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Farming Maize or beans?
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S.Mutaga III
#1 Posted : Thursday, July 31, 2014 11:21:31 AM
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Joined: 3/26/2012
Posts: 830
Maize (ugali) and beans are still staple foods in Kenya. Anyone who has ever farmed these either beans (Kawairimu) or maize (any isipokuwa gathika)? I am toying with the thought of doing farming as a side hustle next year. Is it wise to mix the two like my villagers used to do back in shagz? What is the likely yield per acre of beans (sacks), maize (sacks) or when mixed, how many sacks of each should I expect approximately? I am assuming normal weather conditions. Which one would you rather plant purely, beans or maize and why? Help a wazua hustler here. Thank you in advance
A successful man is not he who gets the best, it is he who makes the best from what he gets.
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Mtublack
#2 Posted : Thursday, July 31, 2014 5:39:16 PM
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the two are quite labor intensive hence take a lot of your time or very expensive if you delegate unless you have a very trust worthy manager.the cost of input also dictates that your yield has to be reasonably high to break even. its quite sometimes since i planted maize or beans am generally in to wheat .
biggest challenges in farming from my experience
are
unreliable rainfall- this is the main killer
cost of inputs
time consuming if you are doing it part time
untrustworthy employees who steal from you time, inputs and end product
secure storage after harvest as you wail for prices to go up
expect those challenges as you get into farming and see how to overcome them

which had put my 400k into the three stocks you had recommended in the investors section since failed rains have ensured i lost everything
but all the same good luck
Some you win some you lose
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greenbeat
#3 Posted : Thursday, July 31, 2014 8:11:22 PM
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I fully concur with @Mtublack. Farming is faced with a variety of challenges especially if done remotely over the phone. In years of poor rainfall, you are faced with poor harvest, in good years, there is oversupply and the prices drop, or the government allows tax free imports hence killing prices.

For one to make a decent income, you have to do it in large scale. Expect anything from as low as 12 bags to 25 bags per acre depending on the area and the soil fertility.
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S.Mutaga III
#4 Posted : Thursday, July 31, 2014 8:56:53 PM
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I 'aborted' the idea because of unreliable rainfall and I just discovered it needed a hands on approach. I also found better opportunities to invest my money in apart from stocks. Sometimes it is good to realize you can do anything but not everything, I guess I am not a farmer by nature. Thinking of computer retailing.
A successful man is not he who gets the best, it is he who makes the best from what he gets.
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Gathige
#5 Posted : Thursday, July 31, 2014 10:18:42 PM
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@S.Mutaga III, Farming is two fold, subsistence aka hand-to-mouth or commercial farming. Small scale farming is mostly subsistence and nothing much for profit as labour is mostly done by the household as part of their contribution. In your case, since you have a job and not likely a subsistence farmer, think large scale which is commercial and then you can weigh in if you can risk enough cash and your time and there are chances of success due to the growing urbanization and growing population. Due to weather patterns, sometimes you lose and others you gain so you have a trade-off.

Forget telephone farming as that will milk u dry unless u want to share ur day job salo with ur shamba boy!
"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." Goethe
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S.Mutaga III
#6 Posted : Thursday, July 31, 2014 11:18:10 PM
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Gathige wrote:
@S.Mutaga III, Farming is two fold, subsistence aka hand-to-mouth or commercial farming. Small scale farming is mostly subsistence and nothing much for profit as labour is mostly done by the household as part of their contribution. In your case, since you have a job and not likely a subsistence farmer, think large scale which is commercial and then you can weigh in if you can risk enough cash and your time and there are chances of success due to the growing urbanization and growing population. Due to weather patterns, sometimes you lose and others you gain so you have a trade-off.

Forget telephone farming as that will milk u dry unless u want to share ur day job salo with ur shamba boy!


There is no way I can effectively manage a ten acre farm which is 200km away when in Nairobi. I was to do telephone farming and visit the farm on weekends but it does not make any sense now. Let me leave farming to the farmers and continue hustling
A successful man is not he who gets the best, it is he who makes the best from what he gets.
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mmarto
#7 Posted : Thursday, July 31, 2014 11:23:39 PM
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i have some experience... this season i plan to do 100acres. Lack of rainfall is worst enemy. Contrally to the opinion of the others in this discussion i do not think it is very labour intensive(maize). I have been doing this huko mashinani and am based in nairobi. I travel once or utmost twice in a month. However you need a trustworthy manager.

Maize does not require as much attention as beans. For beans you need to spray around twice and your manager needs to be keen on them. Actually as a matter of fact i planted beans and am harvesting mid august. I have only travel led twice na naambiwa zimefanya vizuri sana...
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2rm012q&s=8
The only time you should be looking down on others is when you are helping them up.
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icecube
#8 Posted : Thursday, July 31, 2014 11:41:43 PM
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Location: Nairobi
mmarto wrote:
i have some experience... this season i plan to do 100acres. Lack of rainfall is worst enemy. Contrally to the opinion of the others in this discussion i do not think it is very labour intensive(maize). I have been doing this huko mashinani and am based in nairobi. I travel once or utmost twice in a month. However you need a trustworthy manager.

