Maize farmers help! I'm a newbie and I've been totalling the costs on planting maize on one acre of land and it seems the profits are going to be too meagre that's if there's any profit. Pls any advice for a newbie maize farmer from the gurus in the house?

Someone please help a sister!

"There is much profit, Just do it on a small scale to get the experience before doing it on acres land"

bubedchemist:
"There is much profit,
Just do it on a small scale to get the experience before doing it on acres land"

I'm just asking about the profitability, I asked on how much it is to clear an acre of land and make heaps I was told 60k ,and I'm thinking I won't make a profit if I spend that much on just clearing

I just got the following:

- 20kg of Oba98 at N375 per kilo from Premier Seeds: (7,500)
- Leased 1 hectare of land: 10,500
- land clearing: 20,000 (opted for manual clearing to preserve the top soil. I also want to plough in the stump remnants into the soil)
- 3 litres of Paraquat @ 1,600 each: 4,800
- 3 kg of Atrazine Powder @ 2,300 each: 6,900
- Sprayer will spray the herbicides at 10,500 for the entire hectare.
- Seed planter from China: 50,000 (could have been cheaper but I used express shipping). I plan to hire 1 person to plant the whole hectare in one day @ 5,000 max. I want to get the spacing spot on and reduce labour costs.
- Tractor hiring for tilling and harrowing: not yet negotiated.

Here is my plan.
- I will plant half the land now, and half in two weeks time. This is to provide a gap in fruiting to allow me sell the first half fresh.
- I plan to use organic fertilizer 100%. I have searched for the inorganic one at govt price of 5,500. It is not available and it is N10,000 in the open market. Not cost-effective if you ask me.
- Insecticides will be used at the appropriate time.

Threats?
- Rodents
- Birds
- ??Army worms
- Herdsmen

Still searching for solutions to these possible threats. I am told that special routes for grazing were created for the herdsmen in that area and there have been no squabbles between farmers and the herdsmen in that area in recent history. We shall see how this goes.

TARGETS
2 cobs per plant, X 50,000 plants at spacing of 25cm X 75cm goal will deliver 100,000 cobs.
Allowance will be made for 50% loss of plants, so we aim to get 50,000 fresh cobs, 100 cobs per bag, N3,000 per bag. This will deliver returns of N1.5m as worst case scenario (for investment of N200,000).

I plan to sell fresh maize, not shelled maize. I will do shelled maize in the dry season with a borehole on another land I own.

Please note: this is a pilot project so my goal here is to learn, learn and learn before I expand.
- Shelled maize vs Fresh maize: which pays better?
- is 100% organic fertilizer use a feasible replacement for inorganic NPK/Urea?
- what is the best solution to contain the threats I mentioned above?

These are the questions I seek to answer.

60k an acre seems too much.Thats about 150k a hectare. Is it machine or manual clearance? How thick is the vegetation? I would think more 50-60k a hectare for manual labour.

dragon2:
60k an acre seems too much.Thats about 150k a hectare. Is it machine or manual clearance? How thick is the vegetation? I would think more 50-60k a hectare for manual labour.

You are right. 60k an acre is for clearance and heaping (not even ridging) is daylight robbery. Even tractor hire won't cost that much.

Good thread. 60K to clear one acre of land is too much even if the land is virgin. Look for options or choose a tractorable land.

@stagger. Nice breakdown. Few observations: 1. Please share details of the seed planter. Few of us asked on the other thread. 2. It will be great if you can share your yield per hectare for this regimen. 3. NPK 15.15.15 is now N7,000 per bag. Have you tried Diammonium Phosphate (DAP 46.0.0) especially mixed with urea for maize? You need to use 'tried and tested' vs this organic fertilizer.

Shelled maize is better especially when one understands and leverage the timing for maize. Maize prices go up from January. Current price is over 150Kper ton. Fresh maize comes with risks especially glut and therefore very low price. For army worm, be close to the farm and immediately you notice any attack, use Army Force for mild attack or Ampligo by Syngenta for severe attack.

