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Farming in Kitale!
Rank: Member Joined: 9/6/2009 Posts: 92
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@gmain,luttz sounds like a worthy investment. Il talk to my maker to delay the el-nino. From what i hav gathered,er..wheat will be good for starters,with less labour needed + short period be4 harvestin. So,in this market,how much does a bag of wheat fetch,i work backwards. What are the chances of climate change affecting the crop? Im just curious,what hapened to sunflower? “Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.” "
Life's a wheel of fortune and its my chance to spin it"
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Rank: Elder Joined: 6/20/2008 Posts: 6,275 Location: Kenya
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Basically you'll need:
- land hire
- land tilling: plough,first harrow,second harrow
- planting: machine
- weeding: machine spraying or by hand (kibarua)
- pests/rust: machine spraying
- Harvesting: by hand (kibarua)
- Shelling: by machine
- Transporting: trailer
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Rank: Member Joined: 3/18/2008 Posts: 377
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10 acres for maize farming is not ideal unless you are not commercial oriented. If you intend to go commercial,you need to be thinking of 30 plus acres,that way you will be sure to break even at about 15 acres and make some money out of it. However costs are as follows ( only guideline) Lease of land: 2.5 t0 3k per acre Land preparation< 1st and 2nd: 4k per acre Seeds: 1.5k per acre Fertilizer: 4.5k per acre Planting with tractor: 1.2 k per acre Spraying- manual: 500 bob per acre Harvesting: 2k per acre Shelling: 15 bob per bag of maize Hope this helps "You've never lived until you've almost died; for those who have fought for it, life has a flavour the protected will never know."
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Rank: Member Joined: 3/18/2008 Posts: 377
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10 acres for maize farming is not ideal unless you are not commercial oriented. If you intend to go commercial,you need to be thinking of 30 plus acres,that way you will be sure to break even at about 15 acres and make some money out of it. However costs are as follows ( only guideline) Lease of land: 2.5 t0 3k per acre Land preparation< 1st and 2nd: 4k per acre Seeds: 1.5k per acre Fertilizer: 4.5k per acre Planting with tractor: 1.2 k per acre Spraying- manual: 500 bob per acre Harvesting: 2k per acre Shelling: 15 bob per bag of maize Hope this helps "You've never lived until you've almost died; for those who have fought for it, life has a flavour the protected will never know."
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Rank: Member Joined: 5/20/2009 Posts: 24
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if you re working frm far,pls do wheat,,,,rather than maize.coz its labor intensive.Am in Nbi and always planting wheat in a 20 acre in kitale.Its very manageable,Have not been there this year but am expecting to harvest in 2wks time.
You cant imagine it takes only less than 4 months compared to maize,no much of human labor.
When you choose the lesser of two evils,always remember that its still an Evil.
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Rank: Member Joined: 1/29/2009 Posts: 6
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@gmain: I like your input and would be interested in more information,specifically,the cost breakdown per acre. I would be interested in planting wheat in the 2011 season in Kitale on 50-acres. Also,kindly advise on the season timing i.e. when to plant. Much obliged.
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Rank: Member Joined: 5/20/2009 Posts: 24
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cost per acre put it average 20k if you are renting land.timing is simple and not cumbersome.1st plaugh Jan-March depending on weather,should dry season,if land is fine no need for 2nd you harrow same day as you plant,this will be frm june-july,you got all time frm jan - jun to buy seeds and fertilizers.
Amonth after planting do a spray for weeds if its raining do spray for rust .come oct - nov harvest and dispose even same day if you dont want to deal with NCPD which sometimes can really hurt.I always sell to middlemen less 200-3 sok per bag than to incur trans cost,labor,and long ques at cereals.Boss its all worth risking,,,,,when everything is ok the returns are fantastic,,,i started with 10 .
When you choose the lesser of two evils,always remember that its still an Evil.
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Rank: Member Joined: 5/20/2009 Posts: 24
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Sorry returns per acre depends also with quality of seeds and maintenance.lowest i have experienced is 14 bags highest 18.Pray for me that El-nino will start 2nd wk of oct .coz need to harvest the 1st week.I do pray for miracle to happen coz i can find the all investment washed down budalangi.
Else will share wit u in details the cost,profit and losses. nxt month.pls pray for rains not to be harsh once more.
When you choose the lesser of two evils,always remember that its still an Evil.
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Rank: Member Joined: 3/18/2008 Posts: 377
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An acre will give approximately 15 to 20 bags,average but can get more than this,depending on how you take care of your crop. Maize farming gets juicer when you do it on commercial basis since inputs come down considerably. For example,assuming you are planting 100 acres,the best option wil be to get second hand tractor at approxiamtely 800k. With an estimated 15k per acre as input,for 100 acres,the total cost will be approximately 1.5m. 40% of this goes to the tractor owner,so assuming,you own the tractor,your costs will be reduced by a huge margin. Furthermore,the tractor will work for other small scale farmers bringing in more income. When you look at the numbers involved here,its a worthy venture,only challenge is rain. This year,my neighbour committed suicide after taking a loan to plant 80 acres and his timing was wrong,he lost more than half the crop (he could not even wait for harvesting in late September/early October) and he could not imagine facing the bank. All in all,farming like any other business is a risk. Its good to diversify - go green here,then conventional farming there "You've never lived until you've almost died; for those who have fought for it, life has a flavour the protected will never know."
