It is possible to earn 20m from an acre
Dec 09, 2009
IN his anti poverty tours across the country, President Yoweri Museveni has maintained that one of his major ambitions is to have families earning at least sh20m per year. This message has been met with mixed reactions from the population, with many claim
By Joshua Kato
IN his anti poverty tours across the country, President Yoweri Museveni has maintained that one of his major ambitions is to have families earning at least sh20m per year. This message has been met with mixed reactions from the population, with many claiming it is impossible to earn sh20m from an acre per year. But it is possible.
There are already people earning this amount from an acre per year, why not you? Farmers with only an acre will have to deal in high value intensive production rather than go for crops that can only benefit if grown extensively.
For example if one is producing cereals, they would on average earn sh3.5m per acre per harvest. Two harvests per year earn would earn them sh6m. This is the first of several articles showing what one could do an acre and earn at least sh20m per year.
Dealing in high value produce is the way forward if one owns a small piece of land. High value produce mainly include animals like pigs, hybrid cows for milk production, fish farming and chicken.
Ideally, one can keep at least two Fresians for milk production, five pigs for breeding and around 2,000 chicken, on one acre of land. They can also have space for at least 30 plants of bananas.
If maintained well, he will certainly earn more than sh20m per year from this single acre or sh1.7m per month.
Keep pigs
Although not so widely kept, piggery ranks among the most lucrative activity that can be maintained in a limited space. At the moment there is an estimated two million pigs in the country, much lower than the standing demand.
To start a piggery of 5 piglets, one needs sh300,000 to buy them and at least sh1m to construct their shelter. This is assuming that you already have the land available.
They would also need 10 decimals (which is about 10% of the acre) to construct a sty.
“It is advisable to start small and expand as the investment grows,†says Sserumaga Zzake, a veteran pigs breeder.
On average, a pig should eat at least 200kgs of processed feeds in six months. Pigs eat almost anything ranging from crop leaves like potato vines and cassava, to cooked or uncooked foods.
You will start earning after the pigs deliver. Pigs can produce twice a year and if well looked after, will produce an average of 10 piglets every after four months. Which means that each pig can deliver 20 piglets per year.
The market for pigs is readily available across the country. If the piglets are for sale, the average price for each is sh30,000. With an average mortality of two percent, the farmer will have at least 40 piglets to sell. If each is sold at sh30,000, the farmer will have sh1.2m from the first sale and another sh1.2m on the second, earning them sh2.4m from the pigs alone.
If one is breeding pigs for pork, they should be sold by the fifth and sixth month. By that time if a pig is well looked after, it weighs over 40kgs. “Each of these pigs goes for around sh120,000,†says Edward Muwema, another farmer in Luwero. With over 35 pigs to sell, the farmer would earn around sh3.5m and this would double if they had two sales per year.
At the moment, a kilogram of pork goes for sh5,000 in ordinary butcheries and over sh8,000 at more expensive pork hang-outs around Kampala.
Keep two dairy cows
The two cows need at least five decimals for the shelter and another 10 decimals to plant their grass. If the dairy cows are mature and well looked after, each can produce a minimum of 20 litres per day for 10 months in a year. With a litre going for sh400 in the villages, a farmer would earn around sh14,000 per day if they sold 35 litres. That translates into sh420,000 per month or sh5.04m per year.
But it is not cheap to start the dairy project. Constructing the basic shelters may cost you sh2m while buying both cows may cost over sh1.5m. Good thing is, cows that cost that much are mature and will get you earning instantly.
Cows feed on grass, leaves and food peelings like bananas. Elephant grass can be planted in at least 10 decimals of the land and can be supplemented with some processed feeds. “The good thing is that zero grazing can be practiced in any part of the country,†says Dr. Jolly Kabirizi, a foliage expert at Namulonge.
Remember, dairy cows produce milk depending on the amount of water they have been given. For every six litres of milk a cow produces, it drinks 13 litres of water. To produce 20 litres, a cow needs at least 40 litres of water daily. There are many medium-sized families that get money for food, school fees and other domestic needs from one cow.
Keep chicken
According to David Hans Nyanzi, the Operations Manager of UGACHICK, if chicken are maintained well, there is no reason why a farmer cannot profit from them.
For example, if one is keeping broilers (chicken for meat) which are sold off every after two to three months, they would have three sales in a year. With 1,000 chicken, and each going at an average sh5,000 the farmer would earn sh5m after every sale. With three sales per year, the farmer would earn sh15m, before deducting operational expenses.
“Through experience, I have learnt that operational expenses constitute 2/3 of total earnings, if everything went well,†says Hajjat Nuliat Nalubwama, who maintains at least 3,000 chicken on her shelter in Wakiso. This means that a farmer can make a profit of sh5m a year from only 1,000 chicken.
To keep 1,000 layers, a farmer needs at least 10 decimals of land.
A farmer will spend at least sh2m to set up the shelter for the chicken and another sh1m to buy the chicken. If well maintained, the 1,000 layers can produce at least 30 trays of eggs per day. With a tray going at sh4,500, a farmer could get at least sh135,000 per day, which translates into sh4.05m per month or sh48m per year.
After deducting the cost of maintaining the chicken, buying drugs and paying at least three workers which is on average two thirds of total earnings, a farmer could remain with a profit of around sh20m from chicken per year.
The pigs, cows and chicken consume just one half of the acre. You can then use the other half for planting crops, for example bananas. You can plant at least 30 plants of bananas in the space left. With the animal manure generated from the cows, pigs and chicken, the bananas will thrive and after 9 months will start producing. And after one year, the first harvests will start.
