Hello good day friends, today I will talking about how maize is being planted here in Nigeria
INTRODUCTION
Maize is one of the main cereal crops of West Africa and it's popularly called "agbado" in Yoruba language.Maize is well consumed in Nigeria for so many years now. Maize is grown in almost all the zones in the country. I live in Ile ife,Osun state Nigeria and we have so many farmers who specializes in Maize planting and production. Either on Small scale and Commercial scale. So many families makes a living planting maize and having a good yield makes one to be encouraged. Although it requires a great deal of work and efforts. Maize is being exported from Nigeria to other countries of the world.
Maize is used by flour Mills and also animal feed producers. It's very important to note that it's widely sourced throughout the country and there are ready market for the maize. With this high level of production in Nigeria, there is still shortage of maize in the country and the government always make sure they assist one way or the other to encourage the farmers to produce maize. With the rapid increase in the population in Nigeria, there is great need for the farmers to put more effort in the production of maize in the country.
CHOOSING OF LAND FOR PLANTING
The land to be used for the planting of maize should be a drained Sandy loam or loamy soil and I so much love the drained Sandy loam and I have been using this type of soil for a long time and this has yielded good results.
PREPARATION OF THE LAND FOR PLANTING
In order to make sure the Maize strives well, the land must be well prepared. The maize I plant is not a commercial scale, although I sell some of my produce but majorly it's for me and I also give some to my neighbors and families. I make use of manual labor to remove the weeds on the land and I do not subscribe to the use of chemical for weed clearing. Although if it's a commercial farming, mechanical means should be used and this is faster and also make sure the soil structure is not tampered with.
PLANTING TIME
In Nigeria, there are 2 seasons to plant maize and to make the yam grow well and this are Early Season and late season. I will start by saying that in the forest zones of the Country, around 15th March to 1st April. Although it's good to plant immediately the rain starts and this will make the maize to grow well. Also in the Savannah zone, the planting from 1st to the last day in April. This is when the rain is stable and people start their planting. And some also plant around late May and June and this depends on the rainfall. There are some who
TYPES OF MAIZE PLANTED
YELLOW HYBRID VARIETIES: 8425-8; 8329-15.
I got this from an agriculture store in Ile ife. Although there are other varieties in the store but I chose this because it's said to be a disease resistance and I like yellow maize too.
SEED RATE AND PLANT POPULATION
SEED RATE
There are different varieties of maize and different seed rate. Although I didn't plant up to an hectare but this is the recommended seed rate which is 15 kg/ hectare for Hybrids.
PLANT POPULATION
After the maize had been planted, the expected plant population with the hybrid variety is Hand planted, 90 cm x 40 cm, 2 plants per stand is expected to give 55,555 plant per hectare. I made use of manual planting and since this is a small portion of land. It was well spaced.
WEEDING
It's important to note that Weeds are harmful to the maize and they must be removed as appropriate. I make use of Cutlass and hoes and this are not so easy.weeding should be done around 14 days and 21 days of planting. Also sometimes, one can also do the weeding the third time of it's necessary. Some people make use of herbicide after the clearing of the land and planting.
MY MAIZE PRODUCTION FOR?
Well, farming has been part of me since I was in the secondary school around 2002. It's always a happy time on the farm, I also like livestock farming too. The maize I planted it's meant for myself and my family too. I also give some out to my neighbors. I dey some to produce my animal feeds. This year the maize is a scarce commodity and this has made the prices of animal feeds to sky rocket and this made me to make the decision of keeping mine and not for sale.
IN PICTURES
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