Hello Everyone,
I am a dentist by profession,myself and my friend own 5 acres of land in Boisar, Maharashtra.We both are novices in the field of agriculture.
This friend came up with the idea of planting eucalyptus trees and reaping huge benefits.Firstly because we both are settled in thane and would be able to visit the farm only once in two weeks and secondly because eucalyptus requires less maintenance compared to other plants.
He came across some website, i surely don`t want to name it,but the economic returns in it are a little hard to digest.Is it real?.
I would like to show you the calculations projected first and then put forward the questions…
250 to 300 kgs per tree.
Per acre 1500-1800 trees approximately.
So the total yield per acre is 1800 X 300= 540000 kgs i.e 540 metric tons per acre .( at the end of 4th year)
The present market rate is Rs 6000 to 8000 …so roughly the yield is of 6000*540=32,40,000
The Questions Or Doubts:
1.Do these calculations make sense according to the current market trend.
2.If yes, what all should be taken into consideration while planting the saplings…what all will come up in the start up cost.
3.Once we plant these,DO paper mills contact us or do we have to do some kind of marketing for it to paper mills?
4. What are the current market rates per ton or per tree.
5.Other options in agro forestry?
All this has ignited a fire in me of doing something in the field, so even if this doesnt work out,I would like to know some other options for a first time farmer like me.I am open to suggestions.Please help.
Thank You ALL in advance…
There are several options… You can go for Melia Dubia, Casurina, Bamboo etc.
I am sure your financials are good and you want to put to use your land for good purpose. My suggestion is to go for Organic Farming and produce Vegetables, Fruits etc so that you can avail good food and as well sell the extra to your friends etc. This way you can provide employment to few persons as well.
Who will be at your farms? you or a resident labour?
If it is you:
You can think of integrated farming with Dairy+mushroom+vegetable+Millets and fruits like mango, pomegranate etc.
If it is Resident Labour:
Go for Mango(alphanso is popular in those parts),butter fruit. You can have timbers crops on peripheri of the farm.
This will have less maintnance and harvesting can be contracted.
I have recently got into an agreement with a Birla group company to grow hybrid Eucalyptus on 5 acres (planting not done yet). The following is the economics:
Levelling, planting and manuring is done by the company in the beginning. No costs to be borne by the farmer.
Part time security guard appointed by the company. He will guard my farm and a few others along side.
6th Year is the first harvest. The yield should be around 40-50 tonnes per acre. The agreement will be for the farmer to sell the yield to the company at a contracted rate of Rs.1200 per tonne - 48-60,000 per acre. (2,40,000- 3,00,000 for 5 acres)
The tree will allow 3 harvests after that, at 3 year intervals. This yield can be sold to the company or anyone else at the market price. Current market price should be in the range of 5,000 Rs per tonne. That is an income of 2,00,000 - 2,50,000 (10 - 12.5 lakh for 5 acres) per acre every three years.
Over a 15 year period, the farmer makes Rs. 6,48,000 per acre (43,200 per acre per year on average). This is a decent amount considering that there are no upfront costs or labour/maintenance costs.
The tree is not the usual eucalyptus variety, this seems to be some fast growing variety which doesn’t send roots deep into the soil. In fact, the representative assured me that roots won’t go beyond 5 ft depth. The trees on my neighbouring farm are already upwards of 25 ft in less than three years.
Sir there will be a resident labour at the farm,but i have one of my relatives near the place, so i think i could integrate your first suggestion too.And moreover i can visit the farm every weekend…It is requiring a lot of thinking …Thank you all for the suggestions.
Congrats for your agreement AK…Yup the startup costs are almost nil.But i think the land gets blocked for a lot of years.15 years is a long time.May be i would stick to traditional farming.Thanks a Lot for your DETAILED INFORMATION and suggestions.
I agree DreamBig, the land does get locked. This is an option if you have land to spare and have nothing better to do with it. I have lent out my paddy fields which were lying vacant for a couple of years now and were filled with weeds. Neither do we have enough water nor labour to pursue paddy cultivation. Instead of wasting that land, I put it to use this way. I have another 6 acres where I grow Areca, Coconut, Banana, Pepper and Cashew.
So the total yield per acre is 1800 X 300= 540000 kgs i.e 540 metric tons per acre .( at the end of 4th year)
The present market rate is Rs 6000 to 8000 …so roughly the yield is of 6000*540=32,40,000[/quote]
Above information is Wrong …this is the detailed info… I am gng to plant eucalyptus cmg Jun in my 10 acre land.
Per acre Maximum 1200 trees
Per Tree kgs depend on Water source and etc… Minimum of 50 Kgs.
So 1200* 50 = 60000 : 60 Metric ton
Present market rate around 2000. So 60*2000= 1.20 Lak
So per acre Minimum you get 1.20 lak max depends on Yielding of the tree water source…etc
How you people know the eucalyptus price. You people totally wrong with the price .
At present in Andhra Pradesh eucalyptus support price would be Rs : 5000/- +.
I was so wondered about the supporting price …1200…2000… This price was before 2009 …
Sandeep, if you read my post, you will see that I did not mention 1200 was the market price. I said that the first time, I would be required to sell at this contracted price. Subsequent harvests, I can sell at the market price. The current market price for this eucalyptus in my town is around 4000-4500 mark.
Good question. Eucalyptus has a special quality, it injects a growth inhibitor into the land where it grows. This chemical stops other competing plants (native species) from growing as long as the Eucalyptus tree is alive. Once the tree dies, there is no long term impact.
There are other myths propagated about this species saying they dry up the land by absorbing all ground water and so on. This is not entirely true. In plantations, since these trees are cut down every 3-6 years, their roots do not go beyond 5-6 feet depth. Eucalyptus and Acacia are fast growth species, so they obviously soak up nutrients at a faster rate compared to slow growth species but they do not cause a lot of damage to land.
It’s an entirely different issue that the leaves and fruits of these two varieties are not consumed by birds and animals. So cutting down natural forests to plan these trees is environmentally damaging as it disturbs the ecosystem. There is no harm in growing these trees in private farms and lands which would be barren otherwise.
Planting trees (any trees) helps enrich ground water and keep the surrounding areas cool.
Thank you for Providing Information.But after Plantation of EUCALYPTUS the land will not be used for any Plantation. The Land will become useless and one need to make much efforts for bringing this Land for use. This is the experience of several Farmers in Khammam,West Godavari District,Nellore etc. of Andhrapradesh
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