LegitPlug:


Thanks for your input. I actually used the 25cm spacing on the same row and 75cm spacing in-between rows. The problem can't be spacing but my workers could have missed the affected areas during fertilizer application.

I'll be doing second application of fertilizer (Urea) on monday, is it advisable I go ahead despite most of my corn being at the stage in the attached picture while some are about 3 weeks behind?

If you apply urea on Monday, it is still going to be good but as for me, I would have preferred you apply a nitrogen source that is quickly accessible to the plants considering the stage of growth they are now. If you're considering economics, go for urea as little money will buy more kilos of nitrogen than in any other type of nitrogen source. But, Urea will take some time to be broken down in the soil in the form your crop could take but that depend on your soil ambient temperature, if it's quite high, it's favourable to you, and soil moisture, that is not a problem now considering the time we are now.
Generally, if you've been having a larger part of the day with a temperature above 25 degree Celsius, around just that period you begin to feel cold, in your area, go ahead with the urea application but it might take about 3 days for the nitrogen it it to be accessible to your crop. To be smart, get some NPK, with higher nitrogen and mix with the urea so that before the Nitrogen in the NPK finishes, the nitrogen in your urea is ready.
Nitrogen is very important during corn kernels filling and your crop will start that soon considering more water availability at this period. The fertilizer will go a long to to at least improve your yield hence your profit marginally in respect to the effect of stress your crop have gone through before. It is a nice idea. After two weeks, all things being equal, they will respond to it and you'll be glad. But next time, it would be better you apply just before tarseling for more results.

Also, as for the leaf blight/necrosis, it will take an expert to come to your field, research to judge which type and cause. There are three factors to come together for disease to attack your crop at a relative intensity. Maize roots contains a compound naturally to help it fight some bacteria and fungi attacks but if stressed, expect the level to be low, Just like human immunity. These factors are: (1) Virulent micro organism (2) favourable environmental condition (3) susceptible host.

1 above was that which caused the blight or necrosis
2 was no rain (water stress). If you look at your crop, from the old leaves, you'd see that soil needs some nutrients like sulphur, Nitrogen, Magnesium and small phosphorus (I listed the important ones glaring) among others
3 was your crop, they were tired. No energy to fight

My question now is, that part with stunted maize plants there, can you describe the soil structure there briefly. Like the colour, its stickiness, any plants remains and comparison with the rest.

The way Nigeria dey now and go still be, education with plan B-Z go be way. I dey try reason my guy wetin he know, he yawn book. I just told him to keep quiet. Which book? Wetin you know wey another person no know? You know book pass google and textbooks? Wetin you know? Wetin your hands fit do, eating your initiative fit turn to money, You fit twerk on social media, you fit have sex on national TV, you fit catwork, you fit lie like national lie, mass lie, you fit talk? You fit talk so Tay you liberate or enslave people so tay dem begin dey bring their money give you

You don't know anything unless what you know is feeding you. That's the evidence you know. Her own still better. Las las if all not work for her, Aunty Joy go come do abortion 3 times, she go bring her 3 friends, den go bring their friends, gather the money together build one clinic, repent and she's OK.

Finnish:
When New updates?

Academics is holding me down on campus. My project proposal was rejected on lags from my supervisor's part by the research committee. I need to prepare a new one and that's what I'm doing now.

For long now, I've not been to my farm, I miss it and sincerely don't know what might be going on there. I'm just like a soldier in a war front with pregnant wife at home

His view of innovation.
The roles of the powerful people fighting it
The attitude of the people the innovation is meant for
The benefits the powerful fighting it derived.

Finnish:


Ah, This sounds like rocket science stuff, I just need a simple DIY, normally I would have just gotten a land and plant, but was thinking about testing soil after reading posts here, sounds complicated, I'll just pass, the land you planted maize on, do you do any kind of test?

Didn't do not really so much of soil test. In as much you're gon apply fertilizer, just understand the nutrient requirements of your crop. In fact you're good to good once your soil is mostly loam. Where the question comes is if it's Sandy loam or clay loam. OK, I'll explain.

Maize, for example prefers silty loam as it is well drained. Organic matter(humus) content too is important not because they will add nutrients, they're even slow releasing. But they improve the Cation Exchange Capacity of your soil. What is CEC? Ability of your soil to exchange nutrients mostly with your crop roots. How does organic matter( humus) affect nutrients availability to your crop? Humus carries those nutrients on their head like bucket of water so that the roots can take them up.

Let me share one tip with you.
Do you know why, if you apply fertilizer to some soil especially the once cropped ones, yield might still be low to expectations? Low humus or organic content. Nitrogen might get leached, phosphorus becomes fixated(added to soil rock mineral structure, the therefore not available for crop use), potassium becomes inactivated because nothing to carry them up like bucket.

