How To Start Pepper Farming in Nigeria (2024)
Everybody in the world eats peppers as a vegetable. One of the most lucrative businesses to do in Nigeria and is pepper planting. Similar to planting cucumber and tomato, pepper sowing has the potential to be quite profitable. In Nigeria, pepper can be grown throughout the year. The ideal months to cultivate pepper do exist, though. In general, peppers thrive in the dry season because they are less likely to contract fungus-related diseases. White flies and other insects are more common during the dry season, from October to March.
Every year, farmers who grow peppers make lots of profits and you too can do same. Pepper farming is a lucrative business that can be started with little capital. In this post, we will show you how to start pepper farming in Nigeria and make a good income from it. We will also give you some tips on how to make your pepper farm successful. So, whether you are a farmer looking for a new crop to grow or a student interested in starting a business, read on for information on pepper farming in Nigeria.
Due to the perception that the Northern region of Nigeria has the best soil composition for growing peppers, pepper farming there has traditionally been associated with the Northern region. However, in more recent years, pepper cultivation has spread to all parts of the nation and can now be transported between various states, cities, and villages. As a result, there is a greater possibility to co-create abundance across the board, from cultivation to sales to transportation. You can manage any supply chain as an individual, from buying harvested pepper on-site and transporting it to a sales location to cultivating seedlings and selling them to managing the greatest component of the chain, marketing.
A thorough understanding of agricultural technologies and best practices is necessary for pepper growing to be profitable. Here are the realistic details required to benefit greatly from pepper farming in Nigeria.
TYPES OF PEPPERS IN NIGERIA
The popular types of peppers we have in the Nigerian food market include: Habanero, cayenne, chilli, and sweet peppers. These are the most often consumed pepper varieties in the country. These peppers are referred to as atarodo, shombo, ata ijosi, and tatase in Nigerian local language.
Sweet pepper is the most expensive of the four due to its distinctive flavor and utility for food adornment. Additionally, the majority of Easterners and many others around the nation love it because it isn’t peppery. The most common pepper is the habanero (atarodo). But each of these types is required for its particular culinary purposes.
The sort of illnesses and pests that are present on the farm are taken into consideration when choosing seeds. With its excellent output and disease resistance, hybrid pepper seed is the most dependable variety. On an acre of land, quality seed and sound farming methods can produce 3–5 tonnes of pepper.
SOIL TYPE
It needs a warm environment and sandy-loamy soil that drains well. pH and soil moisture at their best. Alkaline soil does not support its growth properly. Pepper farming makes excellent use of greenhouse technology, but some combinations of these techniques can achieve outcomes that are comparable to those of this technology.
Make certain your farmland/soil has access to water. Drip irrigation is advised for efficiency. On the farmland, weeding, burning, and plowing are all possible. Utilizing organic manure, fertilizer, or animal waste from pigs or poultry, soil fertility can be enhanced. Before making beds, spread out on the farmland for seven (7) days.
HOW LONG DO PEPPERS TAKE TO GROW IN NIGERIA?
Normally, it takes peppers between 60 and 90 days to reach maturity. Because of this, most people purchase pepper starter plants from a garden nursery rather than starting from scratch. To produce peppers more quickly, you can begin by sowing the seeds indoors (in a greenhouse).
GUIDE ON HOW TO START PEPPER FARMING BUSINESS
Here are the steps to follow if you want to start a successful pepper farm in Nigeria this 2022.
STEP 1: GET THE NECESSARY TRAINING
There will be little to no profit if pepper is grown the way traditional Nigerian farmers do. To increase your crop productivity, you need get yourself schooled in the application of contemporary agronomic techniques and farm technologies.
The typical production of habanero pepper in Nigeria now is around 0.2 tonnes per acre, however with better agronomic methods, this yield can reach over 5 tonnes. If you are unsure of how to develop crops using contemporary agronomic methods, you can hire people who are very knowledgeable about farming.
STEP 2: SELECT PEPPER VARIETIES TO FARM
If you want to engage in pepper farming business, you will need to conduct some market research to determine which pepper species are typically accepted on the local and/or global markets. Sweet pepper and Atarodo pepper are currently the most popular pepper types, so you might wish to start with one of these two types. Choosing these would guarantee that you are able to relate to both the domestic and international trade environments.
STEP 3: OBTAIN QUALITY FARMLAND
Farmland that is fertile can be a tremendous asset. The cost of fertilizer, manure, and other farm treatment inputs would be reduced if you can acquire a productive field. Instead of buying farmland, you may rent one; this would save money up front.
