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Locally procressing of food crops and oil seed

Trying to be a good steward to the earth means minimizing your impact on the natural order of life. We do this in many ways, from driving a low emission car to choosing local foods at our supermarket. Another way to limit any negative influence on the earth is by gardening smart. Use safe, non-toxic herbicides, sustainable gardening practices and natural pesticides. Using castor oil in the garden can be part of good garden management without the potential side effects that commercial formulas may cause. Read on to learn more.

What is Castor Oil?


For many of us older gardeners, castor oil represents a childhood trial. Once upon a time, mothers gave their children castor oil to regulate digestive health. It was once thought to be good for the digestive system and spoonfuls of the foul stuff were force fed into unwilling children’s mouths. This foul tasting practice has gone out of fashion in favor of other better tasting and morje convenient over the counter remedies, but that doesn’t mean we need to retire the oil. There are many beneficial uses for castor oil, such as using the oil as a pesticide.
Castor oil for garden use may repel volesmoles and possibly other digging and tunneling animals, such as armadillos. Treating pests with castor oil is a natural, non-toxic way to repel these unwanted digging animals in your garden without hurting them or causing poisonous chemicals to build up in the garden and ground water. Additionally, using castor oil as pest control is non-toxic and safe around children and pets.
So where does castor oil come from? The castor bean plant, which is occasionally grown in gardens as an ornamental – BUT its beans are toxic and shouldn’t be grown where pets or small children are found. The oil itself, however, is safe and readily available through most retailers.

Castor Oil for Garden Use

Wild animals can pose a problem in the home garden. Mole hills pop up overnight, skunk  dig up prized plants in search of grubs, and squirrels unearth your bulbs and render them useless for the bloom season. One way to minimize the damage that naturally occurs when animals forage is to use castor oil as pest control.
It may sound silly but this out of fashion medicinal is a common part of natural commercial pesticides. How does castor oil repel animal pests? It seems the bitter taste and the unpleasant smell are the key. Just as children had to hold their noses to take the stuff back in the day, so too, our animal friends are sickened by the ripe odor and bitter taste.

Using Castor Oil in the Garden as a Pesticide

Castor oil won’t kill animal pests, but it will repel them. To harness the effect, you need to apply castor oil directly to the soil. The formula will work for a week or so even in the rainy season. Weekly applications are the most effective at controlling animal damage in the garden.
Use a hose end attachment and spray a mixture of 2 parts castor oil and 1 part dish soap. Mix the two items until they are foamy. This is the concentrated solution and needs to be used at a rate of 2 tablespoons per gallon of water. Apply evenly to the affected areas.
Treating pests with castor oil weekly will see fewer mole hills and dug up garden beds without any danger to your pets and children or the environment.


How to process Castor Oil from the Castor Beans
Watch the video here

                                 



List of 10 Agriculture Opportunities In Nigeria, Farming in Nigeria has taken a dramatic turn to a better direction in recent years, creating jobs and opportunities for entrepreneurs who dare to go into farming business. Millionaires are currently being made every year through farming in Nigeria and there is certainly no end to the prospects of creating more wealth through farming in the coming years.
Agriculture opportunities in Nigeria, There are good reasons why farming in Nigeria is doing very well. Understanding these reasons will help you (no matter where you come from) to think seriously about setting up farm in Nigeria.
1) There is no any other African country where Farming is as viable as it is in Nigeria in terms of productivity and profitability.
2) There is no other country where farmers are more advantaged as they are in Nigeria as regards demands for the produce. Take a look at my top five reasons why you must start Farming in Nigeria now.
Why Farming In Nigeria?
(1) Nigeria has a huge population of over 200 million people, twice more than the populations of Zimbabwe and South Africa combined. The entire population of Nigeria depends on staple foods produced from farms and other farm produces for their daily meals and sustenance. More than 80 percent of Nigerians buy their farm produce from the market.
(2) Nigeria has large expanses of fertile farmlands laying fallow across the nation. Nigerian land area when measured in sq km is about 910,770. The land area of any country is the country’s total area, excluding areas that are considered to be water bodies. So, Nigeria has one of the biggest expanse of Land in Africa of which 70 percent is available for farming.
(3) Nigerian Government is seriously turning its attention to promoting farming in Nigeria to help boost food productions in the country and minimize food importation. The government is willing to assist any would be farming entrepreneur/investors with the necessary supports and logistics.
(4) Nigerians boasts the highest purchasing power in Africa, far more than any other indigenous Africans. We buy things here and we pay cash. Talk about parties, Nigeria is the most merriment people on earth. The food used for parties and merriment in Nigeria can feed four other African countries. 
(5) By the time Nigeria attain its full capacity utilization is agriculture, farming will become great foreign currency earner more than the oil. The implication is that Nigerian farmers will be able to earn in Naira and in Dollars as well as other foreign currencies.

List of 10 Agriculture Opportunities In Nigeria

The prospect for farming in Nigeria is so high that only a fool will ignore it. Having said that, let’s take a closer look at some of the types of Farming that does very well in Nigeria.