Below is the breakdown analysis of my maize farm;

Cost analysis for start up of maize farm on one hectare of land:
All calculations is based on one hectare (15plots; 100m by 100m)


»Pre-stage:
Collection of Form from Govt ₦500
Annual payment ₦5,000


»First phase:
Ploughing ₦11,000
20kg of maize ₦5,000
Planting ₦3,500
Spraying cost ₦3,500
Glyphosate 4 @ ₦1,000 = ₦4,000
Attrazine Powder 4 @ ₦1,600 = ₦6,400
NPK 15:15 Fertilizer (15kg) 4bags@₦10,500 = ₦42,000


»2nd phase of maize farming:
Fertilizer application (labour cost for 4bags) ₦4,000
Striker 4 @ ₦2,200 = ₦8,800
Attrazine powder 4 @ ₦1,500 = ₦6,000
Cost of spraying ₦4,000
Transportation of fertilizer to farm ₦1,000


»Pests infestation:
Sniper 3 @ ₦3,000 = ₦9,000
Best 3 @ ₦2,500 = ₦7,500
Labour ₦4,000


»»Third and last phase of maize weeds spraying:
Striker 3 @ ₦2,200 = ₦6,600
Attrazine powder 3 @₦1,500 = ₦4,500.
Cost of spraying ₦4,000

fison:
Below is the breakdown analysis of my maize farm;

Cost analysis for start up of maize farm on one hectare of land:
All calculations is based on one hectare (15plots; 100m by 100m)


»Pre-stage:
Collection of Form from Govt ₦500
Annual payment ₦5,000


»First phase:
Ploughing ₦11,000
20kg of maize ₦5,000
Planting ₦3,500
Spraying cost ₦3,500
Glyphosate 4 @ ₦1,000 = ₦4,000
Attrazine Powder 4 @ ₦1,600 = ₦6,400
NPK 15:15 Fertilizer (15kg) 4bags@₦10,500 = ₦42,000


»2nd phase of maize farming:
Fertilizer application (labour cost for 4bags) ₦4,000
Striker 4 @ ₦2,200 = ₦8,800
Attrazine powder 4 @ ₦1,500 = ₦6,000
Cost of spraying ₦4,000
Transportation of fertilizer to farm ₦1,000


»Pests infestation:
Sniper 3 @ ₦3,000 = ₦9,000
Best 3 @ ₦2,500 = ₦7,500
Labour ₦4,000


»»Third and last phase of maize weeds spraying:
Striker 3 @ ₦2,200 = ₦6,600
Attrazine powder 3 @₦1,500 = ₦4,500.
Cost of spraying ₦4,000

Thanks for this. Please what is the Best and Striker chemicals used for? Are they insecticides or pesticides?

Thanks for this. Please what is the Best and Striker chemicals used for? Are they insecticides or pesticides?


Striker is a pre-emergence herbicide while Best is insecticide

1.5 hectare maize farm leased in Niyya Farms Kaduna state; Cost so far:-
#15,000 for the annual lease
#10,000 for manual clearing
#7,200 for ploughing
#20,000 for manual planting
#5,000 for spraying (powerforce and crackdown)
#9,000 for seeds (Sammaz 37)
#90,000 for fertilizer (8 bags of NPK 20:10:10 and 6 bags of urea)
Total so far: #156,000

Muktar111:
1.5 hectare maize farm leased in Niyya Farms Kaduna state; Cost so far:-
#15,000 for the annual lease
#10,000 for manual clearing
#7,200 for ploughing
#20,000 for manual planting
#5,000 for spraying (powerforce and crackdown)
#9,000 for seeds (Sammaz 37)
#90,000 for fertilizer (8 bags of NPK 20:10:10 and 6 bags of urea)
Total so far: #156,000

Looks like you got fertilizer at the govt approved price. How did you do it?

stagger:
I just got the following:

- 20kg of Oba98 at N375 per kilo from Premier Seeds: (7,500)
- Leased 1 hectare of land: 10,500
- land clearing: 20,000 (opted for manual clearing to preserve the top soil. I also want to plough in the stump remnants into the soil)
- 3 litres of Paraquat @ 1,600 each: 4,800
- 3 kg of Atrazine Powder @ 2,300 each: 6,900
- Sprayer will spray the herbicides at 10,500 for the entire hectare.
- Seed planter from China: 50,000 (could have been cheaper but I used express shipping). I plan to hire 1 person to plant the whole hectare in one day @ 5,000 max. I want to get the spacing spot on and reduce labour costs.
- Tractor hiring for tilling and harrowing: not yet negotiated.