A bunch of bananas at the moment costs between sh3,000 and sh4,000 on shambas in a radius of 40kms around from Kampala.
IN his anti poverty tours across the country, President Yoweri Museveni has maintained that one of his major ambitions is to have families earning at least sh20m per year. This message has been met with mixed reactions from the population, with many claiming it is impossible to earn sh20m from an acre per year. But it is possible.
There are already people earning this amount from an acre per year, why not you? Farmers with only an acre will have to deal in high value intensive production rather than go for crops that can only benefit if grown extensively.
For example if one is producing cereals, they would on average earn sh3.5m per acre per harvest. Two harvests per year earn would earn them sh6m. This is the first of several articles showing what one could do an acre and earn at least sh20m per year.
Dealing in high value produce is the way forward if one owns a small piece of land. High value produce mainly include animals like pigs, hybrid cows for milk production, fish farming and chicken.
Ideally, one can keep at least two Fresians for milk production, five pigs for breeding and around 2,000 chicken, on one acre of land. They can also have space for at least 30 plants of bananas.
If maintained well, he will certainly earn more than sh20m per year from this single acre or sh1.7m per month.
Keep pigs
Although not so widely kept, piggery ranks among the most lucrative activity that can be maintained in a limited space. At the moment there is an estimated two million pigs in the country, much lower than the standing demand.
To start a piggery of 5 piglets, one needs sh300,000 to buy them and at least sh1m to construct their shelter. This is assuming that you already have the land available.
They would also need 10 decimals (which is about 10% of the acre) to construct a sty.
“It is advisable to start small and expand as the investment grows,†says Sserumaga Zzake, a veteran pigs breeder.
On average, a pig should eat at least 200kgs of processed feeds in six months. Pigs eat almost anything ranging from crop leaves like potato vines and cassava, to cooked or uncooked foods.
You will start earning after the pigs deliver. Pigs can produce twice a year and if well looked after, will produce an average of 10 piglets every after four months. Which means that each pig can deliver 20 piglets per year.
The market for pigs is readily available across the country. If the piglets are for sale, the average price for each is sh30,000. With an average mortality of two percent, the farmer will have at least 40 piglets to sell. If each is sold at sh30,000, the farmer will have sh1.2m from the first sale and another sh1.2m on the second, earning them sh2.4m from the pigs alone.
If one is breeding pigs for pork, they should be sold by the fifth and sixth month. By that time if a pig is well looked after, it weighs over 40kgs. “Each of these pigs goes for around sh120,000,†says Edward Muwema, another farmer in Luwero. With over 35 pigs to sell, the farmer would earn around sh3.5m and this would double if they had two sales per year.
At the moment, a kilogram of pork goes for sh5,000 in ordinary butcheries and over sh8,000 at more expensive pork hang-outs around Kampala.
Keep two dairy cows
The two cows need at least five decimals for the shelter and another 10 decimals to plant their grass. If the dairy cows are mature and well looked after, each can produce a minimum of 20 litres per day for 10 months in a year. With a litre going for sh400 in the villages, a farmer would earn around sh14,000 per day if they sold 35 litres. That translates into sh420,000 per month or sh5.04m per year.
But it is not cheap to start the dairy project. Constructing the basic shelters may cost you sh2m while buying both cows may cost over sh1.5m. Good thing is, cows that cost that much are mature and will get you earning instantly.
Cows feed on grass, leaves and food peelings like bananas. Elephant grass can be planted in at least 10 decimals of the land and can be supplemented with some processed feeds. “The good thing is that zero grazing can be practiced in any part of the country,†says Dr. Jolly Kabirizi, a foliage expert at Namulonge.
Remember, dairy cows produce milk depending on the amount of water they have been given. For every six litres of milk a cow produces, it drinks 13 litres of water. To produce 20 litres, a cow needs at least 40 litres of water daily. There are many medium-sized families that get money for food, school fees and other domestic needs from one cow.
Keep chicken
According to David Hans Nyanzi, the Operations Manager of UGACHICK, if chicken are maintained well, there is no reason why a farmer cannot profit from them.
For example, if one is keeping broilers (chicken for meat) which are sold off every after two to three months, they would have three sales in a year. With 1,000 chicken, and each going at an average sh5,000 the farmer would earn sh5m after every sale. With three sales per year, the farmer would earn sh15m, before deducting operational expenses.
“Through experience, I have learnt that operational expenses constitute 2/3 of total earnings, if everything went well,†says Hajjat Nuliat Nalubwama, who maintains at least 3,000 chicken on her shelter in Wakiso. This means that a farmer can make a profit of sh5m a year from only 1,000 chicken.
To keep 1,000 layers, a farmer needs at least 10 decimals of land.
A farmer will spend at least sh2m to set up the shelter for the chicken and another sh1m to buy the chicken. If well maintained, the 1,000 layers can produce at least 30 trays of eggs per day. With a tray going at sh4,500, a farmer could get at least sh135,000 per day, which translates into sh4.05m per month or sh48m per year.
After deducting the cost of maintaining the chicken, buying drugs and paying at least three workers which is on average two thirds of total earnings, a farmer could remain with a profit of around sh20m from chicken per year.
The pigs, cows and chicken consume just one half of the acre. You can then use the other half for planting crops, for example bananas. You can plant at least 30 plants of bananas in the space left. With the animal manure generated from the cows, pigs and chicken, the bananas will thrive and after 9 months will start producing. And after one year, the first harvests will start.
A bunch of bananas at the moment costs between sh3,000 and sh4,000 on shambas in a radius of 40kms around from Kampala.