I am a newbie who has been thinking about agriculture for the past couple of years but have yet to take a plunge because of high land cost and also my own fear of the unknown and vast subject of agriculture. I believe that technology and help from people like the ones on this forum can be a boon for newbie’s like me. Hence this question that i have been pondering on for a few weeks now and i would like your views on the same- Since the land cost is huge even 100 Km from Bangalore does it make sense for people like me who do not have a background in agriculture to lease land for lets say 5 years and see if we can make this a profession. I am sure that in a couple of years i may have some basic knowledge of farming and with groups like this to help i am sure that the learning experience will be swift. Here is a very rough estimate
Land Lease cost (5 Acre) per year : Rs.100, 000
Drip irrigation facility 3 Acre : Rs.2,50,000
Land re fertilizations readiness : Rs.2,50,000
Seeds/Saplings (ex: chrysanthemum): Rs.2,00,000
Planting and Fertigation : Rs. 75,000
Maintenance /Labour/Per year : Rs.2,50,000
Total expense First year :Rs. 11,25,000
On the remaining 2 Acre have a Water pond & other short term returns (am thinking livestock for daily cash rotation and also animals like sheep/goats)
Is the above concept a workable idea and also if you could let me know if i need to add numbers on the expense side. Also based on the experience of fellow farm enthusiasts and the progressive farmers if the above is put into practice with lets say chrysanthemum or any other type of flowers will there be viable returns and if yes what would the best and worst case scenario be.
your answers would greatly help me make my business case and hopefully steer me towards the right decission.
Land Lease cost (5 Acre) per year : Rs.100, 000 (Should be not more than 50,000 with 100 Kms from Blr)
Drip irrigation facility 3 Acre : Rs.2,50,000 (1,80,000 which should include trench for pipeline, Main line, sub-line, laterals, valves)
Land re fertilizations readiness : Rs.2,50,000 (couldn’t understand re-fertilization)
Seeds/Saplings (ex: chrysanthemum): Rs.2,00,000 (No idea)
Planting and Fertigation : Rs. 75,000 (30 female labours x 150 Rs/day=4500+500; Fertigation = 10 bags/3 acres x 3000 = 30,000)
Maintenance /Labour/Per year : Rs.2,50,000 (Should include in-house labour and the labour for plucking flowers)
Total expense First year :Rs. 11,25,000
If you are an absolute fresher, then I feel Mr. SriRaja’s proposal to be a very good opportunity for you to have hands-on experience at least cost and minimum risk. In fact you both can workout some partnership terms for mutual benefit.
And during the course you will also get to understand constraints on your personal front, if any, during practical execution of the project.
Thank you guruprasadaketi for your thoughts on the approximate costing which i had done. Glad i was off by a bit only. The Refertilization part was where FYM and probably other plants needed to be grown for putting back nutrients into the soil if necessary.
@ SriRaja, Thank you for the very generous offer, I will PM you my number and we can talk at your convenience.
Hello Prashanth,
A very good idea,I will suggest to study ZBNF ( zero budget natural farming) this style of farming is in full bloom in Karnataka and Andhra and Maharhtra a it is all over indian Major States. I am also interested but I am in Navi mumbai so the distance is a big Hurdle.
Hi Raja,
I comlement you for great gesture,the real meaning “SABAKA SAATH,SABAKA VIKAS” Stay blessed.
I would also suggest you to study about farming of white sandal wood,the Economics and profit is mind boggling about 10Cr.Rs in 10-12 yrs/Acre.
You can discuss with me on 9773551402 if you both want.
But this lease concept is great very good prashanth.
Considering that you are going for drip facility and you will use FYM only along the beds and not over the entire land, I feel one lorry load (4 tractor loads) will be enough per acre. The cost of good quality FYM/lorry load is approx. 17,000 to 20,000. So for 3 acres FYM should not exceed 60,000. Plus other plants to fix nutrients back to soil should not cost much (10,000/acre at the most).
Also, in my personal opinion “lease” works for those who are quite well versed with farming and are 200% sure of reaping profits.
Lease may have problems going forward viz.,land owner may not co-operate for subsidies, loans, crop failure compensation etc.
You should have good reputation in managing additional hired labour in local area which is very critical.
One day you may have to leave all the infrastructure like borewells,if any, pipelines, investment on live fence etc to the landlord.
Therefore, it is also a good idea to purchase land say 2 to 3 acres and invest all the infrastructure in your own land. And when you plan to sell off the land, you may at least recover the losses on crops if any. Plus you can avail all the Govt. benefits without much hassles.
Take multiple experts’ opinion on Lease Vs Purchase.
THank you Guru, That is the general thought and that has been the direction i have been trying to move towards but Land cost is so high even in 100 KM radius of Bangalore that it has kind off become a dream to own land here in Bangalore.
Also on the leased land the issue i have heard often is that you invest all this money on the land in terms of infrastructure and effort and if the land owner comes along then it becomes a additional headache trying to hold on to the land for the agreed period. From what i hear and calculate there is a possibility of recovering the cost in 2 years but for that as you rightly mentioned you need to be sure and have some experience.
Another thing i realised while i was researching this vast subject of agriculture is that there are very few (near nil) courses which you can take for getting the basic and some experience.