A lot of Nigerians don’t know that curry farming is one of the fastest way to make cool cash. Not that you would make money instantly but you would sure make cool cash fast. In this post, we’ll be looking at how to start a small profitable curry farm with 100K in Nigeria.
For the ones reading this post who don’t know what curry is, curry is a spice leaf people put in their stew, jollof rice, meat, and other types of meals to give it a good scent and taste. This leaf is sliced and put into meals when those meals are almost done. It makes a great difference when you put it in your meals.
Some companies source for these leaves. They dry the leaves and grind it. After grinding, it is packaged to be sold.
Curry is a regular spice in the meals of Nigerians, especially the residents of southeast Nigeria. It is a vegetable that would sale once it is brought to the market. Although it sells more during weekends because it is mostly used to spice up stew and all types of rice.
How to Start a Small Profitable Curry Farm with 100K in Nigeria
In this section of the post we’ll be listing the guides and tips of how you can start this business successfully.
1. You have to meet anyone into it to learn the process of farming it physically. It’s mostly women who are into it, so it would be easy to find someone to guide you on the process.
2. After learning the process, and see how it is practically done, the next step is to secure or least a farmland.
3. While leasing a farmland, you should secure a fertile land, with good access road, closeness to a water source, and closeness to a market. You must check all these criteria before leasing a farmland.
4. The best time to make profit out of curry farming is during dry season. This is when curry would be scarce in the market, and thus, you can make a kill.
5. With a budget of 100K, you can lease a plot of land, till it, apply manure, do weeding, and harvest it. You should know that 100K is a tight budget, so you would have to cut down expenses.
You should pay labourers to till the land for 15K.
You can lease the land for free or at most 5K. Curry stalks for 5K.
You keep 30K for manure as this is enough for 4 big bags of chicken manure.
You keep 15K for fungicide and pesticides.
Allot around 15K (or lower) for water expenses.
You would have to do the wedding, application of manure, watering, and harvesting yourself.
The remainder of the money should be used for extra expenses that may come up.
6. After securing and tilling the land, you can either spread manure on the farm and leave it for a week, or you plant your curry stalks like that.
If it during dry season, you would have to water your land before planting. However, it is best to spread manure before planting.
While planting, ensure you utilize the space of the land very well. Ensure you leave only little space while planting; ths, you should plant as many as possible on the land. For instance, over 1000 stalks can be planted on a plot of 60 by 100.
7. A few weeks after planting the tiny stalks, you apply another manure.
8. You should also spray fungicide and pesticide on your farm twice, possibly in the first two weeks and a month after that, to eliminate diseases and pests on your farm.
9. You should water the farm regularly like twice a week. The water should be poured slowly on the ground or roots of the plants than the leaves.
10. You should weed the farm regularly. We recommend weeding it every three weeks or two weeks at least. Eliminate all forms of weeds immediately you see them on the farm.
11. Before planting, ensure you talk to the vegetable sellers in a market close to where your farm is. Get them to assist you with buyers.
12. The type of curry that is popular in Nigeria is the dwarf curry. Its average height is less than 12 inches. So, you should know when a curry plant has matured enough to be harvested.
13. You harvest by cutting the top part of the curry, and leaving the root part to continue to grow. Due to this method, you can harvest a plant for up to 5 times, or more.
The maturity period of curry is 3 weeks to 6 weeks. The lifespan of a curry plant is around 2 months. After this time, it won’t be fresh anymore.
14. With a plot of land of curry managed with around 100K, you are sure to earn more than 200K from it.
Your farm has to be close to an urban area. It is also best to sell the curry yourself to the consumers than selling to the retailers. By this way, you make additional income.
15. Once you harvest your first set and sell, you can use some of the money to buy more manure for the land, and apply again.
Conclusion
This post has examined the idea of how to start a small profitable curry farm with 100K in Nigeria. You should do well to make your own research according to the peculiarity of your local area. Be reminded that you are to do your market research, too, before embarking on the business.