Rice farming is one of the most lucrative businesses that anyone can start and make profit. The popularity of rice at events and ceremonies such as weddings, birthdays and so on, has made rice farming a very profitable business for anyone who ventures into it.
In Africa, and more importantly in Nigeria, rice stands as one of the most consumed food crops among people of all ages. Despite this glaring and undeniable fact, it is saddening that the agricultural sector still suffers a high degree of neglect from the government and citizens alike.
This is quite despicable as this same sector contributed all the nation has today, prior to the discovery of crude oil in the 50s. This is probably because oil has more value in the international market, or probably because rice it seems to be a tedious and backbreaking activity. Irrespective of these reasons, rice remains one of the most luxurious crops to cultivate in Nigeria.
Why rice farming is lucrative
It is common knowledge that Rice is the most popular food in Nigeria, in the most populous country of Africa. Along the years, Nigeria’s rice consumption has been steadily on the increase. And the top reason for this is that rice remains one of the major types of food which almost every Nigerian eat daily.
Every year, Nigerians consume an average of 5.5 million tons of rice, but only 3.6 million tons of these 5.5 million tons are locally produced while the rest is usually imported from other countries. The local farmers who produce rice, do it for their relatively subsistence consumption.
Sadly, this is because quite a handful of them lack desirable technical know-how required to produce rice on a large scale. As a result they end up producing mainly local rice i.e ofada rice.
However, since it has been proven that the demand for rice is very high, it shows that there exists an untapped goldmine in its commercial growth and it comes as no surprise that the richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote has decided to invest in the industry and would soon launch his rice products to the African market.
Places Where Rice Is Grown in Nigeria
It is known that rice is one crop that requires special geographical and atmospheric conditions to grow. As a result, it is not everywhere it is planted that it will grow and survive. It is however known to survive in the following states.
For now, this is the list of the states in Nigeria where Rice planting and production is more pronounced unlike the case in other states, and the names they call their Nigerian Rice:
Kano State- UMZA Rice
Gombe State- Mas Rice Mill
Niger State- Mama Happy Rice
Kebbi State- Labana Rice
Ebonyi State- Ebonyi Rice
Anambra State- Anambra Rice
Nasarawa State- Olam Rice
Ogun State- Ofada Rice
Ekiti State- Igbemo Rice.
In any of the above-listed states, it is very certain that if utmost attention is given to a rice farm, and there’s no pest or disease breakout, there’ll be a rich bumper harvest. It is trite to note that rice production requires no formal knowledge in Agricultural science and thus, anyone can choose to start a rice farm today. They are he best place in Nigeria for rice farming.
Source: make money.ng