By Saintly Ngwenya
As the cropping season is fast approaching, farmers are faced with a dilemma on which crops to grow using a constrained budget. Most of the crops which give better returns are very demanding in terms of input requirement, labour and time. These challenges have long term effects on the overall productivity of the farm. In most scenarios, most farmers end up operating on a portion of their farms living very large hectares of land unutilized.
There are several crops which farmers can grow using very little funds and still realise good returns in terms of yields and income. These crops include cowpeas, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and many more which farmers can grow using low budgets.
Cowpeas – yield is at around 1.5 to 2.5 tonnes/hectare. Total variable costs are at $609/Ha. Gross income is around $900/Ha, thereby giving a gross income of $291/Ha.
Sweet potatoes – yield is 20 tonnes/Ha. Total variable costs are $3048/Ha. Gross income $18000/Ha, giving gross profit of $14952/Ha.
Do you want to learn more on how to grow these and other crops which you can grow on a low budget? Join our Forum and comment the on crops discussed in this article. Please share your ideas with us about other projects you are considering. Also tell us about production guides and accompanying budgets that you might be interested in.
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