerals. The plant tolerates drought, performs well in a wide variety of soils, and being a legume replenishes low fertility soils when the roots are left to decay. It is grown mainly by small-scale farmers in developing regions where it is often cultivated with other crops as it tolerates shade. It also grows and covers the ground quickly, preventing erosion.

The name “cowpea” probably derives from when it was an important livestock feed for cows in the United States.

FERTILISATION
Fertiliser application in cowpea production depends on anticipated yield and soil fertility. As a legume, cowpea fixes its own nitrogen, and does not need nitrogen fertiliser. Seed should be inoculated with the appropriate Rhizobium species for optimum nitrogen fixation, however nodules will generally form on cowpeas. Application of a phosphate fertiliser is usually beneficial. Cowpea can grow in a pH range of 5,6 to 6,5.
IRRIGATION
Cowpeas are usually grown under dryland rather than irrigated conditions.

WEED CONTROL
Annual grasses and some broadleaf weeds can be controlled by a presowing application of herbicide.
Row crop cultivation may be necessary with cowpeas, depending on the weed pressure, soil conditions, and rainfall. Preplant tillage can assist greatly in reducing early weed pressure, and the use of cover crops.
Striga gesnerioides and Alectra spp. are the principal parasitic weeds attacking cowpeas, particularly in the semiarid regions. The following three are the most common Striga species that are a pest to cowpea: S. hermonthica, S. asiatica and S. gesnerioides.
The pest status is complex because the forms of parasitic weeds that are found on one species cannot germinate on another host plant. Careful observations and records are therefore necessary to clarify which crops are parasitised by which species.

Importance
Cowpea’s high protein content, its adaptability to different types of soil and intercropping systems, its resistance to drought, and its ability to improve soil fertility and prevent erosion makes it an important economic crop in many developing regions. The sale of the stems and leaves as animal feed during the dry season also provides a vital income for farmers.

Production
More than 5.4 million tons of dried cowpeas are produced worldwide, with Africa producing nearly 5.2 million. Nigeria, the largest producer and consumer, accounts for 61% of production in Africa and 58% worldwide. Africa exports and imports negligible amounts.


Harvesting
More than 11 million hectares are harvested worldwide, 97% of which is in Africa. Nigeria harvests 4.5 million hectares annually. The crop can be harvested in three stages: while the pods are young and green, mature and green, and dry.

http://agrobase.com.ng/plantation-of-cowpea/

yes bros

There are so many information on the internet on how to start fish farming especially catfish farming but few are detailed enough to really assist aspiring fish farmer to get started. I will be endeavor to make this article as detailed as possible and hope that other experienced fish farmer will add to it as we try to answer people’s questions through commenting.

One of the most popular farming in Nigeria is fish farming and for good reasons. Gone are the days when the only means of getting fish is by catching it in the local rivers and ponds through trial and errors. Today, the modern farm practice has made it possible to grow fish in the farms and control the input.

If you are thinking of business to start now, I recommend Catfish Farming for you. If you are an existing farmer and you are looking for expanding your farm capacity, I’d encourage you add fish farming to your farm. Fish farming (especially catfish) is most compatible with poultry farming as you can use the poultry drops to make the feeds for your fish.

Benefits Of Fish Farming

1. Fishery products is by far the most popular animal products in the market, constituting more than 60% of meat products in the Nigerian market alone.

2. Fish is one of the highest source of protein. Fish is a low-fat high quality protein that is filled with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins such as D and B2 (riboflavin). Fish is also very rich in calcium and phosphorus and is equally a great source of minerals, such as iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, and potassium.

3. Fish sells faster than any other animal products in the market and is relatively cheaper than meats, making it the number one choice when it comes to affordability.

4. Fish grows very fast as practices in fish farming makes it possible for farmers to increase the fastness of their fish growth by giving them certain feeds, ensuring that you harvest and sell within short period of time.

5. Fish is the biggest source of Omega-3 fatty acids which is extremely beneficial to human heart; Omega-3 helps to keep our heart and brain very healthy. Since bodies don’t produce Omega-3 fatty acids, the only source through which we can get it is by what we eat, that is where fish comes to the rescue.

READ MORE @ http://agrobase.com.ng/start-fish-farming-nigeria/

Pineapple farming in Nigeria is another sure money maker. Thousands of fruit juices are made with pineapple and the makers of fruit juice are always on the look out for pineapple farm where they could buy their raw material. Go to mile 12 market or any market near you or even the fruit sellers near you and try to price pineapple. Then you will realize that pineapple is edible gold.


