Modern agriculture is changing the way modern farmers are looking at financial independence. Read on to learn how you can start a profitable agribusiness today!
Without much ado, let’s dive into the five agribusiness ideas that can help you future-proof your income and start an agribusiness that aces the test of time.
Mushroom Farming
The initial cost of setting up a mushroom farm in usually offset in a merely a few months, and sometimes even in weeks, which is far less than any other agribusiness. To put things in perspective, if you want to set-up a small mushroom farm, a 250 square-feet room can give you a yield of over 10 kg of mushrooms.
However, note that if you’re starting out with low capital, you may be deficient on the storage infrastructure that mushrooms require to last till they get to the consumer. While varieties like oyster mushrooms have a shelf life of around 4-5 days without industrial temperature-controlled storage, varieties like the milky mushroom are much more rough and tough, and last anywhere between a week to two weeks, depending upon the climate in your region.
We have a more detailed guide which explains the exact 6 steps that you can perform to start your own mushroom farm. Click here to read it! The minimum infrastructure that you need is a room with of temperature control. Most mushrooms demand a temperature range of 20-30 degree Celsius and a dark room, while some varieties like the straw mushroom demand lower temperatures. You can invest in a micro-climate system if you’re doing this on a large scale. Learn more by clicking here.
Biofloc Fish Farming
Biofloc fish farming leverages the BFT or Biofloc Technology to farm fish in tanks under a carefully controlled environment. The fact that the environment is regularly monitored enhances the yield quality and quantity, ultimately increasing profitability and sustainability of the fish farming agribusiness. A 2 m2 tank can hold up to 3000 fish, which is a superb cost to benefit metric, making BFT fish farming a favourite among new agripreneurs and fish farmers.
There is immense market potential and space for new entrepreneurs to set-up their own biofloc fish farms and earn huge profits from their agribusiness. Agribusiness enthusiasts are gravitating towards learning biofloc fish farming due to the cyclical sustainability model that BFT works on – the waste excreted by the fish gets transformed into nutrients and minerals through BFT, and the fish thrive in the nutrient-rich culture which is kept fresh and healthy with little manual intervention. Learn BFT Fish farming with us!
Hydroponic Farming
Hydroponic farming is a modern farming technique that strives to minimize input and maximize output by skipping the soil as carrier for nutrients and using water instead, making hydroponic farming a subset of hydroculture. Nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium etc. are added to the water and the water is circulated throughout the farm with the help of a hydroponic system. A healthy yield is guaranteed as absorption of nutrients is faster and more targeted, which are administered through nutrient solutions that can be tailored to suit the crop.
Further, since hydroponic farming can be conducted in racks, vertical farm space is often well utilized, thereby maximizing yield per square meter and maximizing space utilization. Coupled with maximized water utilization (due to the reusable nature of the nutrient-rich water), hydroponic farming is often deemed to be one of the most sustainable forms of agricultural techniques and one where the cost keeps on diminishing with time. However, there are considerable costs that one must bear at the beginning to create the infrastructural premise in order to perfectly carry out the practice for your agribusiness. Learn more about hydroponic farming here.
Organic Farming
With increasing awareness and understanding how fertilizers, medicines and artificial feed travels through fruits, vegetables and meat into our food cycle, the demand of organic food is increasing with every passing day. India is seeing a major shift in demographic makeup pertaining to urbanization and development. India has become a country with one of the fastest growing middle class in the world, translating into an amplified demand for quality fruits, vegetables and animal products.
This implies that there is a lot of room in the market for new organic farmers and agripreneurs to capture the gap between the current demand and supply when it comes to clean, pesticide-free food that is fortified with organic and naturally processed fertilizers.
The practice of growing and rearing food-based crops and livestock using non-artificial, naturally occurring and naturally processed nutrient-mixes, feed and pest-control methods is known as organic farming. Organic farming is the sustainable and carbon-efficient alternative to cheap, pesticide-laden farming practices which end up depleting the nutrient content of foods and potentially harming the consumer. Learn how to start a profitable organic farming agribusiness with Rocket Skills.
Poultry Farming
The two main reasons why poultry farmers farm birds are for eggs and meat. The hens that are specifically raised for the purpose of laying eggs are called “layers”, while the ones that are farmed for their meat fall within the “broiler” category (however, “broiler” is essentially a chicken that is 6-7 weeks in age, and much smaller and tender than a fully grown bird). The way these birds are raised, including their feed, environment and space to their disposal guides the final quality of the eggs and the meat, and consequently, guides the price at which the produce is sold in the market.
Another consideration around the way these birds are farmed is the ethical consideration, where free range birds are said to be kept much happier and freer as compared to the caged ones, and thereby, find many ethical takers who are willing to pay a premium for the same. Similarly, birds fed with organic feed command a better price in the market, both in terms of meat as well as eggs. Learn poultry farming online!
You can attend our upcoming webinars to learn more about each of these agribusinesses, their earning potential, market demand and upfront costs. For anything else, visit www.rocketskills.in!
