How To Start Pepper Farming Business in Nigeria (2024): Complete Guide
Look around you today and look at something that your meal cannot do without in a day. Just look at what you are eating right now and try to guess one of the spices therein that you and many other Nigerians use daily. Yes, you guessed right – it’s pepper. Now let’s look at how you can make money with the Pepper farming business.
Our country Nigeria is a land flowing with milk and honey, the land is very fertile and can take nearly any kind of plant. This makes it hard for us to believe that there should be someone who would be poor in such a great land of opportunities. There are a lot of potential gold mines around us but a lot of people just turn a blind investor’s eyes to them.
While many of us go to the market each day to buy pepper for our various meals and delicacies, have we ever thought of the lucrativeness of the pepper farming business? Follow through this post and we will give you the rundown of the ways to commercially grow the popular types of pepper for the market and you will see why we think this is a great business idea for you to act upon.
How To Start Pepper Farming Business
1. Picking a Pepper Variety
You would have to do some research into the market to check the species of pepper that is generally accepted in the local market and/ or international market should you be looking to forex trade also.
Currently, the most widely accepted type of pepper is the Trinidad Scorpion and the bell pepper so you might want to start with any of these two varieties. Picking these would ensure that you can not only relate to the local market but international trade scenes too.
2. Nursery Preparation
A nursery is one of the most important stages in the life of the pepper. Nursery preparation comes best around March and April as this is when the rain starts to fall for the year. Your backyard or any other piece of suitable land can be used for the nursery.
Simply, make a great bed of soil and spread the pepper seeds on it then allow them to flourish by themselves. From a period of five days to one week, you should have started seeing some germination
3. Transplanting Your Peppers
Transplanting is the final move your pepper seeds would be experiencing. Bell vegetables like pepper and tomato farming need to be planted in a nursery first after which they are transplanted to the garden or farmyard.
Till the soil and make spacious holes in it to accommodate the roots of the pepper plant that you are bringing from the nursery. Depending on the size of your farm, you could look to hire laborers to work with you.
4. Weeding/ Application of Fertilizer
Both moves above are aimed at getting the best yield for your plants. Removal of weeds would ensure less competition for soil nutrients and fertilizer would fix even more nutrients for better growth in the soil. You should be careful when fertilizing though to avoid excess application which can lead to soil acidity.
5. Harvesting
Pepper usually matures some three months after it has been planted and they do not mature at the same time. At the start of harvesting, you could have to keep harvesting daily for about one week because some mature faster than others. When that red hue is visible on your pepper, you should rest assured that it is right enough for the sack.
6. Marketing
Pepper is already in very high demand so it shouldn’t be hard getting a market for your product. Identify the list of ready markets that you want to supply to or better, just enter a deal with a middleman who would come take them at farm gate price.
In the international market, pepper also does well with the possibility of getting as much as $21,000 for two tonnes of bell pepper which would have cost you only about 1 million Naira to produce. That’s more than a stunning 100% return on investment.
FAQs on The Pepper Farming Business
How many months pepper grow?
Peppers take a long to grow, between 60 to 90 days. That is most people grow the starter pepper plants in the garden nursery rather than from seeds. However, you can start planting pepper seeds indoors (in a greenhouse) if you want to grow them faster.
How can I make my peppers grow faster?
Though peppers grow in all types of soils, to make them grow faster, you should cultivate them in heavier, well-drained soils and in areas that allow them to receive at least 6 hours of sunlight each day.
How much water do pepper plants need?
Pepper plants should be watered sparingly about once per week and allowed to drain thoroughly. Where the weather is a bit hot, you may need to water your potted peppers every day!
