Choosing the Right Number of Crops - Approach Two

In our Agriculture for Everybody blog series, we are going to see how to choose the Right Number of Crops.


We will approach the "Choosing the Right Number of Crops" topic in a slightly different way and the readers can choose the one which suits them best.

The different approaches are namely

1. Keeping the Area Fixed and the Numbers in a single Crop Variable
2. Keeping the Numbers in a single Crop Fixed and the Area Variable
3. Keeping the Tonnage / Money in Sight while keeping others variable

We will discuss each of the topics in detail.

Option 1: Keeping the Area Fixed and the Numbers in a single Crop Variable

In this option, we keep the Area Fixed and allow the numbers in a Crop (specifically for trees, plants) to be variable.

To make it easy for the readers, I am giving an example below:

Lets assume a 250 Sq Ft (250 X 1) fixed area.

In this, we can plant every 25 feet 1 Coconut Tree which comes to 10 or 11 Coconut Trees if we squeeze in 1 at the beginning and 1 at the last.  If we go for Timber Trees, we can plant 1 Melia Dubia Tree every 6 feet which comes to 42 or 43.


Option 2: Keeping the Numbers in a single Crop Fixed and the Area Variable

In this option, we keep the Numbers in a Crop Fixed and the Area be allowed to vary based on the numbers.

Assuming we want to plant 25 Trees for every Crop.  Lets see how this works out.

Taking the same example of Coconut and Melia Dubia, we arrive at the numbers below for the land requirement.

For Coconut Trees, we require 601 Sq Ft.  For Melia Dubia, we require 145 Sq Ft.


Option 3: Keeping the Tonnage / Money in Sight while keeping others variable

In this option, we keep a set target in mind and we calculate back to get the results.  This may look easy in paper while difficult to achieve in real terms.  The reason being neither the yield nor the market rate is fixed and hence fluctuations may occur and if still want to go for this, use the historical data and use the averages to achieve it while factoring in a 10% (+/-) margin of error as a percentage to the base.

For example, we would like to achieve Rs.50,000/- or 1 Tonne every crop.  So, we need to understand what is the yield of the crop and based on the yield we can calculate how many numbers in a crop are required.  Here the area does not make sense at all for calculation.

To give an example, assuming 1 Mango Tree yield 100 Kgs per season, we may need to go for 10 Mango Trees for achieving 1 Tonnage.

The formula would be Number of Trees = Target Tonnage /  Yield Per Tree

Using the same example for Target Money, assuming 1 Mango Tree yield 100 Kgs per season and keeping 100 Kgs @ Rs.2,000/- , we may need to go for 25 Mango Trees for achieving Rs.50,000/-.

The formula would be Number of Trees = Target  Money / (Yield Per Tree X Rate)
 

Choosing the Right Crop

In our Agriculture for Everybody blog series, we are going to see how to choose the Right Crop.


The following are some of the important parameters to consider for identifying or narrowing down to the right crop. It does not mean these factors alone will be be sufficient but can give you a headstart in finalzing the crop.

Please note that the mention of crops includes everything (Plants, Animals etc).

The basic parameters are:-

1. Land Bank
2. Soil Type
3. Water Availability
4. Gestation Period
5. Net Profit

Land Bank means the available land on hand.  This is a very important parameter as this will decide the scale of operations.

Soil Type will help to decide the Crops that can be grown in that land.

Water Availability - Helps you to identify the Crops based on the water resources available.

Gestation Period - How much time you will have to wait before you can start your harvest?

Net Profit - When there are multiple choices available considering the first four parameters, this will be the deciding factor.

You may be surprised to note that I have not mentioned Money as an important factor.  I feel that Money is NOT  the deciding factor but it is necessary to an extent.
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I am presenting few ideas here and I hope this will kindle your imagination further.

Do you know that even without owning any Land Bank you can do agriculture related activity?

1. You can do Honey Bee farming from your house (Urban as well as Rural).
2. You can do Fish Farming in your Village Tank, Pond etc (after getting the permissions and paying the necessary fees)

Is there any activity that can be done in small land holding (less than 2400 sq ft)?

1. You can go for Mushroom Farming
2. You can go for Rabbit Farming
3. You can go for Pigeon Farming
4. You can go for Sericulture Farming

If anybody has more ideas, please let me know.  I will add to this list.