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Rank: Member Joined: 1/29/2009 Posts: 6
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@luttz & gmain: I am extremely grateful for your feedback and feel some confidence about the whole idea of farming in Kitale. I will do some more research and will get in touch with you respectively closer to the time. Hope you wouldn’t mind me paying your wheat/maize-fields a visit sometime? And of course,all the best with the weather!
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Rank: Member Joined: 5/14/2007 Posts: 5
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gmain,luttz,AlphDoti & et al,Do you think this can work for someone considering using hired supervision due to distance and not available to manage the pj locally? Is the land for lease readly available for reasonable extended period to allow proper planning or recouping of any investment if crop failure due to say the weather not acting as expected?
I seem to like the idea on both Maize and Wheat please advise. Thanks
Kamura Diaspora
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Rank: Member Joined: 3/18/2008 Posts: 377
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I am not a big time farmer yet but am on my there. Distance should not hinder you from venturing into farming. As I post this reply,am 100kms from the Turkey/Iran border on the Iraq side and this has not stopped me from farming. We have lots of idle youth at home who will be willing to be engaged,the best option is to get a guy on permanent basis. Offcourse you will need to make frequent visits to ensure things are working as planned. For my case,am always in the country after every 6- 8 weeks and I always spare time to visit the farm. My plan was to attempt 100 plus acres next year but it looks a litlte bit ambitious,am however set for half of that. We can always plan to visit each others farms to exchange ideas and see where we can improve. "You've never lived until you've almost died; for those who have fought for it, life has a flavour the protected will never know."
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Rank: Member Joined: 5/20/2009 Posts: 24
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@kamura no need of hiring,,exchange numbers with about 3 of ur neighbours,,,,at a point Mpesa them fr sugar,and ask them how everything is goin on,in the process ur building the mutual trust and not all 3 of them can fail you.when there is any need at someone will hola to you.thats the time u'will send someone.
Last year a sack was btw 2500 - 3000 not sure with NCPD.
When you choose the lesser of two evils,always remember that its still an Evil.
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Rank: Member Joined: 5/14/2007 Posts: 5
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Thanks for your contributions and willingness to share info and response in addressing info needs. Am excited and hope with info being provided I should get to project implementation shortly and be able to bring on board as well some of my friends who have been seeking for ways to contribute to our nations' building.
@gmain,I hope that the price indication you provided was for Wheat for 2008 season? I really appreciate your practical approach and tips provided for networking and trust building as I seek to get started. Will take you up on this shortly.
@luttz,encouraged to hear that you are not letting distance be a hinderance on you venturing into the farming project.
I am not too farmiliar with the Kitale area and will need to do alot of ground work on this but am sure with advise and help from you,I will be able to hit the ground running.
How easy is it to access land for lease say 25-100 acres,preference being as single parcel? I believe this is a good starting point above the other areas I will be seeking advise and or so to say mentoring along the way.
Thanks and am encouraged by the productive engagement,keep it up,make the difference!
Kamura Diaspora
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Rank: New-farer Joined: 6/19/2011 Posts: 11
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hi guys. hows it been,i know this thread is quite old but i'm striving to farm some maize beginning january bout 40 acres and wud like to know any one who does this or has done this before to give me input,and so as not to draw any assumptions i wud like to be given a breakdown costs from hiring the land per acre, cost of fertilizer, seeds, ploughing, harrowing, everyhthing.the cost for every process then after harvesting the estimated yield per acre and the current and expected market prices...thanks
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Rank: Veteran Joined: 12/23/2010 Posts: 1,229
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current and expected market price..
You're not planting maize this year. Which means you're trying to predict the price for the 2012 harvest. That's rocket science.
The Cereals’ Board announces the price its buying at and the rest of the market gets its cue from there. Of late, its been a lousy price. This year, i think the price announced was Kshs. 1200.
Government action also affects the price: like is maize going to be imported, will there be a ban on exporting maize that year? Its not easy to predict what your government will do.
Plan to store your maize for sometime before selling. If you sell it during the harvest period, you get a lousy price (law of supply and demand). The price improves as the year progresses – and as various stores run dry.
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Rank: New-farer Joined: 6/19/2011 Posts: 11
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yes i'm very aware of all that..like now i know maize has been zero rated for 6 months and stuff like that, but that bridge i intend to cross when i get there jus wanted approximates like what u've jus given... my main issue is this other expenses from land mpaka harvesting
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Rank: Member Joined: 4/20/2010 Posts: 412 Location: nairobi
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Guys this is very useful info for those of us begginning. I am venturing into the same(maize) in Transmara. Hope to do 20 acres. My nightmare is where to get seed for planting i.e no 614 or 6102. Where do you people get yours. I visited kenya seed na hawana. The only time you should be looking down on others is when you are helping them up.
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Rank: Hello Joined: 7/6/2011 Posts: 3 Location: Nairobi
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Hi mmarto and all
I am newly subscribed in this forum but been a guest viewer 4 a while
Done Maize farming in Transmara before. First of all secure land in a good location. Many farmers have ventured into sugarcane and land is now scarce unless you go much into remote locations. Some environmental challenges also exist there that you dont find in Kitale zone which pose high management and labour costs. Ensure you secure seed and fertilizers from far (don't heavily depend buying from the local outlets unless NCPD depot
All the best
@MtCarmel
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Rank: Member Joined: 4/21/2011 Posts: 119
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What is the average price of land per acre in Kitale?
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