FACTORS NECESSARY FOR HIGH PROFITABILITY IN MAIZE FARMING

Maize is a widely used staple food from across the globe. The global demand for maize has always been on a increase, this has made maize marketing a relatively easy affair.
In this article I will be outlining the various factors necessary for high yield in maize farm, as well as its lucrativeness or profitability. So stay through and read to the end to get the best out of this article.

You can also read>>How to grow maize plant

Factors necessary for increase yield in maize farm

Proper land preparation

proper land preparation is key to maximum harvest not just in maize but any agricultural crop.

proper land preparation has to do with deep ploughing, harrowing and if possible ridging.
Those activities helps in ensuring proper yield. For instance if the land is not well ploughed and harrow, it may hinder the movement of the crops root and the rate at which they absolve water as well as nutrients which can adversely affect the crops.
In addition, ploughing and harrowing also helps expose harmful soil micro organisms which may affect the maize plants to direct sunlight. So when ploughing and harrowing are improperly done those harmful organisms remain in the soil and cause harm to the maize plants.

Fertilizer application

It is very important to apply fertilizers to your maize plant if you want to have high crop yield.
Fertilizers can be applied

  • Before planting
  • During planting; and/or
  • After planting

Which ever way you choose, always ensure that fertilizers are applied only when the land is wet or moist.

Application of Organic manure

Organic manure is one of the most effective type of manure. It can also be applied to maize plants to increase their yield. Though organic manure such as poultry droppings, cow dungs etc may not be available for a large scale farm especially in the underdevelop countries, it is still recommended that you use organic manure and when not available (inorganic) fertilizers can be used.

Proper Management Practices

Management is key to maize production. It has to do with the control of pests' attack and also weeding at a regular interval.
The most common pest of maize is the Army worm. It can be controlled by hand picking or most effectively with the use of insecticides.
Weeding should be done once or twice in a maize farm. Although sometimes maize farmers don't weed their farms because just after planting they always spray pre-emergence herbicides on the maize farm which prevents weed growth for as long as the maize have reached the point of harvest.

Profitability of maize farm

Just with a little amount of investment in maize farming and proper management practices like the ones mentioned above, you can be guarantee of high return.
Maize matures in about 2-to-3 months depending on the stage in which you want to harvest them. This shows that there is a relatively short period of time for you to get your return on investment.
With a single maize seed you can get as high is 500 kernels of maize. Also the expected amount of maize per acre is projected to be at approximately 50 bags.

Maize Marketing

Like I have mentioned earlier in this article, maize marketing is relatively an easy affair.
Maize can be sold to roadside roasters. Factually, in most cases over 50% of maize produced in a farm in Nigeria are sold to roadside roasters.
Apart from selling to roadside roasters, maize can also be sold to livestock feeds production companies at a high rate.


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