Hallo Nairaland farmers, good to be with you again. Today we will discuss the cost of farm activities. I will use maize as an example. Some of the farm practices involved are quite similar to other crops. Some of the activities are easy enough for you to get a few other people to join you in order to minimize costs while you have to contract some of the jobs like tractorization out.

Before talking about the main topic, I hope that Nairalanders are aware that it is not so difficult for them to secure land for farming from their various communities? All you have to do is to tender your request through the Head of Department, Agric. in your LGA to the Chairman of the Local Government. They will assist you to get it. Or you make a direct request from your community leader. Making land available for you to use is supported in the Land Use Act. Considering the type of country Nigeria has become, you might have to give them a token for it. The good news is that you are eligible for up to 500 hectares. But remember that the land does not belong to you, and after a certain period of time, if you do not utilize it, they are allowed to take it back from you (after 4 years). However, if you are putting it to good use, you can be allowed to use it for a very long time.

Back to our business for the day. Back in the days when our grandparents and great grandparents farmed, they did not spend much money. They had their land (inherited family land), they had seed reserved from previous harvest or they could just ask a brother for some, or in the worst instance, they buy from the open market. Then, they would move the entire family - wives, children and grandchildren to the farm (after all, they will all eat from the harvest). The men will make the ridges and the women and the children will plant the seed, (except in the case of crops like yam). They can plant that very day if the soil is moist, or wait till the next rainfall. They will visit the farm at intervals and do the needful, especially pertaining to weeding. If they have fertilizer, they apply. If they don't, no qualms. Then, they wait for rainfall to do its part.

Nowadays, the practice has changed. Many of us no longer live in our family compounds, so we have to rent or seek permission to use other people's land. Technology has also made it possible that we no longer have to bend over to till the soil. Tractors are available to do such tedious work for us. Also, the kind of activities involved in the farming have also changed. Now it costs more to farm than then, but the end results are also more favorable than it used to be then. Let us take a look at what it costs to farm maize, even though our technology here in Nigeria is still far behind what is obtainable in developed countries.

AN EXAMPLE OF MAIZE FARMING ON A HECTARE OF LAND.
Seeds ----------------------- -------------------- N10,000.00 (20kg)
Plough/Harrow/Ridge ----------------------------- N20,000.00 (on day job basis)
Herbicide ----------------------------------------- N4,000.00
Labour for herbicide application -------------------- N6,000.00 (max.)
Liquid Organic fertilizer ---------------------------- N15,000.00 (4 litres)
Labour for fertilizer application ---------------------- N20,000.00 (max)
Harvesting and Threshing -------------------------- N10,000.00 (or less)
Transportation ------------------------------------ N10,000.00 (or less)
Marketing ----------------------------------------- N10,000.00 (or less)
Miscellaneous ------------------------------------- N5,000.00
Total ---------------------------------------------N110,000.00

Using good seed and carrying out the right practices, You should expect a very high yield. Maize under normal practices will yield about 5600kg per hectare. With a combination of high yielding seeds and adequate organic fertilizer, you should expect higher than normal yield of about 10,000 kg or even more per hectare.

Please give it a try. Most crops will be ready for harvest in 3-4 months. By then you would have started planning for your irrigation farming. So that you can make farming an all year round business.

I look forward to interacting with you guys again. Remember to add your questions, comments and observations. The next topic I will be sharing with you is on accessing government loan.

Cheers.

Nice info, keep it coming

funstufz:
Nice info, keep it coming

thanks o funstufz but I am not sharing this for fun. It is meant to be utilized.

Part B:
Apart from seeds and fertilizers, you also need herbicide. I tell you that our kind of weed here in Nigeria are opportunistic weeds. Infact, they are a liability to farmers. They are sure to consume most of the nutrients that you make available to your plants. Some times they make your plants look very small, and their seed very scanty while they ( the weeds) look like they are the ones you planted. That is why farmers like myself don't play friendlies with them. Trying to hoe weed manually increases your costs and eats into your profit. Remember that a businessman is very kobowise. So, I prefer to use a herbicide that kills all the weed and keeps my farm weed free throughout the season. But you have to be patient for it to work for about weeks before you continue work on your farm. And by the way, what is two weeks compared to the kind of loss that they cause you?

