Business Opportunities – Agriculture – Non Food

One of the biggest hindrances to agriculture is the level of theft experienced on the farms. It is for this reason that I wish to look at some non-food items that are less prone to being stolen but which still provide great returns on investment.

The first area is that of timber which after years of people protesting about cutting down trees to make paper products has begun to make a resurgence. This is because environmentalists have realized that Styrofoam and plastics are much worse for the planet than paper. The key to forestry though is to do it in a renewable way i.e. when trees are cut down, new one should be planted to replace the stock. In addition plant trees of varying ages to maturity so as to ensure that there is a continuous supply of material. Forestry however needs large acreages of lands and it may be that lands which are not viable for other crops such as sugar and bananas may be ideally suited for trees. On a smaller scale trees could be grown for the local charcoal industry, i.e. pan chicken and jerk pork. In this case branches could be cut from the tree without killing the tree and leaving it to grow replacement limbs for future harvesting.

There are a wide variety of grasses and flowers that can be grown for production of bio diesel and ethanol or for fragrances/beauty products. Some examples are aloe vera, lemon grass, rosemarie, and a wide assortment of flowers. There is a lot of research to be found on the internet regarding these items. Of course I could not forget to mention all of those products that can be grown for medicinal purposes. The drug and health business is one of the biggest industries in the world and we only need a small part of it. Today nearly every new medical drug comes from a plant source and this is unlikely to change in the near future. We may not have the resources to make the drugs but we can certainly grow the items needed to produce them. At this time when oil is so expensive there is a lot of research into alternative sources of fuel and this is a section of the market into which we may be able to tap.

One other area that you may not have thought of is that of plants grown for fabrics. The mood has changed in the market place and there is growing demand for natural fibres. One such example is West Indian sea cotton which is rated as one of the finest materials in the world and attracts a hefty premium in price. Synthetic materials may dominate the marketplace but there is an unmet demand for the natural products.

These are but a few ideas and many more exist it only requires one to spend a little time in researching the internet to come up with possible products.