Today’s Agri-business

Agriculture should be seen more as a business venture that has a lot of opportunities. It is widespread and many people might take to this sector with a modern, business mind. We have to see how to invest and make more money in agriculture.

Agriculture is not for poor people, not for uneducated people, it is for the new generation of educated people, with interests in villages, rural areas and in exploiting the full potential of the land resources, deploys new business techniques, to identify markets and produce things which have assured market.

Agro input shop makes it possible for availability, accessibility, and affordability of agricultural inputs such as fertilizer, agro-chemicals, quality seeds, livestock feeds, veterinary drugs, tractor hire, primary processing, and extension services. They are available for farmers to purchase both in rural areas and in cities.

It is a growing business opportunity that the federal government and international agencies are interested in by establishing and commissioning of One-Stop-Shop Agro-inputs Centre to promote food security programs, Feed the Future Nigeria Agro-Inputs Project with aims to attain a private sector-led agricultural input market supporting farmers to access quality and affordable agricultural inputs. The project is funded by Feed the Future Initiative/USAID.

Project partners include ECOWAS, FMARD, AGTHO, FEPSAN, Interproducts Link, Maslaha Seeds, MBS Fertilizers, NAIDA, NABG, Notore and The Stallion Group which is the major focus of the Federal Government in pursuance of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda of Mr President.

Profitablities of Agro Input Shop

It is a profitable business to venture into because of the high demand for agro-input by farmers, without farm input, there will be no output. This is a business one can start with a little capital base but it will turn out to be a big venture in a short while. This is because of the demand for high yield agro-inputs and services etc. Most agro-input company prefers middlemen (shops) to deal with rather than farmers who are the direct consumers of their products.

Opportunities

Agrochemical (or agrichemical), is a term for the various chemical products used in agriculture. In most cases, agrichemical refers to the broad range of pesticides, such as herbicides (weed killers), animal food additives, veterinary drugs, and related compounds, which have become absolutely integral to the production of large-scale agriculture. There is a wild number of them one can deal on and make a good return on investment.

Seed: Seeds are one of the least expensive but most important factors influencing yield potential. Crop seeds contain all the genetic information to determine yield potential, adaptation to environmental conditions, these days we have hybrid seeds that are resistant to insect pests and disease such as maize, soya bean, cucumber seeds, tomato seed, lettuce, cabbage seeds, hot pepper seeds, okro seeds, ewedu seeds, efo seeds, watermelon seeds, etc.

Seedlings:  A seedling is a young plant sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with the germination of the seed. Some plants are better planted with hybrid high yield seedling such as cashew seedlings, cocoa seedlings, coconut seedlings, oil palm seedling (dwarf tenera), suckers like plantain and banana suckers that will start fruiting from 10 months, pineapple sucker (smooth cayenne) that will start producing from 18 months.

Fertilizer: These plant nutrients existing naturally in the soil, atmosphere, and animal manure. However, naturally occurring nutrients are not always available in the quantities needed. So we add to them by applying fertilizer, to make plants grow to their maximum potential. Fertilizers can be classified into two categories: organic or inorganic. Liquid and Powder.

Equipment Hiring: Such as tractors, harvesters, spraying drone planters, and other agro related equipment.

Farm Extension Services: Agricultural extension officers are intermediaries between research and farmers. They operate as facilitators and communicators, helping farmers in their decision-making and ensuring that appropriate knowledge is implemented to obtain the best results i.e., Agribusiness consultants. For example on natural resources, animals, crops, how best to utilize the farmland, how to construct proper irrigation schemes, economic use and storage of water, how to combat animal disease, and save on the cost of farming equipment, procedures and marketing.

Animal Feeds and Additives: Animal feed is food given to domestic animals in the course of animal husbandry. There are two basic types, fodder and forage. And additives are used to promote and improve livestock.

Finally, we have to do things without government help; we have to organise our agricultural activity as a business activity for profitability and food security. With today’s reforms and information communication technology, we can do a whole lot in the agricultural business and make a profit. There is now the latest information; the latest agribusiness activities are available through business consultancy services.

Agbaji can be reached at <learnder@gmail.com>

Follow the Neptune Prime channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va74ZvU2v1IqKByXoX3d

Do you have breaking news, interview request, opinion, suggestion, or want your event covered? Email us at neptuneprime2233@gmail.com