How to farm beniseed in Nigeria and it’s profitability
Having the basic knowledge on how to farm beniseed and it profitability in Nigeria will set you on the right choice of investment.
Beniseed also known as sesame is a flowering plant in the genus sesamum, also called benne
Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a small number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical region and cultivated for it edible seeds which grow in pods.
Sesame is often called different names base on different location, some of it’s names are ; Benniseed,Gingilly, Simsim,
Tahini and Til.
Beniseed or sesame was introduced into Nigeria after the civil war, it contains an edible oil which is known for it nutritional and medical qualities.
It has been one of Nigerian profitable crops more than a decade ago, in 2012 Nigeria become the largest exporter of beniseed to Japan.
Today, Nigeria is the 7th largest producer of beniseed worldwide.
Production of beniseed is dominated by smallholder farm substantial farming
this constitute for over 90 percent of the sector, while some commercial large scale farming is developing.
The planting period for beniseed farming is September, and the harvesting period is November to second week of December
it takes eight weeks (2 months) for beniseed to mature and be ready for harvest.
How to farm beniseed, steps and it profitability in Nigeria:
Beniseed is a lucrative and profitable business, because of the demand for beniseed in the market this has place
a high value for the exchange of the crop no doubt it has been rated as one of the most profitable crops in Nigeria.
Before we begin to value and calculate the worth of this golden crop let us take a survey on the steps procedures and guidelines
of starting a beniseed farm, amazingly beniseed production is profit oriented but it is not that tedious compare to other crops
Guidelines on how to start a beniseed farm:
1• Get a fertile land / Preparation
On your quest of cultivating a beniseed farm after having your capital at hand the next step is to get a piece of land
not any land but a fertile soil suitable for beniseed cultivation. The soil type should be loamy – sandy or loamy soil, the loamy soil should be located in an area where there is no water retention.
these soil type are suitable for planting beniseed in Nigeria
After you have gotten your farm, the next step is preparation which is by getting rid of weed or bush off the land
Weed can be cleared by applying herbicide on the land or you can use cutlass to clear the farm land which ever means you want use is ok.
But i advise you use herbicide, because it will kill the bush from the root before the weed will grow again the beniseed will mature
After getting of weed or bush off the land then you can do land tillage, tillage can be done manually or mechanically it all depend on the size of farm you are operating
Manual method of land tillage involves the use of hoe to till the ground
while mechanical is using of tractor disk ploughing and other mechanical means to till the ground before planting is done.
2• Planting
As profitable as beniseed is Planting is not difficult, the planting method is done using broadcasting method
the seeds will be broadcast throughout the entire farm.
3• Harvesting
When beniseed is planted it’s takes two months to mature and ready to be harvested.
The Harvesting process of beniseed manually is done using hand method by uprooting the plants after which you will group them together in bunch or sets
the harvested beniseed will be tie together in bunch or sets and kept in an upright position waiting for the next step
which is separation of seeds from the crop.
4• Thrashing
Beniseed can be thrash through mechanical method or manual method
in this article i will be telling you how beniseed is thrash manually and this is how it is done
please note that beniseed thrashing is different from the way rice is thrashed,
it is best done in the afternoon when the sun is high the beniseed pods will become very dry and break open on it own
spread tampolyn on the ground close to where the harvested beniseed is gathered to avoid loss of seeds
pick bunch by bunch as your hand can grab, shake it on the tampolyn because it is already dry the seeds will fall out.
when you are done with a particular set or bunch
use a filter to get rid of chaffs and leaves off the seeds when you through with that pack the seeds into a bag.
The same thing should be done to all the beniseed gathered in groups throughout the farm.
How to farm beniseed and it’s profitability in Nigeria; currently in Benue a bag of beniseed cost #71,000 it is still raising.
Summary:
The good news about beniseed is that you don’t need to apply fertilizer, all you need is a fertile soil. Fertilizer application is optional.
After cultivating your beniseed you are not going to have the stress of battling with weed control, it takes two months to mature. after which the crop will be ready for harvest
please note that the cost of beniseed per bag may fluctuate or differ due to location
Hope this article; how to farm beniseed in Nigeria and it’s profitability will guide you on your quest of going into beniseed production.
Also see: uses of beniseed