Afterwards, you plough, harrow very well and ridge then you can go ahead to plant. Before planting, you should make sure that all your seeds are viable. That is to say that they are all seeds with healthy pods minus chaff. I am sure you will not expect a shrunken maize or bean seed to produce an excellent fruit. When we were given rice to plant by the federal government, by the time we had carried out seed selection ( we have a special method for that), about 40% of it was just chaff. Imagine planting that 40% of chaff on your farm. What do you expect to gain from the harvest? That is why seed selection is very important.

Another important practice is the spacing you give your seeds. Every plant has its own spacing requirement, much of which is dependent on how far their roots can spread. Some require much spacing while others don't and if they are too closely planted, you find them competing for nutrients, you know, survival of the fittest. Also, the number of seeds that you are planting per hole is also very important. Since you have sorted the seeds, one seed per hole is just enough. At most, it should be two.

Make sure that while ridging, the borders of your farm are well raised so that water can collect in your farm. Whenever you feel that the water is too much, you can just make a small opening in one of the ridges so that the water will seep out gradually.

If you are using organic fertilizer, follow the direction for use. Each plant has its time for application. But generally, you can apply at pre-planting ( that is applying to the seed before you plant) or once it starts germinating. Y can apply a second round 3-4 weeks after, and a third round when it starts flowering.

If your farm was properly cleared of weed before planting, you might not have any cause to weed or re-apply herbicide. But where you have to weed or re-apply herbicide, please do not hesitate because weeds are one of the factors responsible for poor yield. I you are using herbicide, make sure it is selective of that crop. Other things you should watch you for are pests or rodents that may attack the plant of fruit.

Then you look up to the Almighty for sufficient rainfall and a bumper harvest.

Later on, we will do financial calculations involved in farming. And for those who will want to approach banks for loan, we will discuss how to go about it.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions you can just call 08172346102 or email me at urafola@yahoo.com. There are alot of topics I will be sharing with you as time goes by, so that we will understand the concept of agric as a business. Your comments, contributions, and observations are all welcome.
God bless you all and bless Nigeria too.

Ura:


thanks o funstufz but I am not sharing this for fun. It is meant to be utilized.

Utilization is the focus here...
Welldone

Thank you bros. Good to know that the gist makes sense to someone. Someone who was curious about why farming is very successful in some western countries traveled to three countries and brought back information. We had to put the information together and practicalize them. The results were amazing. In fact, if I were to give the full gist, you will see that we are very very very backward technologically. He wanted to sell the idea to the government, but trust our government, they always prefer wuru wuru to the answer. And our people too take style lazy. I believe that spreading the information free is the best way to propagate it. Anyone can just try it even on a small piece of land. the results are wonderful.

Good and highly informative write up. keep it coming. I am into yam and maize farming though not for commercial purpose.

Jonnic1:
Good and highly informative write up. keep it coming. I am into yam and maize farming though not for commercial purpose.

Don,t you want to go on a commercial scale? Even as a small farmer, there are varieties of maize that you can reproduce for seed companies and they will pay you for it. If perhaps you have a bigger farm which may not be close to you, you can partner with friends and they will work with you and keep you company on the farm and at the end of the day you share the profit among yourselves. And with that your little farm, the government can support you with loan.

.

Nice write up with useful infos..keep it coming bro!

Ura:
.

keep it coming, seriously feeling you.

