Being a nutritious crop and crop of value, maize quality and quantity is determined by the level of technology used in production.
As farmers earn a lot of money from sales, choose a well drained light soils and ensure not cassava grown in previous season. Clear the land, heap the trash and do controlled burning and measure the size of field for appropriate quantity of seed.
Crop management
Before set off of rains, buy seeds which are resistant to weeds and diseases from a certified agro shop and given the season, choose variety that take 110-115 days for the main season and 95-100 days for the second season. Apply fertilizers in a well prepared seedbed of 20cm depth.
Similarly, make hill holes at 25*75 cm and put 2 seeds in each seed hole and apply pre emergence herbicides 1-3 days after sowing and dont plant other crops with maize. Thin out and leave one plant per hole 15 days after planting for production of big maize cobs.
Use beer cups to measure fertilizer for application and apply pesticides once and at the 6th week after sowing. Wear personal protective equipment when spraying and change cloth completely after spraying and do weeding and heaping as soon as crops become visible for water to stay around plant.
Furthermore, apply urea o plants 9 weeks after sowing and at 16-17 weeks after sowing, harvest maize. Finally, treat dried cobs before storage and store in a well aerated maize crib of 1.4 metres above ground.