                                                          
1. Rice Farming
Nigeria has one of the world’s highest Rice consumption stat. Rice is by far one of the most popular staple food among Nigerians. Almost every family eats rice daily in Nigeria. In 2011 alone, Nigeria spent N991billion on rice importation and the rice we import is said to be nothing less than 10 years old in storage. That means we spent billions buying rice that has since lost its nutritional values.
Any entrepreneur who goes into rice farming and get it right is sure to be smiling to the bank. A bag of rice is currently sold for N13,000 to N16,000 depending on the quality. A farmer who is able to invest in large scale rice production in Nigeria and able to produce 100,000 Bags of processed Rice in a year, sell at wholesale price of about N10,000 per bag, he will be making 10,000 x 100,000 = N1,000,000,000 ($3million)
You can achieve the above figures conveniently with less than five hundred and fifty million Naira ($1.5 Million) capital investment. I am currently looking for who to partner with in this. If you have the cash, I have the logistics and good planning to achieve this result. Serious investors only!

       

2. Cassava Farming

The popularity of cassava as the major source of food for Nigerians dates back to ages. Between Garri and Rice, it is hard to tell which one is the most popular food in Nigeria. Both are the most consumed food staples among the citizen. I think if one is the King the other should be the Queen.
READ MORE: NPS Harvests 400 Bags Of Rice From Plateau Farm
A bag of Garri costs almost the same as a bag of rice. Apart from garri, there are countless of other food stuffs that are processed from Cassava in Nigeria. The introduction of the high yield species of Cassava has made it possible for Nigerian cassava farmers to produce more cassava per plot. Nearly every land in Nigeria is good for growing Cassava and 1 Acre, when properly planted and managed can produce thousands of Naira worth of cassava in a year!

3. Plantain Plantation

One thing I like about Plantain is that when planted once, it keeps producing year in year out for eternity. Like Rice and Garri, Plantain is widely consumed in Nigeria. Any food that is popular in Nigeria is always a huge income earner due to the population of the country.
I really haven’t seen Farmers in Nigeria taking advantage of the opportunity in Plantain Farming to create wealth for themselves. Plantain is highly priced in Nigeria and is always in high demand all year round. Fry it, Boil it, Roast it — it will never get angry with you, that’s how liberal Plantain is. I can tell you, Millions of Naira is currently lying fallow untapped in this sector of Farming in Nigeria.

                                                              

4. Poultry Farming 

Everyone knows how profitable poultry farming is, it doesn’t need much introduction. Yet, it is still not fully tapped. What we currently have is few badly managed, scantily equipped poultry farms here and there. I’m yet to see a full fledged, high tech poultry farm except Obasanjo Farm.
Entrepreneur who is able to fire up serious investment into this sector will have huge profit to contend with. The reason is because Nigerians eat chicken more than snakes does and 70% of our consumption still based on importation. The egg is yet another goldmine!

5. Pineapple Farming

Money is sweet, everything sweet is money, and Pineapple is sweet. Ask any Australian Farmer and he will tell you how huge the income in Pineapple farming is in their country. Any juice maker that doesn’t have Pineapple flavor variety in his product line is not yet in business. That tells you how popular Pineapple is, not only in Nigeria but worldwide.
Nigeria seems to have better soil for Pineapple Farming than Australia where Farmers are making it big in the business. A Pineapple sells in Mile-12 market in Lagos for about N200. If you are able to harvest one million in a year, you will earn at least N80 x 1,000,000 = N80,000,000

6. Beans Farming

Another agriculture opportunities in Nigeria is beans farming, A bag of Beans cost twice more than a bag of Rice and Garri. The Northern Nigerians are making it big in Beans Farming, supplying almost all over Nigeria and beyond. But one thing is that, this same Beans also can do very well in the South East, South West, and South South Nigeria soils. So why only the North?

7. Catfish Farming

Catfish Business is really hyping in Nigeria right now but how many are really getting it right? Get it right and you’re in money. A single Catfish sells for N700 in Restaurants and about N400 in open market.

8. Goat Rearing

Goat rearing is another agriculture opportunities in Nigeria, Its only in the North that goat is reared in commercial quantity. I don’t know why we are so looking down on farm investment in the South even though there are millions to be made in this business. Why would you chose to sell used shoes in Oshodi and make few thousands of Naira every year when you could engage in productive farming business and make millions of Naira?
In The USA and Australia, Farmers are among the Richest people – Get involved in professional goat rearing and make money for yourself. A full grown goat sells for between N15,000 to N40,000

9. Snail Farming

I see Snail Farming really picking up in Nigeria very soon — but if you don’t hurry up, others will make all the money before you realize what you are missing. The potential in this business for you is about N50,000,000 Annual revenue.

10. Maize Farming

Maize farming is major agriculture opportunities in Nigeria, You will never know the profit in Maize Farming in Nigeria until you try it. One thing I like about maize is that everything happens fast. It takes less than Four months between planting and harvesting.
Get involved in any of these farming business in Nigeria today and you will never regret it. Drop us a comment if you are in support of farming business in Nigeria.

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