Maize does not require as much attention as beans. For beans you need to spray around twice and your manager needs to be keen on them. Actually as a matter of fact i planted beans and am harvesting mid august. I have only travel led twice na naambiwa zimefanya vizuri sana...
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2rm012q&s=8


Nice to hear from a real farmer. I would take advice from someone who is doing, not saying. The beans look very healthy.
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S.Mutaga III
#9 Posted : Friday, August 01, 2014 12:14:08 AM
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icecube wrote:
mmarto wrote:
i have some experience... this season i plan to do 100acres. Lack of rainfall is worst enemy. Contrally to the opinion of the others in this discussion i do not think it is very labour intensive(maize). I have been doing this huko mashinani and am based in nairobi. I travel once or utmost twice in a month. However you need a trustworthy manager.

Maize does not require as much attention as beans. For beans you need to spray around twice and your manager needs to be keen on them. Actually as a matter of fact i planted beans and am harvesting mid august. I have only travel led twice na naambiwa zimefanya vizuri sana...
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2rm012q&s=8


Nice to hear from a real farmer. I would take advice from someone who is doing, not saying. The beans look very healthy.


Mmarto...where is that?/
A successful man is not he who gets the best, it is he who makes the best from what he gets.
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mmarto
#10 Posted : Friday, August 01, 2014 6:11:44 AM
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S.Mutaga III wrote:
icecube wrote:
mmarto wrote:
i have some experience... this season i plan to do 100acres. Lack of rainfall is worst enemy. Contrally to the opinion of the others in this discussion i do not think it is very labour intensive(maize). I have been doing this huko mashinani and am based in nairobi. I travel once or utmost twice in a month. However you need a trustworthy manager.

Maize does not require as much attention as beans. For beans you need to spray around twice and your manager needs to be keen on them. Actually as a matter of fact i planted beans and am harvesting mid august. I have only travel led twice na naambiwa zimefanya vizuri sana...
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2rm012q&s=8


Nice to hear from a real farmer. I would take advice from someone who is doing, not saying. The beans look very healthy.


Mmarto...where is that?/



somewhere in trans-mara
The only time you should be looking down on others is when you are helping them up.
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kelly04
#11 Posted : Thursday, February 11, 2016 11:28:30 AM
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Joined: 11/9/2011
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@Mmarto
How is this venture, any advise for the new-comers? Am really interested to venture into bean farming in Transmara.
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Swenani
#12 Posted : Thursday, February 11, 2016 12:11:04 PM
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kelly04 wrote:
@Mmarto
How is this venture, any advise for the new-comers? Am really interested to venture into bean farming in Transmara.



Don't, why be a farmer when you can be a broker?
If Obiero did it, Who Am I?
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mugz
#13 Posted : Thursday, February 11, 2016 4:17:49 PM
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Joined: 1/31/2007
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Swenani wrote:
kelly04 wrote:
@Mmarto
How is this venture, any advise for the new-comers? Am really interested to venture into bean farming in Transmara.



Don't, why be a farmer when you can be a broker?

show me the money!!!! Applause Applause
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mmarto
#14 Posted : Wednesday, February 17, 2016 9:24:24 AM
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Location: nairobi
kelly04 wrote:
@Mmarto
How is this venture, any advise for the new-comers? Am really interested to venture into bean farming in Transmara.


Management management management. If you can do that and pray the weather is favourable then youre good to go. Depending on the acreage you want to do you can become a kind of "large scale" farmer and you do not need to sell retail. The lorries pick in your farm and thats it
The only time you should be looking down on others is when you are helping them up.
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kawi254
#15 Posted : Wednesday, February 17, 2016 10:35:59 AM
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@mmarto
Where can i get soy bean seeds?
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mmarto
#16 Posted : Wednesday, February 17, 2016 10:46:39 AM
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kawi254 wrote:
@mmarto
Where can i get soy bean seeds?

which variety and quantity?
The only time you should be looking down on others is when you are helping them up.
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kawi254
#17 Posted : Wednesday, February 17, 2016 11:31:43 AM
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mmarto wrote:
kawi254 wrote:
@mmarto
Where can i get soy bean seeds?

which variety and quantity?


10 acres. Little knowledge on varieties but to grow in Loitoktok area.
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murchr
#18 Posted : Wednesday, July 13, 2016 11:05:12 PM
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Joined: 2/26/2012
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How much is a bag of maize now?
"There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore
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Gathige
#19 Posted : Thursday, July 14, 2016 12:20:48 PM
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murchr wrote:
How much is a bag of maize now?


Bought a bag recently at Kshs 2400 in Nbi
"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." Goethe
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