You really want to let the manure work? Apply it earlier than planting, usually months. Because they're slow releasing nutrients and if you do this, you won't have issues with micro nutrients(boron,maganese,zinc etc) and by the time you apply the fertilizer, you'd be surprised yourself. One of the reasons monoculture monocroping is successful in developed countries.

If I'd plant any crop on a *humus rich soil*, before I'd use fertilizer at two weeks, I'd observe the old leaves. If purple margin, I know I've got issues with phosphorus, if yellowish beginning from margin, I know I'm in soup for nitrogen, if it's tinny and weak, I begin to look to calcium and zinc, if yellowish from a spot then spreading, sulphur. Light greenish parallel lines, magnesium

So this will give me a rough framework of nutrients I need to add to the soil.
I'll buy NPK fertilizer according to the ratio of what I need most
Get Epsom salt. It's cheap all around us 3 sachets of 25g goes for #50.
I'll get the rest from common source and apply.
Don't be deceived, if you know how much potassium is in NPK 15:15:15 50kg you'll be amazed and that is what you're using on a large or relatively large farmland the rest are just fillers. So you don't need to get those materials much. I use ash as my own fillers

To be continued.....

The rain has established itself here again. All glory to God. I'll be making a new thread of Cowpea(cowpea) production in the southwest very soon. The variety we are planting is Ife Bimpe and it arrived yesterday but I'm yet to receive its delivery. My partner and I are doing really great about the cowpea. And by God's grace, we're looking at some kind of 1-2 acres or 1 hectare and we were there today to map it out although we want them on different locations so as to manage pest infestation using depopulation strategy.

The planning is still subjected to a lot of considerations due to nature of cowpea interactions with many climatic conditions and climate change is here.

My proposal presentation is coming up very soon too so I might not be available everytime.

More updates coming......

Finnish:


Great one, I read you talked about testing land/soil for fertility, before buying a land, how do you test the soil to know if it's fertile or not?

You'd probably use any of the soil testing facilities in the country but most are usually private and expensive too.

Although you could do it roughly by yourself by studying the kind of vegetation on the land but it's not really realistic as it is not quantifiable and rough as it is not too good by agriculture standard and moreso to me, any kind of soil fertility test that neglets in situ visit to the farmland, is not complete. Soil structure and other in situ characteristics are important too

And if you have a bit of self built soil chemical kit around you or buy one from these companies, they could give a rough estimate of what types of nutrients' ions are in the soil but not their amount, that would get some kind of background to your soil fertility.

DFPS:
give me there contact pls, I need ur contact too

I couldn't access my email for now. My hotline and whatsapp 0 9 0 6 6 6 5 0 8 0 8

DFPS:
give me there contact pls, I need ur contact too

I've seen that you emailed me. I'll share my contact with the reply so that we could talk on whatsapp and to share you the contact at Providence

I can get you a contact at Providence Ibadan. They're good, products are relatively cheaper than ones in market, good customers relationship and quality products. Get my poultry equipment from them.

Finnish:
Great job, you're doing well, I'm impressed, can you share side hustle that's bringing you something? You talked about selling a goat or something like that

Nothing really much. I'm into livestock production. I keep poultry. Sometimes train them to maturity and sell another time just brood for a month and sell. This Christmas, it's business. I keep local fowls, their eggs are quite expensive than layers, and they move faster than agric in terms of liquidity, I keep rabbits etc. I'm into livestock feed milling. I have a shop where I sell that. I keep goat too. Started from buying sick goats from people who might not be able to afford medical care with good progeny from people cheaply because they're expensive here, treat them myself and add to my flock. I offer vet services within the scope of agriculture, once beyond that, I invite my vet friends to my customers.

And integrity is key in what you do. That has kept me in business. My specialization teaches: don't promise what you can't do to your clients. If you don't know let them know you don't know but you could tell to get back to them later. If you have to invite subject matter specialists, do. Financial integrity is key. And let your clients see that their interests are above money.

willybaby:
Senior farmers in the house, share you experience have you ever experienced August break in July, infact how would August be like..

It has not been encouraging at all. But innovation and God's care have been seeing one through.

Sorry I couldn't keep my words. The irrigation progress today didn't permit me of time. I'll be available on whatsapp from tonight.

Aggressive irrigation continued today. I would have updated with pictures but my phone's battery was flat. Irrigation to continue tomorrow. Crops coping and adjusting.....

Alright. We will chat on whatsapp. Location not too far together.

We can hustle it out this week if you want. How much do you want to pay per kilo? Wet or dry?