One head of pineapple is sold for N200 in the local market while the same head of pineapple goes for N300+ in the fruit shops. For wholesale farmers, they sell for N70 – N100. Lets assume you harvested 200,000 pineapple and decided to sell for just N50 for wholesale, you will make a whooping N20 million. Takeaway N8 million as cost of production, labour, and transportation, you will have N12 million as pure profit. And once they starts producing, they can fruit for the next 10 years if well maintained.

You can now Reason with me? If you are thinking of a profitable farming business to start in the country, then think no more, pineapple is the current money spinner. This sweet fruit also known as “ANANAS COSMOSUS” is as sweet as the profit it can generate.

Pineapple has the largest appeal and is known for its nutritional and health values all over the world. How the fruit got to Nigeria may not really be our main concern in this article but the business aspects of planting and how lucrative it is. Nigerian soil and weather are extremely good for pineapple farming too.

ALSO READ: Plantation of Apple

Procedure for Pineapple Cultivation In Nigeria

Site Selection –Firstly, making a good selection of the site to have pineapple planted is usually the paramount thing to do. The site has to be checked for the soil textures because pineapple thrives very well on sandy soil with lots of nutrients, good water retention, coupled with the humid conditions of the chosen field for planting.

Land Preparation– Land Preparation should be the next thing to do,cleared of stumps and thereafter prepare the land by ploughing or making some raised beds for the planting. Bear in mind also that the crop requires a place where the rainfall is evenly distributed during the early periods of planting; and this is very important to get good yields and sweet produce at the same time.

While preparing the ground for planting, be on the look out for some possible insects attackers but which is usually handled by overturning the soil and exposing it to sunlight. You can do it manually or mechanically with a tractor to plough and ridge the place because it is not the best to plant on a flat ground because of easy penetrations in the ground.

http://agrobase.com.ng/how-to-start-lucrative-pineapple-farming/

The season for Rice Farming is here again, the rain has started in major parts of the country where there are suitable soil for Rice Farming. If you live within areas that has plenty of swampy lands, then you are in for good business this season. I have seen plenty of swamp even in Lagos that I think will be very good for rice production. Why not try it? Investments is about taking chances and grabbing opportunity, and rice farming is one of the viable investment any serious investor must not look down on, going by the potential for productivity and profits.

One of the very good thing about rice farming is that it take less that four months between planting and harvesting. Therefore, whatever amount you invested now, you’re sure of your return within the next four months, guaranteeing the possibility for quick loan repayments if you take loan to invest in rice farming.
Who Is Best? See All Area Here!
We will show you the best websites related to Area.
As part of the government’s efforts to ensure adequate food supply to her citizens, Rice farming is also one of those farm investments government is willing to support by borrowing money and logistics to any farmer who is willing to embark on it, which is a very great advantage for a would be Rice Farmer.

http://agrobase.com.ng/start-rice-farming-business-nigeria/

Ewedu farming can actually put real money in your hands. There are so many opportunities surrounding us more than we ever think exists. White collar jobs seems to be the norm in our society today to the extent that even house wives that know what it cost both to purchase and prepare their family meals, overlook this money making opportunity in Ewedu vegetable farming and go on pursuing jobs elsewhere.

As part of making things easier for ourselves or even out-rightly starting a somewhat lucrative business that would in time become bigger than most of the tantalizing white collar jobs, it is important we try this. One acre of Ewedu (Jute leaf) can give you N500,000 in pure profit.
Practical Approach To Ewedu Farming In Nigeria

I for one used to ignore the business due to how most people handle it; by projecting it as if it’s something meant for the hopeless and poor ones to do. However, the brief discussions I had with an Ewedu dealer changed it completely.


http://agrobase.com.ng/ewedu-farming-in-nigeria-is-very-profitable-and-lucrative/

Snails can have a long life.
The life span for snails depends on their habitat and the species. Some of them only live for about 5 years. However, others in the wild are believed to be up to 25 years old in unusual occasions.

While moving, snails they leave behind a trail of mucus. This mucus acts as a powerful lubricant to reduce friction against the surface. This is why they are able to move upside down, around corners, and other situations.

