How To Start A Rice Farming In Ghana
If you are looking for lucrative business ideas in Ghana , you need to seriously consider entering the rice farming business – which is undoubtedly the most profitable business in the Ghanaian agricultural sector. Rice farming business in Ghana is set to grow year-on-year.
This is a great articles for entrepreneurs in Ghana, as it presents legitimate money making opportunities.
So there is a genuine demand, and genuine opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses in Ghana.
Considering the fact that Ghana has a huge market for rice, you have the chance to invest in the farming, processing, and sale of rice.
You can equip your business to cultivate and harvest rice, construct rice mills for milling and processing, or working within wholesale distribution. The avenues and opportunities are endless.
Regardless of what area you choose to specialize in, it is essential that you understand the cultivation and harvesting process, so that you can recognise if you are working with low or high quality product.
How To Start A Rice Farming Business In Ghana
1. SELECT A HEALTHY RICE SEEDS
The healthier your seeds are, the greater your chances are of ensuring the highest possible yield is achieved. You should choose an improved variety and select the right seeds based on the cultivation environment.
Do not plant seeds in an indiscriminate manner and go for only the best variety seeds. You need to choose the seeds manually for a good rice production. If you select the best of rice seeds, your harvest would be well worth the time and energy invested in selecting the seeds.
2. PRODUCE RICE SEEDLINGS IN A NURSERY
Prepare your seedbed and plant seeds there to be raised in a nursery. Cover the soil with a transparent polythene sheet so that the environment maintains its temperature whilst avoiding soil borne diseases.
Your yield can be significantly decreased if transplanted rice is attacked by nematodes and soil borne pathogens.
3. SECURE A LAND
The land itself is the most essential capital asset for nay rice farming business in Ghana, and its worth tends to vary on the basis of the drainage facilities, type of soil and location.
Rice is generally the crop of a small farmer and the average holding size is around 6 acres. You need a large space to set your project up and dry the paddy rice prior to harvesting.
Look for a Swampy land: Swampy land saves you the capital and stress of irrigation. Although rice can be planted in both upland dry condition and lowland swamp and irrigated, but it has been shown that rice produces more on lowland swamp or irrigated soil.
So, go for swampy land. Get the land prepared by clearing and using Tractors to properly till the soil surface in readiness for the actual transplanting of your rice seedling.
4. MANAGE THE SOIL NUTRIENTS AND WEEDS
For a couple of months after transplanting the rice seedlings, you will need to remove weeds from the rice farm, and then implement a herbicide application regime to destroy any emerging weeds. Some people tend to apply herbicide twice prior to harvesting.
To boost the growth of rice seedlings, fertilizer is often applied. You should carry out extensive soil tests with specialists before any fertilizer is applied. Always aim to use an organic fertilizer and spray it in right amounts that have been specified. This will vary depending on soil, environment and the type of rice you are harvesting.
Each growth stage of the rice plant has a different nutrient need. Keeping this in mind, farmers must ensure that the rice plant gets the proper nutrients at the right time.
5. HARVEST YOUR CROPS
Within 4 months of the plantation, you will have your crop prepared for harvest. When the rice is matured, its color will change to light brown from green. You will then know that your crop is prepared for harvest.
What Are The Potential Profits
In rice farming, the projected income also depends on the capital that is invested. The bigger the capital investment, the bigger the profits will be. If you start with huge capital, the returns on investment will be bigger, and faster due to having more efficient and effective machinery, storage and processes that can help you take advantage of opportunities, and high demand.
Despite this, due to Ghana’s agricultural transformation agenda there is a rapid growth and competitive edge that is emerging in smaller mills.
This can be linked to the increase in the amount of rice paddies being produced. Ghanaian entrepreneurs and rice farmers are no longer in doubt that rice farming is a profitable business.
Rice Farming is Very Profitable!!!