Orange cultivation is a promising branch of agriculture in Nigeria, but becoming an orange farmer takes some time and a lot of patience, which is why it’s not ideal for people who are only looking for a quick profit. Here is the only orange production guide you need!
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1. How to cultivate orange trees
Wondering how to make millions in planting orange in Nigeria? You need to start with the basics and work your way up the industry! Here is a step-by-step guide on how to start an orange tree plantation.
- Choose a land plot for your farm. Oranges grow well in all parts of Nigeria, but your plot needs to be easily accessible for vehicles. You can start with a plot that can fit about 40-50 orange trees with 1 meter between each tree.
- Orange trees require loamy soil with plenty of mineral and nutrients and normal pH value. If the soil in your plot doesn’t meet these requirements, improve the quality of the soil with fertilizers.
- Although oranges are all-season fruits, there is an orange season in Nigeria when oranges need to be planted. This time takes place at the beginning of the raining season. Late February and early March are the best time to plant orange trees in Nigeria.
- Orange farming in Nigeria requires sufficient irrigation during the time when there isn’t enough water from the rain. The first time you water your orange trees happens immediately after they are planted, and then the watering schedule depends on the weather conditions and the type of oranges you’re growing.
- On average, it takes an orange tree about 2 years to start producing crops. Plus, the first harvests from the trees won’t be big, although they will grow every year. That is why you need plenty of patience and preferably an alternative source of income while you are waiting for your first orange harvest.
2. How lucrative is orange farming in Nigeria?
To fully answer the question of whether orange farming in Nigeria is a profitable endeavour, first let’s find out how much is a bag of oranges. Depending on the season, the bag of oranges cost can be between ₦4,000 and ₦6,000, or ₦5,000 on average.
Now that we know how much does a bag of oranges cost, let’s see how many bags of oranges your farm can produce. If you planted 50 trees on your land plot and they have reached their maximum productivity after 4 to 5 harvests, you can get between 2 and 4 50kg bags of oranges from one tree per year.
In this situation, the estimated yearly revenue from your orange farm is around ₦750,000. However, starting an orange farm is a multi-million naira investment, so you shouldn’t expect huge profits during the first few years of your farming experience.
3. Challenges of orange cultivation
While the prospects of growing oranges commercially in Nigeria are very positive, this industry also faces a number of problems. The most common ones include:
- Orange farming techniques in Nigeria are underdeveloped, which means that information on starting a farm and growing your harvests can be hard to come by.
- Since the road system leaves a lot to be desired, you may have trouble getting the machinery to your land plot and then transporting the crops to the buyers.
- Poor marketing techniques cause the oranges to stay for months in storage facilities or right in the field, which leads to a good part of the harvest being spoiled before it can even get to the customers.
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