Food, Clothing and Shelter has always being the basic need humans need for survival and these needs are catered for from the Agricultural Industry. Due to the continuous demand for these needs, unlimited investment opportunities are available to anyone willing to invest in agriculture.
To start an Agriculture business you don’t really need be a professional in the field or have millions of naira or even a certain amount of years of experience. The major things you have to do are:
Conduct a market Research and study your potential customers. This will help in determine what is needed in the local environment and how best to get your products to the readily available customers waiting for you.
Starting small and developing into a big venture has always been the best way to start any agricultural enterprise. This aids in understanding what your customers need and how to effectively get it to them
Agriculture is not a means to become rich overnight but long term business venture and it has to be treated as one.
Research about what you intend doing. The internet has really been a major research tool just search on search engines like Google, Bing etc. and you will get any information you need to know relating to your interest.
Different agricultural business you might consider going into as at 2018 include:
DAIRY PRODUCTION
This is the rearing of cows for the production of milk and other dairy products. These raw products from a dairy far are used by processing industries in the production of powdered milk, condensed milk, butter, cream, yoghurt, etc.
The most important thing to consider before venturing into dairy farming is breed. Other factors include cattle source, grazing, water supply and startup capital.POULTRY PRODUCTION
This is simply the breeding of different poultry birds such as chicken, turkey quail, etc. for mainly meat and egg. There are also demands for products like feathers, excreta, etc. Poultry birds mature within 4 to 6 months and with the ever growing demand for poultry meat and egg, this factor has made poultry farming an agricultural business with high turnover but also highly risky if not managed properly. Therefore to be successful poultry farm you have to first consider the following.
-Reason for rearing (meat or egg)
-Start small
-Knowledge about their growth, developmental stages, disease, treatment, prevention and feeding.
If on a large scale you could consider the services of a professional.VEGETABLE FARMING
Vegetables have always been an important ingredient in food preparation which has made its demand constantly increasing due to its high nutritional values.
Most people have overlooked planting them for business purposes but it can also be a good way to start practicing agriculture and actually making profit from it.
The major problem of vegetables is storage because they cannot spend up to a week after harvesting before they begin to rot. A ready market must be available before planting vegetables for business purposes.SELLING FRUIT
Selling of fruits is also a very cost effective way of making money in agriculture. All you have to do be a link between the farmer and retailer. You buy from the farmers at wholesale and sell to retailers in bits. It might be capital intensive due to problem of easy transportation from the farm to the market.
Storage is also a factor to consider because no buyer will be willing to buy rotten fruits.FIELD MACHINERY RENTAL
Not all agricultural business requires planting and harvesting so if you want a business in agriculture that doesn’t involve planting or breeding of farm animals, this is a good option to consider. The era of using crude implements for farm work is going extinct as mechanized farming is now adopted.
Due to the cost of buying these farm machineries, farms are willing to rent available ones from anyone who has them. This venture might be capital intensive but also a profitable form of agricultural business.
These are some of the wide opportunity in agriculture. Feel free to add more via the comments box.
Check out www.agritechblog.com for more posts.
Thanks for reading.