Thread by @BashorunGa_

STARTING A MINI RICE MILL
As much as possible, I will try to be brief on this #Thread about starting a mini/cottage rice mill venture in Nigeria.
I will be discussing the processes involved in rice processing start-up nd the machines requirement and other successful business tips

Let me quickly say that nobody holds any grudges against rice. Rice is a staple food for both young and old in Nigeria. Rice is as essential to survival as water. Rice is the most widely consumed staple food in Nigeria and third highest global food produced in the world.

Note that d recent ban on the importation of rice into Nigeria increased the need for this venture.
Rice milling in Nigeria is a key component of rice production, rice paddy must be cleaned and milled before consumption. Milling makes the harvested rice palatable and attractive.

Permit me to briefly inspire you with the story of a young 36 years old rice farmer who has carved a niche for himself in the sector. His name is ROTIMI Williams.
Rotimi Williams, an ambitious 37-year-old Nigerian entrepreneur and rice farmer,

..owns the 2nd largest commercial rice farm in Nigeria by land size. Williams, a former Journalist, is the owner of Kereksuk Rice Farm, which is situated in Nasarawa state in northern Nigeria.
Rotimi did not study agriculture in school. He was a former journalist and banker.

Guy took up the courage and started growing rice. He sells most of his harvest to off-takers and processors.
In his own words;
“I learned it all on Google. I downloaded every article I could find on rice production, consumed it and then practiced it on the field.”

I have only shared this insight to make us all believe that starting a rice processing venture is not a rocket science. Its something we can all do and make more money this year after the Corvid-19 pandemic

FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED WHEN SETTING UP A RICE MILL
1.Availability of Raw Material
2.Accessible Land space and Small warehouse for machines.
3.Machine Capacity Selection
4.Ensure adequate Water and Electricity supply
5. Storage planning
6.Utilization of by-products and wastes

Rice paddy is the most important raw material required in the milling business. This is what will be milled and processed. You must site your mill near where there is abundant rice paddy. Get to know the rice cultivation hub and farmers in state you proposed to site the mill.

You can also aggregate rice paddy from farm clusters. Niger state is the leading rice producer in Nigeria, the state produce about 550 thousand metric tonnes of rice on 229 thousand hectares. States such as Sokoto, Ogun, Ebonyi, Nassarawa, Abuja, Enugu, Kwara, Anambra, Niger and

Kogi are all major producers of rice paddy.
In the SW, Ogun state, Ekiti, Kwara and some part in Lagos (Imota, Agbowa axis of Ikorodu) are strategic you can site your rice mills.

RICE PROCESSING PROCEDURES
To produce quality rice,the following simple standard production procedures are required.
•Purchase of Paddy from the farmers
•Paddy Undergoes cleaning through Paddy Cleaner
•The Removal of unwanted part
•Rice goes through the Process of Whitening

•Rice under goes other shining processes
•Packing of Raw Rice obtained from the above processes
•Sale to the End User

SELECTING YOUR MACHINES
Depending on the size of rice processing plant, different types of milling machines are available according to their size and features. You may think of investing in a mini rice plant in the start of the business with a cost between 2-3 Million or less,,

The important factors to consider while setting up a rice processing plant include capacity, speed and power requirements.
The most important ones include pre-cleaning, husk removal, polishing and so on.

Ensure your proposed location has steady and adequate supply of electricity because many of the machines you will need depend solely on electricity. You may always want to consider a small investment on generator.

MACHINES NEEDED TO START A RICE MILL
1.Paddy Cleaner/ Pre-Cleaner: This machine will be used to separate both the large coarse material, such as iron particles, immature grain, and fine materials, such as grit before rice processing starts.

2.Destoner: The Destoner machine is used to separate stones and other heavy impurities from grains by observing the differences in their density. A Destoner can effectively remove the impurities faster than humans can, thereby increasing your overall productivity.

3.Rice Huller: This is the main machine that will determine the quality of the milled rice. After the rice has been harvested , the paddy is cleaned and ready to be moved to the mill.

The rice huller is the Agro Equipment used to remove the chaff or husk from the rice seed. The raw rice or paddy must go through this process of hulling or dehusking before its ready for consumption. The price of the machine ranges based on the capacity and tonnage per hour.

A moderate size huller for a cottage mill is around NGN750,000. You can reach out to @gbengasaka or my self for detailed machine cost and sourcing.
4.Other machines include Rice Polisher, Colour sorter, Rice whitener, Rotary sifter, weighing scales and Sack closer.

To be continued....I will continue this thread with the cost and economics of setting up a rice mill.
But dont forget I have quality Point of lay for sale.
Please come and buy. Ejoor oo