Cashew farming in Nigeria as a goldmine.

Cashew farming business is a silent money-spinner, you may never know until you engage in it or be closer to a dealer. Nigeria as nation is seriously milking money out from cashew exportation. For now we are the number 6 producers of raw cashew nuts in Africa, falling under Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Burina Faso, Ghana and Mozanbique according to cashew association.

There’s more money in processing or roasting cashew than selling them raw, the ratio is 1:10. That is why the minister for Agriculture Mr Audu Ogbeh said in 2019 Nigeria would no longer be selling raw cashew nuts but will rather process/roast them in other to benefit from the high cost of exporting the nuts

For Nigeria to become the second highest exporters we need to export about 500,000 tons of raw cashew, we are far below the target. This is where you can come in as  an investor or entrepreneur in other to help achieve this goal.

Somebody once said Agriculture is a business and not a project, I couldn’t believe less. That is the main reason for this post. To show you a step by step guide on how to succeed in cashew farming business. The business is not a quick rich kind of business it takes 3 years to make a hit but worth the wait. It involves a lot of capital both in planting and harvesting.

LAND PREPARATION

Acquire a land, I would not advice leasing because it is a long-term investment. So buy the land in the village, secure it by getting the necessary papers. The best soil to use is sandy soil with laterite. Clear grasses and cut down shrubs and trees. Use machines to plough and levelled the land. Mix the sand with animals dung if the nutrient is low but you have to test the soil first to know its nutrient level. Cashew farming can be done both in wet and dry tropics.

PLANTING

Planting cashew from seed is as stressful as that of coffee and oil palm. To learn oil palm farming click her. That is why it is advisable you buy already sprouted seedlings from an established nursery with good species. Or propagated plants the seedlings take 3 years to produce while the direct ones (seed planting) takes 5 years to produce.

Also as in orange farming were the seeds that are planted directly have less taste and less fruit than the parent plant; so also is cashew plants that are raised directly from seeds of a particular cashew tree.
If you want to plant by yourself, use containers or plant directly into a prepared bed. Insert 2-3 seeds into a hole of 2-3 cm depth.

Irrigate the nursery every day after 4-7 days the seeds will sprout. Like in coffee farming use fresh seed. The viability last from the first day to 4 months after which reduction sets in. Dry the seeds under the sun for 3 days. Then soak them in water overnight before planting them the next day.