Garden snails (helix apersa) a top speed of 50 yards per hour, this is about 1.3 cm. per second. While they don’t move fast, they do move at a very steady pace. The snails are one of the slowest creatures on the entire Earth.

Snails are Hermaphrodites.
Snails have the reproductive organs of both, males and females, which categorize them as hermaphrodites. However, they cannot create offspring on their own. They must mate with another and then both of them will have the ability to lay

Snail shell is made of calcium carbonate and keeps growing as long as the snail grows. They keep adding more calcium carbonate to the edge of the shell until the snail reaches adult size.

http://agrobase.com.ng/snail-farming-in-nigeria-made-easy/

Cocoa farming presents one of the best business opportunity in Agribusiness. The demand for cocoa seeds worldwide is extremely high and the price in international market is quite encouraging to farmers. You already know what cocoa is used for. There will be no chocolate on the shelf without the cocoa seeds. Confectionery and Beverage making companies will go out of business if cocoa farmers stops farming.

You plant cocoa trees once and harvest it throughout your lifetime and still pass it to the generation next! Cocoa beans is one of the hottest agricultural product in the market anywhere in the world. If you have ever been to cocoa farm, you would realize how beautiful cocoa farm can be, probably one of the best place to get closer to nature.
Who Is Best? See All Agribusiness Here!
We will show you the best websites related to Agribusiness.

http://agrobase.com.ng/snail-farming-in-nigeria-made-easy/

Setting Up Cocoa Farm

Locate a large expanse of forest land with the appropriate climate and suitable rainfalls. Cocoa seedling is very sensitive and can die off quickly if not handled properly. Under the forest canopy is the ideal place to plant cocoa. The land you intend to use for your cocoa farming must be covered by rain forest canopy. The trees need even temperatures between 21-23 degrees Celsius, with a fairly constant rainfall of 1000-2500mm per year.

Get good and improved cocoa variety from reliable source. International Institute for Tropical Agriculture will be a good place to get the cocoa variety with some advice. Or if you want to take the gamble, you just get the cocoa seeds directly from cocoa farm from an experienced cocoa farmers.

Clear the forest and plant the cocoa seeds at the beginning of raining season. Best period for planting cocoa is around April May when the raining reason is just picking up.

http://agrobase.com.ng/start-cocoa-farming-nigeria/

I will like to write more on Farming this month since we are in the season of planting, let’s see how we could take advantage of this period to make money through farming. And Hybrid maize cultivation presents viable opportunity for would be maize Farmer to make money in Nigeria this season.

Maize, also known as Corn is one of the most useful cereal crop in West Africa, foods made out of maize is very nutritious as It is an important source of carbohydrate, protein, iron, vitamin B, and minerals, and is known to digest very quickly. Most Africans tend to consume maize mainly as a starchy base in a wide variety of porridge, pastes, grits, and beer. The Green freshly harvested maize cob is eaten either roasted or boiled.

In many Western countries like the USA, maize is used mainly for industrial products processing and for manufacturing of animal feeds or as straight Livestock feeds. Whichever way it is used, maize is the most important cereal crop in Africa with rice and wheat which make up the three most important cereal crops in the world.

Corn-Maize
Maize is very simple to cultivate, easy to maintain, far less delicate that Rice, and take less capital too. Like rice, maize matures very fast, within 2-5 months of planting the crop is ready for harvest, depending on which stage you want to harvest your crop.

Maize grows in a wider range of soil type than rice, almost every part of Nigeria can grow maize on their soil. With the use of Hybrid Maize and mechanized system of farming, yield of maize can reach up to 10.2 tonnes per hectare, with traditional African type of cultivation, production is 2.1 tonnes per hectare which isn’t too bad anyway.

Here are simple things you need to put in place to cultivate, harvest, and sell maize in your area this season; and if possible, cultivate and sell in large quantity to make more money.

1. Get Spacious Land –

Like I said before, maize can be grown in all lands in Nigeria but it performs better in a well drained fertile loamy soil. Look for land that is predominantly loam, if you can lay your hands on forest land, that will be very good because I’ve personally seen corn perform far better without fertilizer on forest lands. The reason may be due to the decomposed leaves from the forest trees.

http://agrobase.com.ng/how-to-cultivate-maize-in-nigeria/

How to Cultivate Maize in Nigeria

I will like to write more on Farming this month since we are in the season of planting, let’s see how we could take advantage of this period to make money through farming. And Hybrid maize cultivation presents viable opportunity for would be maize Farmer to make money in Nigeria this season.

