The ban on the importation of rice across Nigeria’s land boarders and the renewed commitment of the Federal Government to boost the production of the crop, shows a huge investment potential in the milling aspect of the produce.
Rice can be grown conveniently in Nigeria, the climate is good. It can be grown both in the forest and savannah areas of Nigeria. The project is, therefore, technically feasible.
The project is highly profitable. Price of rice in the market is very good for the producers, hence the project’s economic viability.
The prospect for in investment in rice production in Nigeria cannot be over-estimated. This is why both indigenous and foreign investors are going into it. It has also been found out that out local rice has more nutritional value than the imported varieties.
Currently, to meet our requirements, we must produce a minimum of 10 million metric tonnes of paddy.
However, local paddy production has increased from about two million metric tonnes to about 4 million metric tonnes and still growing.
This means that getting paddy for the rice mill would not be a problem for potential investors.
Production technology
The whole idea about this project is to make it an integrated one. The raw material, rice paddy will be grown and processed by the prospective investors.
The target is to produce 4,000 metric tonnes of finished (polished) rice per annum. Requirements are land, plant and machinery, buildings, farm inputs (seeds, fertilizer, herbicides and insecticides) and packaging materials.
Rice cultivation process includes land preparation, planting/distribution, herbicides and fertilizer application, harvesting and threshing. The harvested rice will later be processed in the factory.
Rice processing includes parboiling, drying, de-stoning, dehauling, winnowing, polishing, and packaging.
Financial Implication
The project has been estimated to cost N100 million broken known as follows:
Farm land acquisition & cultivation: N50,000,000
Establishment of factory/equipment/utilities: N50, 000,000
Total N100, 000,000
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Profitability
Estimated revenue realisable by the project is about N400 million annually. Annual production costs have been put at N270 million.
Annual profit of N130 million is guaranteed. This project is therefore recommended for funding. Serious minded investors can be assisted in terms in packaging to attract bank financing, project establishment and management, author’s contact: 08023058045, [email protected]
Olumakinde Oni