Ura:
Hallo Nairaland farmers, good to be with you again. Today we will discuss the cost of farm activities. I will use maize as an example. Some of the farm practices involved are quite similar to other crops. Some of the activities are easy enough for you to get a few other people to join you in order to minimize costs while you have to contract some of the jobs like tractorization out.
Before talking about the main topic, I hope that Nairalanders are aware that it is not so difficult for them to secure land for farming from their various communities? All you have to do is to tender your request through the Head of Department, Agric. in your LGA to the Chairman of the Local Government. They will assist you to get it. Or you make a direct request from your community leader. Making land available for you to use is supported in the Land Use Act. Considering the type of country Nigeria has become, you might have to give them a token for it. The good news is that you are eligible for up to 500 hectares. But remember that the land does not belong to you, and after a certain period of time, if you do not utilize it, they are allowed to take it back from you (after 4 years). However, if you are putting it to good use, you can be allowed to use it for a very long time.
Back to our business for the day. Back in the days when our grandparents and great grandparents farmed, they did not spend much money. They had their land (inherited family land), they had seed reserved from previous harvest or they could just ask a brother for some, or in the worst instance, they buy from the open market. Then, they would move the entire family - wives, children and grandchildren to the farm (after all, they will all eat from the harvest). The men will make the ridges and the women and the children will plant the seed, (except in the case of crops like yam). They can plant that very day if the soil is moist, or wait till the next rainfall. They will visit the farm at intervals and do the needful, especially pertaining to weeding. If they have fertilizer, they apply. If they don't, no qualms. Then, they wait for rainfall to do its part.
Nowadays, the practice has changed. Many of us no longer live in our family compounds, so we have to rent or seek permission to use other people's land. Technology has also made it possible that we no longer have to bend over to till the soil. Tractors are available to do such tedious work for us. Also, the kind of activities involved in the farming have also changed. Now it costs more to farm than then, but the end results are also more favorable than it used to be then. Let us take a look at what it costs to farm maize, even though our technology here in Nigeria is still far behind what is obtainable in developed countries.
AN EXAMPLE OF MAIZE FARMING ON A HECTARE OF LAND.
Seeds ----------------------- -------------------- N10,000.00 (20kg)
Plough/Harrow/Ridge ----------------------------- N20,000.00 (on day job basis)
Herbicide ----------------------------------------- N4,000.00
Labour for herbicide application -------------------- N6,000.00 (max.)
Liquid Organic fertilizer ---------------------------- N15,000.00 (4 litres)
Labour for fertilizer application ---------------------- N20,000.00 (max)
Harvesting and Threshing -------------------------- N10,000.00 (or less)
Transportation ------------------------------------ N10,000.00 (or less)
Marketing ----------------------------------------- N10,000.00 (or less)
Miscellaneous ------------------------------------- N5,000.00
Total ---------------------------------------------N110,000.00
Using good seed and carrying out the right practices, You should expect a very high yield. Maize under normal practices will yield about 5600kg per hectare. With a combination of high yielding seeds and adequate organic fertilizer, you should expect higher than normal yield of about 10,000 kg or even more per hectare.
Please give it a try. Most crops will be ready for harvest in 3-4 months. By then you would have started planning for your irrigation farming. So that you can make farming an all year round business.
I look forward to interacting with you guys again. Remember to add your questions, comments and observations. The next topic I will be sharing with you is on accessing government loan.
Cheers.

Mr Ura, I like your posts. It is always good to hear from positive thinking people, not those who emit negative energy throughout the thread. I hate such environments which is why I have not posted in the agric section for some time now.

I have a question: I see you did not make provision for Aflasafe application. I actually want to use it for the first time ever and I was hoping you could shed some light on it. Thanks.

stagger:


Mr Ura, I like your posts. It is always good to hear from positive thinking people, not those who emit negative energy throughout the thread. I hate such environments which is why I have not posted in the agric section for some time now.

I have a question: I see you did not make provision for Aflasafe application. I actually want to use it for the first time ever and I was hoping you could shed some light on it. Thanks.

Aflasafe is meant to prevent aflatoxin infection in crops that are susceptible to it, including, maize, groundnut, rice and cassava. You apply it to your farm about 3 weeks before your plants start to flower. Application method is by hand spreading on the farm. Quantity needed per hectare is 10kg, at most, use 20kg. The good thing is that one application can work for several years.

I thank you for your comment and I want to encourage you to continue posting in the agric section. I am sure that even the negatively thinking people will learn from you and change their thought ways. If they were related to you by blood, would you stop interacting with them?
I wish you a bountiful harvest this farming season.

Ok thank you very much.

Hi Ura,
Please can we hook up on whatsapp...I am going newly into maize farming...I need a piece of wonderful advice.please please
08137565773