Maize, also known as Corn is one of the most useful cereal crop in West Africa, foods made out of maize is very nutritious as It is an important source of carbohydrate, protein, iron, vitamin B, and minerals, and is known to digest very quickly. Most Africans tend to consume maize mainly as a starchy base in a wide variety of porridge, pastes, grits, and beer. The Green freshly harvested maize cob is eaten either roasted or boiled.

In many Western countries like the USA, maize is used mainly for industrial products processing and for manufacturing of animal feeds or as straight Livestock feeds. Whichever way it is used, maize is the most important cereal crop in Africa with rice and wheat which make up the three most important cereal crops in the world.

Corn-Maize
Maize is very simple to cultivate, easy to maintain, far less delicate that Rice, and take less capital too. Like rice, maize matures very fast, within 2-5 months of planting the crop is ready for harvest, depending on which stage you want to harvest your crop.

Maize grows in a wider range of soil type than rice, almost every part of Nigeria can grow maize on their soil. With the use of Hybrid Maize and mechanized system of farming, yield of maize can reach up to 10.2 tonnes per hectare, with traditional African type of cultivation, production is 2.1 tonnes per hectare which isn’t too bad anyway.

http://agrobase.com.ng/how-to-cultivate-maize-in-nigeria/

Are you interested in starting a watermelon farm successfully? Do you need a sample watermelon farming business plan template? If YES, then i advice you read on.

Watermelon is among the best fruits recommended for people that wish to loose weight; and with the high rate of overweight or obesity related issues, and other numerous health benefits watermelon offers to the body, the demand for watermelon has sky rocked over the years.

Starting a watermelon farming business can yield massive profits as you can cultivate and harvest three batches of watermelon fruits in a year. For this article, I will discuss why you should invest in watermelon farming, and how you can start your own watermelon farm in no time.

http://agrobase.com.ng/how-to-start-a-lucrative-watermelon-farming-in-nigeria/

How to Start a lucrative watermelon Farming in Nigeria

Watermelon is among the best fruits recommended for people that wish to loose weight; and with the high rate of overweight or obesity related issues, and other numerous health benefits watermelon offers to the body, the demand for watermelon has sky rocked over the years.

Starting a watermelon farming business can yield massive profits as you can cultivate and harvest three batches of watermelon fruits in a year. For this article, I will discuss why you should invest in watermelon farming, and how you can start your own watermelon farm in no time.

http://agrobase.com.ng/how-to-start-a-lucrative-watermelon-farming-in-nigeria/

Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) can be grown on almost any moderately well-drained soil type. A good supply of organic matter can increase yield and reduce production problems. Tomatoes and related vegetables, such as potatoes, peppers and eggplants, should not be planted on the same land more than once in three years. Ideally, any cover crop or crop preceding tomatoes should be members of the grass family. Corn, an excellent rotation crop with tomatoes, supplies large amounts of organic matter and does not promote the growth of disease organisms that attack tomatoes. Certified seeds and plants are recommended and should be used whenever possible.

http://agrobase.com.ng/pests-disease-of-tomatoes/

Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) can be grown on almost any moderately well-drained soil type. A good supply of organic matter can increase yield and reduce production problems. Tomatoes and related vegetables, such as potatoes, peppers and eggplants, should not be planted on the same land more than once in three years. Ideally, any cover crop or crop preceding tomatoes should be members of the grass family. Corn, an excellent rotation crop with tomatoes, supplies large amounts of organic matter and does not promote the growth of disease organisms that attack tomatoes. Certified seeds and plants are recommended and should be used whenever possible................
http://agrobase.com.ng/pests-disease-of-tomatoes/

Yam is considered the most important food staple in West Africa where 70% of the total yams produced worldwide comes from. Every year, festivals and rituals are carried out in different parts of the region to mark the arrival of the new yam. Apart from these festivals and rituals, there is huge profit in yam farming business as discussed in the previous article here. Five hundred by five hundred meters size of farmland could yield you 50,000 tubers of yam which is valued at N10 million ($50,000) at one dollars per yam.

