How to Start Grapefruit Farming in Nigeria: Your Gateway to Wealth
Grapefruit farming business in Nigeria is great business opportunity that few people are aware of in Nigeria. You shouldn’t sit there and be complaining that the country is hard when you can actually earn millions from grapefruit farming. It high time you start paying attention to the vast business opportunities that abound in agriculture in Nigeria.
Read: How to start orange farming business in Nigeria
The purpose of article is to provide you with all the necessary information and guidance for starting grapefruit farming in Nigeria. You don’t have to be running from pillar to post searching for a job when you can build one by yourself. All it takes is your patience and perseverance for you to succeed in this business of grapefruit farming in Nigeria.
Opportunities that Abound in Grapefruit Farming in Nigeria
You may be asking why it must be grapefruit farming in Nigeria. Well, the answer is very simple; there are lots of business opportunities in grapefruit farming. With the increasing number of fruit juice companies in Nigeria, orchard farmers will reap the huge benefits. Aside from selling the grape fruits to local consumers, you can also do business with fruit juice companies.
You can imagine what will happen if the government bans the importation of packaged juice products and concentrates. Farmers involved in grapefruit farming business will be in huge advantage. In 2010, Pankaj Kumar, the managing director of Dangote Foods Limited declared that they had acquired 400,000 hectares of land for its orchard farm. This should tell you that the profitability of grapefruit farming is really huge and mouth watering too.
I want to believe you wouldn’t want to miss out on this great agribusiness investment opportunity in Nigeria.
How to Start Your Grapefruit Farming in Nigeria
There are certain things that must be in place before you start your grapefruit farming business in Nigeria. These important requirements include:
Also see: How to start cashew nut farming in Nigeria
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Well-detailed grapefruit farming business plan
Your grapefruit farming business plan will help you in more ways than you can imagine. Don’t be fooled to think that a business plan is irrelevant for this agribusiness. With your business plan, you are better positioned to create the needed conditions that will favor your grapefruit farming business. When you must have gone through sections of your business plan like market survey, SWOT analysis, financial analysis and projections, and marketing strategy; it gives you a better knowledge of the business.
Your grapefruit business plan will also help you in case you want to apply for an agricultural loan. Without the business plan, no one will take you seriously and therefore the chances of you getting such loan will be greatly reduced.
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Land acquisition and preparation
Another important requirement for starting your grapefruit farming business in Nigeria is the land to cultivate your plants. Grapefruit farming will require hectares of land, so if you don’t have the money to buy the land you can opt for lease. It is more cost effective and you can buy the land once you start reaping the profits from your plantation.
The land should be preferably a gentle undulating piece of land with good water retention and drainage capacity. This will be ideal for the optimal production of your grapefruits. Once the land has been acquired, the next step is to prepare it for planting. You need to make sure that the land is properly cleared and the soil well tilled as well.
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Planting your grapefruit trees
Another important aspect of your grapefruit farming business is the knowing the best planting process for your trees. You can choose to buy young grapefruit trees from the nursery or grow the plants from the seeds. If you want to plant the seeds yourself, you need to select the variety you want. You can either go for the dwarf variety or the standard variety.
See: How to start profitable beans farming in Nigeria
When transplanting from the nursery to the permanent site, the dwarf varieties are spaced 6 to 10 feet apart. If you are planting the standard varieties, a spacing of 12 to 25 feet is required for optimal production. After planting your grapefruits, they should be watered at least once a week during the dry season.
During the first few months after planting, it is very vital and essential that you water the plants every week. Fertilizer application is also very necessary for good harvest.
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Pests and diseases of grapefruits
You need to know how to effectively manage these pests and diseases if you are to be successful in grapefruit farming business in Nigeria. Tiny aphids and scale insects usually attack grapefruit trees. You can control them by applying a hard stream of water to wash them off. Citrus leaf miners can also attack your grapefruits just like the orange and lemon.
The sooty canker can also attack the grapefruit plants leading to the formation of dusty black spores. You need to make use of antibacterial liquid to keep away these spores. The federal ministry of agriculture in Nigeria can also be great help if you contact them for advice.
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Harvest and storage of grapefruits
It takes between 2 to 3 years for your grapefruit plant to reach maturation and start fruiting. Once your grapefruits have reached the time for harvest, you can harvest using go-to-hell. Once the time for harvest is approaching, you need to start contacting your potential buyers. You can contact the fruit juice companies and the local market traders for the selling of your grapefruits.
Also see: How to start millet farming business in Nigeria
There is no doubt about the huge profit potential that abound in grapefruit farming in Nigeria. If you are not in this line of business, then it’s high time you started looking that direction.
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