Here is my plan.
- I will plant half the land now, and half in two weeks time. This is to provide a gap in fruiting to allow me sell the first half fresh.
- I plan to use organic fertilizer 100%. I have searched for the inorganic one at govt price of 5,500. It is not available and it is N10,000 in the open market. Not cost-effective if you ask me.
- Insecticides will be used at the appropriate time.

Threats?
- Rodents
- Birds
- ??Army worms
- Herdsmen

Still searching for solutions to these possible threats. I am told that special routes for grazing were created for the herdsmen in that area and there have been no squabbles between farmers and the herdsmen in that area in recent history. We shall see how this goes.

TARGETS
2 cobs per plant, X 50,000 plants at spacing of 25cm X 75cm goal will deliver 100,000 cobs.
Allowance will be made for 50% loss of plants, so we aim to get 50,000 fresh cobs, 100 cobs per bag, N3,000 per bag. This will deliver returns of N1.5m as worst case scenario (for investment of N200,000).

I plan to sell fresh maize, not shelled maize. I will do shelled maize in the dry season with a borehole on another land I own.

Please note: this is a pilot project so my goal here is to learn, learn and learn before I expand.
- Shelled maize vs Fresh maize: which pays better?
- is 100% organic fertilizer use a feasible replacement for inorganic NPK/Urea?
- what is the best solution to contain the threats I mentioned above?

These are the questions I seek to answer.

thank you so much for this detailed analysis , I have some questions :
- Do you know if the seeds you bought are aflatoxic or not?
-Was the land you used bushy?
-does the seed planter give perfect spacing and if so do you still need to make ridges?
-will organic fertilizers give maximum yield?, cos I planned on poultry manure, mixing it in the heaps before planting
-i heard scarecrows are effective in preventing birds from swooping in
-lastly where is your farm located?

fison:
Below is the breakdown analysis of my maize farm;

Cost analysis for start up of maize farm on one hectare of land:
All calculations is based on one hectare (15plots; 100m by 100m)


»Pre-stage:
Collection of Form from Govt ₦500
Annual payment ₦5,000


»First phase:
Ploughing ₦11,000
20kg of maize ₦5,000
Planting ₦3,500
Spraying cost ₦3,500
Glyphosate 4 @ ₦1,000 = ₦4,000
Attrazine Powder 4 @ ₦1,600 = ₦6,400
NPK 15:15 Fertilizer (15kg) 4bags@₦10,500 = ₦42,000


»2nd phase of maize farming:
Fertilizer application (labour cost for 4bags) ₦4,000
Striker 4 @ ₦2,200 = ₦8,800
Attrazine powder 4 @ ₦1,500 = ₦6,000
Cost of spraying ₦4,000
Transportation of fertilizer to farm ₦1,000


»Pests infestation:
Sniper 3 @ ₦3,000 = ₦9,000
Best 3 @ ₦2,500 = ₦7,500
Labour ₦4,000


»»Third and last phase of maize weeds spraying:
Striker 3 @ ₦2,200 = ₦6,600
Attrazine powder 3 @₦1,500 = ₦4,500.
Cost of spraying ₦4,000

thank you so much for this. I have some questions :
-when do you spray?
-did you use seed planter?
-at what point did you apply fertilizer?
-have you harvested? If so what was your yield?

Muktar111:
1.5 hectare maize farm leased in Niyya Farms Kaduna state; Cost so far:-
#15,000 for the annual lease
#10,000 for manual clearing
#7,200 for ploughing
#20,000 for manual planting
#5,000 for spraying (powerforce and crackdown)
#9,000 for seeds (Sammaz 37)
#90,000 for fertilizer (8 bags of NPK 20:10:10 and 6 bags of urea)
Total so far: #156,000

Thank you so much sir. I have some questions
-did you spray herbicides before planting or what exactly did you spray?
-have you harvested? If so what was your yield?

Cherie04:
thank you so much for this detailed analysis , I have some questions :
- Do you know if the seeds you bought are aflatoxic or not?
-Was the land you used bushy?
-does the seed planter give perfect spacing and if so do you still need to make ridges?
-will organic fertilizers give maximum yield?, cos I planned on poultry manure, mixing it in the heaps before planting
-i heard scarecrows are effective in preventing birds from swooping in
-lastly where is your farm located?