This is a golden opportunity for any serious farmer who would like to take advantage of this season to cultivate yam in large quantity. Apart from selling locally, yam can be exported to the United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Germany, and even Japan. While Nigeria is the major producer of yam in the world followed by Ivory Coast, Ghana is in the other hand the major exporter of yams, accounting for over 90% of total yams exported from West Africa annually......... read more @ http://agrobase.com.ng/start-yam-farming-nigeria/

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.

if you really want to start a rice farm in Nigeria 2016, visit http://agrobase.com.ng/start-rice-farming-business-nigeria/

How to start a fish farming business in Nigeria,as you know, fish farming is a very lucrative business in Nigeria since the economy is dwindling down with the foreign exchange rate soaring high with each passing day and the drastic fall of the stock exchange market.

Many Nigerians are already considering other alternatives, so as to diversify their source of income and what better way to do that if not investing in fish farming. why do i think fish farming is a good investment? the answer to that is not far fetched at all mainly because fish is a daily consumable meal that is consumed on a daily basis my million of Nigerians.

before i go further in rendering a more in depth look on how to start a fish farming business, i would like to take your minds back to the genesis of it all. In the olden days, fishes were gotten from lakes and rivers as long as you know how to throw in a bait with a hook in a strategic positions, your daily meal is certain to find its way to you

Bur today fish farming business has become a commercialised venture and with the large influx of investment being floundered daily, one can only see the potential and benefits of the fish farming business

[center]BENEFITS OF FISH FARMING[/center]

1. Products of Fishery is by far the most popular animal product in the Nigerian market. The average Nigerian and by average, i mean most Nigerians find it relatively easy to purchase fish compared to meat which makes it the number one choice for most Nigerians due to its affordability as a result of the different breeds and species available.

2. Fish is a very good source of protein. It has very low fat and is filled with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins such as vitamin D and B2 (riboflavin). Fish is also very rich in calcium and phosphorus and is equally a great source of zinc, potassium,iodine, and magnesium. Omega-3 fatty acids is extremely beneficial to the human heart, it helps keep our heart and brain in perfect condition. Since the body does not produce Omega-3 fatty acids, the only source through which we obtain them is from our diet i.e. fish.

3. Fish grows really fast compared to other livestock or poultry farming. They grow at an increasingly rapid rate which makes it easy for farmers to deliver them to the market as at when due hence making profit in return. the rate at which they multiply is also overwhelming, so it takes little capita;l to invest in fishes asides the infrastructure and facilities needed to maintain and sustain them.

4. Fish farming is very profitable. With proper planning, management and a good investment, you could turn N1 million venture to N5 million enterprise in about 3 years ( this is based on my own assumption and my sense of urgency). The cost of setting up and managing the fish farm though will primarily depend on the size of your pond, because having a big pond will mean more fishes, more feed to buy, bigger water reservoir, and of course bigger profit margin.

5. Fish farms do not cause any environmental hazards. Unlike poultry farming, you can set-up fish farms anywhere, including residential areas. If you have a large compound, you can easily set-up a small pond in one corner of the compound or at the back of your building.

6. Fish farming (especially catfish) go very well with poultry farming as you can use the poultry drops to make feeds for the fish.

how to start a fish farming business in Nigeria

[center]CHALLENGES OF FISH FARMING[/center]

1. Farmers in other livestock farming such as poultry and cattle rearing make extra income from the sale of byproducts such as (chicken eggs, cow dung) There are no byproducts in fish farming and this is seen as a major disadvantage by most farmers and investors.

2. Fishes are tender which makes them sensitive to even the slightest mistake which could result in their decline in growth or death.

3. Setting up fish farm is capital intensive, it is more expensive than building a poultry or snail farm. Building a fish pond requires meticulous planning and a good capital. A relatively small fish pond may require about N300,000 to setup, which of course is primarily attributed to the cost of constructing the pond and cost of labour. But if you can do all the construction work yourself, you may save a huge chunk of that. The capital though is nothing compared to the revenue, so long as you have clients to sell the fishes to.

4. Because of cost of production, fish grown from artificial ponds are usually more expensive than fish caught by fishermen from natural rivers. Therefore, if there are a lot of fishermen supplying fish to local markets, it will only make the competition stiffer. so for a farmer to have an edge over fishermen who catch fishes and offer them for sale at a cheaper price he needs to improvise and thread tactfully.

if you are interested in knowing how to start a fish farming business, read the full article here www.dipsentrepreneurship.com/start-fish-farming-business-nigeria-2016/