How To Start Groundnut Farming in Nigeria
Groundnut is an extremely nutritious seed and a crucial source of olive oil. Nigeria generates over 1.55 million metric tonnes of groundnut yearly and is presently the biggest manufacturers of groundnut in Africa and the fourth biggest in the world.
Groundnut farming remains lucrative in the nation and you’re able to get up to 5 metric tonnes per hectare of land.
Interestingly, groundnut could be cultivated in a diverse selection of environments. But, it’s largely planted in the Northern region of Nigeria since they have a tendency to do really well in the arctic or semi-arid areas.
Site Selection
Groundnut requires a nicely drainy sandy or loamy soil the plant requires a contaminated soil to flourish quite a pH of roughly 6-7. They want about 5 weeks of warm weather and an yearly rainfall in the array of 500 — 1000mm or its equal in irrigation water.
Planting
The planting generally commence throughout the rainy season. The seeds require optimal moisture content thus the soil should have experienced a few rain drops before the seeds have been planted. The seed may be planted either onto a ridge or onto a level surface. The seeds need to be put in a 5 to 6 cm thickness. The spacing size is 75cm involving rows and 25cm inside rows. Groundnut can be combined with other crops such as cereals and wheat germ. This will make the process of nutrient use efficient in addition to decrease soil borne disorders.
Furthermore, potassium or phosphorus based fertilizers may be implemented prior to and after planting. Steak or farmyard manure may also be implemented a minumum of one month prior to planting. This boosts the construction and aids to encourage crop growth.
Recently, new kinds of groundnut seeds are developed that are immune to this rosette disease. Additionally, these varieties have a tendency to have drought resistant and higher harvest generating qualities. Weeds may lead to damage notably within the initial two months of planting.
Harvesting
Normally, harvesting include a collection of procedures including digging, lifting, stocking and threshing. The harvesting of groundnut is rather a tedious process and it is also pricey. The pods have been pulled out of the ground after digging
The inner rib of this plant turning brownish is also an indicator the plant is about to be harvested.
When you’ve been using a irrigation system such as the sprinkler irrigation onto your farm, then you may use this method to alleviate the procedure for harvesting. To begin with, you are going to put on the irrigation irrigation for a single hour; after that you permit for mild surface irrigation to get a few days. Then cut on the plant roots roughly 12 to 15 cm under the ground surface working with a blade and manually pull the plant out.
In the absence of irrigation, then you may use a tractor driven digger to loosen the soil then you’re able to pull the plant out.
You ought to sun-dry the chosen plant for a couple of days before snapping the pods off.
The dried pods are often washed and stored in luggage piled on top of one another. The bags must be stacked on wooden boards to reduce damage because of dampness.
You can extract your acrylic following crop by either employing a tiny manual oil media machine or a huge groundnut oil expeller. Normally the residue following the oil has been pressed out can be used to feed animals when you’ve got a livestock farm or offered to livestock farms that are nearby.
Once crop, you can plant your own groundnuts again, which means that you may harvest twice a year.