The seeds were pre-treated. As for aflatoxin, it is the land that you treat with Aflasafe. It is hand sprinkled on the land just before flowering and it lasts for some years.

- Was the land bushy? Of course, that is why I got it cleared manually. It is just 1 hectare and I needed to preserve the top soil. When I go on a larger scale (maybe as many as 10 hectares), then I have to use tractors to clear it. I intend to buy a tractor for this purpose and adhere to best clearing practices to preserve the top soil.

- Organic fertilizers vs inorganic: I believe chicken droppings qualify as organic fertilizers. However, I read somewhere that there is a technique to the application, else it will have adverse effects. I plan to use GNLD Super Gro. Remember I said I am testing things...

thank you so much for this. I have some questions :
-when do you spray?
-did you use seed planter?
-at what point did you apply fertilizer?
-have you harvested? If so what was your yield?

-I sprayed with glyphosate the day of planting the maize, and subsequent spraying when weeds starts sprouting. In all, i sprayed thrice before harvesting and once against pest.
- Manual planting of two to three seeds per hole
-I applied fertilizer exactly a month after planting
- I harvested April with a total of 4.7tonnes

@ fison, 4.7tons with or without cobs?

OluchiDelly:
@ fison, 4.7tons with or without cobs?

Without cobs is the usual way it is measured, i.e. shelled maize. meanwhile 4.7 tonnes per hectare is quite impressive given the challenges.

@ fison, 4.7tons with or without cobs?
4.7tonnes after it was shelled

fison:
thank you so much for this. I have some questions :
-when do you spray?
-did you use seed planter?
-at what point did you apply fertilizer?
-have you harvested? If so what was your yield?

-I sprayed with glyphosate the day of planting the maize, and subsequent spraying when weeds starts sprouting. In all, i sprayed thrice before harvesting and once against pest.
- Manual planting of two to three seeds per hole
-I applied fertilizer exactly a month after planting
- I harvested April with a total of 4.7tonnes

Wow that's a lot, thank you so much for taking out the time to answer my questions, one last one please how did you sell your produce?

Wow that's a lot, thank you so much for taking out the time to answer my questions, one last one please how did you sell your produce?

I run a poultry farm with feedmill, so it's for personal use.

What made you choose corn as the crop that you want to grow? Cool thread; so much to learn here.

fison:
thank you so much for this. I have some questions :
-when do you spray?
-did you use seed planter?
-at what point did you apply fertilizer?
-have you harvested? If so what was your yield?

-I sprayed with glyphosate the day of planting the maize, and subsequent spraying when weeds starts sprouting. In all, i sprayed thrice before harvesting and once against pest.
- Manual planting of two to three seeds per hole
-I applied fertilizer exactly a month after planting
- I harvested April with a total of 4.7tonnes

4.7 tonnes is impressive where Africa is concerned,we generally average 2tonnes/ hectare in Africa. .I believe your is /hectare? What variety of seed did you use?
As an aside,anybody know where I can get DAP ( diammonium phosphate) fertilizer in Anambra state

Impressive analysis

4.7 tonnes is impressive where Africa is concerned,we generally average 2tonnes/ hectare in Africa. .I believe your is /hectare? What variety of seed did you use?
As an aside,anybody know where I can get DAP ( diammonium phosphate) fertilizer in Anambra state

Oba super 6 hybrid maize

fison:

4.7 tonnes is impressive where Africa is concerned,we generally average 2tonnes/ hectare in Africa. .I believe your is /hectare? What variety of seed did you use?
As an aside,anybody know where I can get DAP ( diammonium phosphate) fertilizer in Anambra state

Oba super 6 hybrid maize

please where can I get it?

Seun:
What made you choose corn as the crop that you want to grow? Cool thread; so much to learn here.

the land is on lease so I just want to grow crops that won't take too long

please where can I get it?
From IITA or premier seed

I have followed some of the educative post above on maize farming. Thanks folks for sharing some useful information. Please I need help, where can I get the Oba98 Maize seed from Premier-seed to buy? Kindly help me please.