By Joshua Kato
To invest in an acre of maize, a commercial farmer spends an average sh100,000 – sh150,000 on hybrid seeds per acre, sh100,000 – sh120,000 for ploughing the acre, sh150,000 on fertilizers plus sh150,000 on weeding.
On the other hand, a subsistence farmer spends an average of sh70,000 on seeds and another sh150,000 for general maintenance of the farm.
On average in Uganda, an acre of maize yields 1,000kgs for non-commercial farmers. This means if a farmer sells each kilogram at sh600, then he can only earn sh600,000 from his efforts.
However, commercial farmers who use fertilizers harvest between 1,800 to 2,200 kilograms per acre. If a non-commercial farmer added value to the same, he would get 700kgs of fine flour and if he sells each at sh2,000, he earns sh1,400,000.
This is minus earnings from at least 300kgs of maize bran per acre. A kilogram of bran costs sh500-sh800, so from the 300kgs, a farmer gets sh150,000 to sh240,000 per acre.
If a commercial farmer added value to a moderate 1,800kgs of maize grain, he would get at least 1,400kgs of fine flour and earn about sh2.8m from each acre, in addition to over 400kgs of maize bran.