IamAsiri:


I tried chatting with you and realised that your number is not connected to WhatsApp. Kindly provide me with your WhatsApp number so I can enquire about the rabbits. Thanks.

Abeg no vex.

I recently deleted my whatsapp account because I saw it swallowing money than it was yielding ROIs among other reasons but tomorrow afternoon, that number will be available on whatsapp God's grace, because I need attend to farm in the morning.

IamAsiri:


I tried chatting with you and realised that your number is not connected to WhatsApp. Kindly provide me with your WhatsApp number so I can enquire about the rabbits. Thanks.

I recently deleted my whatsapp account because I saw it swallowing money than it was yielding ROIs among other reasons but tomorrow afternoon, that number will be available on whatsapp God's grace, because I need attend to farm in the morning.

My maize field so far

One important lesson I learnt was soil compactness in relation to top soil water availability to maize use during drought.

I noticed that most maize fields that failed were either planted on ridges with cassava or on a maximum tilled soil.

My explanation:

This created a semi top soil that is too loose and drained permitting water to easily drench through the soil layers or easily lost as intra layer evaporation.

The failure was bearable on minimum or zero tillage soils majorly due to soil compactness.

My conclusion: experience added
If you're planting early late or late late maize, minimum or zero tillage would be good. And also used high planting density if the variety permits it so as to create a pseudo shade to reduce soil water loss.

Otherwise if you're planting mid early maize with or without cassava.

My partner and I just roasted some maize we brought from home after work. We dey chop the corn dey yab the rain, dey yab devil hin vex do like say hin wan fall but scatter again , drizzled small con dey blow cool breeze now meaning hin don fall somewhere close, ours do still fall here we know but yabbing continues tomorrow after irrigation

The method was not fully compatible with single stands, we just had to water them enough singly then mulched them. Care must be taken if your local temperature is high as it could increase the temperature of the irrigation water in the plastics so better mulching to reduce this must be considered.

Mulching done... One thing I thank God for is relative humidity is high and wind speed is low, interchangeable with good sun radiance . If these three extremes came up now with rain stop, na wahala.

I picked those waste bottles, filled them with water, pricked it with a needle so the water could only drip, purged it at the top to allow air entrance, kept it inbetween the stands of maize, used something to support and balance it not to rest on the maize plants because if the soil became wet either through rainfall or after the irrigation water finished, the plant might become weak and susceptible to falling from excessive force of rest, then mulched it.

alakara:
We're in July/ Aug break.

July rain self reach? Even irrigation now is dependent on availability of water. Shey we go call this one climate change?

dragon2:
I also check my phone app for weather updates. Fingers crossed. Hopefully,the root zone water does not dry up before the rains return.

How many days of no rain now? Mulching might do o

Dayo1988:
Not only u bross i planted 11/2hecter but no rain d same age with urs , I have turned to meteorologist

Na die here. Almost two weeks no rain. Crops don dey fail here especially transplanted ones. We just dey pray to avert food crisis

This mid planting season lack of rain is just worrisome.

My candid advice for any maize farmer now is to think of irrigation especially if one's crops are attaining fruiting stage.

I did lot of cloud tracing and weather forecast readings for some days now and it has not been encouraging at all.

The one it drizzled here was less than 1mm yesterday when forecast predicted 8mm. Both are still low.

So far now, forecast is expecting 9mm on my farm location and it would even be once throughout this week, I couldn't imagine what the reality would be like except miracles happen.

I already worked out an irrigation plan that would be cheap yet efficient moreso, relative humidity and albedo are encouraging for soil water conservation for now.

I'll be sharing the updates today when on farm.

More...

I am currently having a very low outbreak of fall armyworm on my field and the emamectin I bought in preparation was still not used.

I have been trying to look into the reasons of this God's goodness, despite it heavy infestation on other fields then I saw this phenomenon

I can't identify this natural enemy but surely did contact IITA, but still expecting response and a prof of entomology at the Cornell University College of Agriculture, USA.

If you can, would be appreciated

Done yesterday evening but just posting it now.

Made the suggestion of evening towards night because of fertilizer volatilization especially sunny and dry period, considering the method of application, labour source and farm size. Can't buy 21kg of fertilizer and effective one that gets to the soil less than 10kg, that's wastage.

There hasn't been rain for four days now but we should have today. I'm praying.....

Dear potential buyer(s),

Please don't be annoyed for my delay responses to your messages.

The new number I used to reply the messages is also mine. I would have dropped it here but I don't know if off hand.

I'm trying to settle some things here reason for the delay. I have replied to them accordingly.

The rabbits are still very much available....