The limited availability of land has been a hurdle for many aspiring farmers, many of whom are determined to venture into farming but lack fertile land.
Common sense has always dictated that the bigger the land size, the more profitable your undertaking would be, as you would be able to scale up production.
AgriToday compiled this list of top income streams on one hectare of farmland from various sources.
To start with, divide the farm into the following sections:
Goats and/or cattle, grass and animal feed farming, short-term orchard, long-term orchard, egg-farming area, horticulture (seasonal fruit and vegetable) farming area, bee-keeping area, compost production area, and a bean hedge section.
Here is how you work it out.
Goats and cattle area
This will be mainly for manure and milk production. Put fly traps in the cattle and goat’ area. The maggots from the flies will be good food for the chickens.
Grass farming section
Grow special grass, such as lucerne, for feeding your goats and milk cows. Grow moringa in one part. This means you cut out expenses for purchasing stock feeds.
Short-term orchard
Here, you can grow short-term fruit, such as pawpaw. 40-50 pawpaw trees produce fruit for about four to five years. Manure from cattle/goats is used as part of the main feed for the pawpaw. The pawpaw will give annual income.
Long-term orchard
Here, fruits that take 10+ years, depending on the climatic conditions of the area. Manure from goats and cattle will be part of the main fertiliser for orchards.
Egg-farming area
The area is kept for organic egg production. Part of the grass and moringa will feed chickens. Earthworms from the compost section will provide good food for the chickens.
Horticulture area
Here, you grow tomatoes, butternut, pumpkins, cabbage, sweet potatoes, potatoes, leafy vegetables, onions, etc. Some vegetables are dried and stored for consumption and sale in drier seasons or drought years. Compost and manure will provide the main fertiliser.
Bee-keeping
Do not destroy all the natural vegetation and trees. Leave some so that you can set up beehives. The bees will also benefit from orchards and your crops. Honey will be your sugar substitute. You can also sell honey.
Compost production area
Manure from goats, cattle and chickens as well as from crop residues will be used to produce compost to act as the key fertiliser for crops and the orchards, as well as the source for earthworms for feeding egg-producing chickens.
Bean hedge
Your perimeter fence can be put as two lines – one to protect from animals from outside. The inner fence is used to farm all-year beans, such as butter beans. They will form a hedge and massive bean production project.
Also, you can have a continuous ridge near the inner fence to grow sweet potatoes.
With a little bit of tweaking, your integrated farm can be turned into a tourist facility with a specialist restaurant and a guest lodge.