A hectare of farmland can produce about 50 – 70 bags of maize (dry maize grains). Please note that a bag of maize weighs 100kg.
The average maize farmers in Nigeria usually harvest as low as 10 – 20 bags of maize per hectare due to the implementation of poor agronomic practices.
The average maize farmer in Nigeria gets a low yield from his maize farm; this is due to several factors. Some of the factors include poor quality maize seeds, soil fertility issue and the use of little or no fertilizers etc.
Factors determining the number of bags of maize a 1 hectare farmland can produce
Availability of Water or Irrigation
The following are the factors that determine the number of bags of maize a one hectare farmland can produce:
Soil Fertility
The fertility of the soil is simply how nutrient dense the soil is. An infertile soil will yield to small number of bags of maize produced from a hectare of farmland.
The reason why most maize farmers in Nigeria harvest low number of bags of maize is due to the infertile nature of the soil in Nigeria.
If you want to harvest a lot of bags of maize grains from your maize farming venture, you need to make your soil fertile. The use of manure and fertilizers can enhance the fertility of the soil.
Maize Varieties
The use of the old open pollinated maize varieties can impact the number of bags of maize that can be harvested from a hectare of farmland. The use of open pollinated maize variety can lead to a low yield or low number of maize that will be harvested.
The use of hybrid maize varieties can lead to an increase in maize yield and an increase in the number of bags of maize that can be produced by a 1 hectare farm.
Availability of Water or Irrigation
The availability of water or irrigation can increase the number of bags of maize that can be harvested from a hectare of farmland. The use of drip irrigation for instance can significantly increase the number of maize grains that can be harvested per hectare of farmland.
Lack of water can also significantly reduce the number of bags of maize that can be harvested from a hectare of farmland.
Pests and Diseases
Pests and diseases can lead to a reduction in the number of bags of maize that can be produced by one hectare of farmland. A pest like army worm can lead to zero yield in maize farming.
Diseases can also lead to a significant decrease in maize yield. Pesticides like insecticides, fungicides and nematicides etc. should be used to address pests and diseases concerns.
Weeds
Weeds can reduce the number of bags of maize that can be produced by a hectare of farmland by 98%. If your maize farm is populated with weeds, you are likely to get a low yield.
Herbicides like Lagon should be used to address weed problems; also, hand weeding can be done to remove weeds.
Poor Plant Spacing
Poor plant spacing can lead to a reduction in the number of bags of maize produced by a hectare of farmland. Most maize farmers in Nigeria do not plant their maize crop according to the standard planting spacing of 50 cm by 25 cm.
A 1 hectare maize farm should have at least 50,000 maize plants. For those who use drip irrigation, the planting population can be increased to 66,000 plants per hectare.
If your plant population is low, the number of bags of maize to be harvested will be low.
Poor Agronomic Practices
Poor agronomic practices can lead to low number of bags a one hectare farmland can produce.
How many bags of maize do you harvest from your farmland? Kindly share the answer in the comments’ section.