You must be aware of your soil’s and water’s pH, microbial population, and quantity of nutrients. You can use this to help you decide what kind of fertilizer and soil enhancers to use on your farm.
STEP 4: PREPARE THE NURSERY
One of the most crucial phases in the pepper’s existence is the nursery. Because the rainy season begins in March and April, this is the perfect time to prepare the nursery. For the nursery, any acceptable area of land, including your backyard, may be used. Simply prepare a great bed of soil, scatter the pepper seeds on it, and then let them grow naturally. You should have begun to notice some germination from a period of five days to one week.
STEP 5: IMPLEMENT DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM
Through pipes, water and nutrients are trickled to the base of your plants during drip irrigation. For growing peppers, it is the most effective kind of irrigation. With drip irrigation, you may significantly reduce the amount of water and labor used while simultaneously increasing the productivity of your pepper farm by 40% to 200%.
For your pepper farm, you must have a good drip irrigation system. It is necessary to have a good water source, such as a borehole, well, dam, or river, in order to implement drip irrigation for pepper growing in a farmland in Nigeria.
STEP 6: TRANSPLANT YOUR PEPPERS
The last action your pepper seeds would take is to be transplanted. Bell vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers, must initially be planted in a nursery before being moved to a garden or farmyard. To adapt the roots of the pepper plant you are transporting from the nursery, till the soil and make big holes in it. You can consider looking to employ laborers to work alongside you, based on the size of your farm.
STEP 7: APPLICATION OF FERTILIZER/WEEDING
The goals of the two actions mentioned above are to maximize your plants’ production. Weed control would assure reduced competition for resources in the soil, and fertilizer would fix additional minerals for greater soil growth. However, you should use caution when fertilizing to prevent overapplication, which can cause soil acidity.
STEP 8: HARVERSTING/MARKETING
Pepper typically reaches maturity about three months after planting, and they do not all reach maturity at the same time. Due to the fact that certain crops mature more quickly than others, you might need to continue harvesting every day for roughly a week at first. You can be sure your pepper is suitable for the sack after that red color is apparent on it.
Harvest your crops carefully. Make sure the peppers are not harmed when you harvest them. If you don’t plan to sell the peppers right away, you might need to preserve them. Marketing is essential, and you should actually reserve the locations where you will sell your produce before you ever begin farming.
Finding a market for your goods shouldn’t be difficult given the great demand for pepper already in existence. Decide which markets on your list are ready for your products, or better yet, just make a deal with a reseller who would buy them from you at farm gate prices.
FERTILIZERS FOR GROWING PEPPERS IN NIGERIA
The fertilizers listed below can be used to grow peppers:
NPK FERTILIZERS
NPK fertilizers contain the nutrients potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen. These nutrients are referred to as macronutrients because plants require a lot of them. Fertilizer with the NPK ratio 15:15:15, 12:12:12 and 10:10:10 are good for pepper farming business.
NITROGENOUS/NUTRIENT-RICH FERTILIZERS
This fertilizer has a high nitrogen concentration and is typically applied to pepper plants during their vegetative stage of growth. Urea fertilizer which contains roughly 46% nitrogen is a nutrient-rich fertilizer type. The only nutrient in urea fertilizer is nitrogen. When pepper plants are in their vegetative growth stage, urea fertilizer can be applied. However, caution must be used while applying urea fertilizer on pepper plants because it might burn and harm the plant’s tissues. The roots of pepper plants can get urea fertilizer by mixing it with water and applying it via drip irrigation pipes or tapes.
FERTILIZERS WITH PHOSPHATE
These fertilizers have a high phosphorus content that can be used on pepper plants. They are typically applied to plant pepper as basal fertilizers. Some phosphate fertilizers include SSP fertilizer, or single super phosphate fertilizer, which contains 17 to 22 percent calcium and 16 to 20 percent phosphorus. Diammonium Phosphate Fertilizer (DAP) contains 18% nitrogen and 46% phosphorus. It is frequently utilized as a base fertilizer for the growing of peppers.
FERTILIZERS WITH POTASSIUM
This kind of fertilizer contains a lot of potassium. Potassium muriate is also known as potassium chloride. It normally contains 50% potassium by weight. When applying this sort of fertilizer to pepper plants, caution should be used because the high amount could harm the plants.
