Corn flour is one of the byproduct of maize and it’s investment can be a money-spinning venture.
Maize is the third most important cereal grown in Nigeria after sorghum and millet. It comes after wheat and rice in terms of world importance.
This is so because investment in maize can be done alongside other businesses without any problems.
Just as maize farming is critical to corn flour business, both are sure ways to become employers of labour.
However, states like; Nasarawa, Kaduna, Niger, Benue, Kogi, Katsina, Zamfara and Taraba States have specialty in corn flour.
As Corn flour is just one of the byeproducts from maize farming, corn flour can be used as Ogi by Yoruba people; Akamu by Edo and some Easterners and it can also be converted into corn flakes, corn meal, corn soup, corn porridge, corn cake, and so on.
Speaking with me in a chat, a civil servant and an Ondo farmer, Mr Wale Adeyemi explains that, going into corn flour involves having maize farm because corn flour is derived from maize.
Explaining further, Adeyemi says, most people who rarely know the different between corn and maize use the word interchangeably, explaining that, corn flour can only be gotten through maize farming.
“Farmers grow maize, however, they sell it to other places as corn, especially, when it will be used as food. We cook and roast corn, not maize,” he says.
To him, “Maize farming takes just two months to mature.. I will advise interested people to go into maize farming because we are in maize planting season. Maize farming is good from 15th of March and1st of April, although, planting could be done as soon as rainfall becomes steady.”
Another farmer from Edo State, who planted maize among his farm products, Mr Emmanuel Ebhohon, advises anyone interested in corn flour to seek alliance with maize farmers for easy access to corn flour, which he agreed can be grinded after soak for some minutes or can be grinded while in its dried form.
According to Ebhohon, planting maize is very simple because it friendlier to some soils.
Business Capital
With N50,000 and above, one can start the business, according to LEADERSHIP market survey.
Profitability
My investigations show that one can make between N800,000 and N1million and above at each harvesting period which comes four to five times in a year. Aside selling the maize, he says, corn can further be processed for corn flour or Pap.
For corn flour, the corn has to be dried and later grinded with grinding machine. What comes thereafter is corn flour.
However, for pap, the dried corn would be soaked for two to three days and later be grinded into pap called Ogi.
