Invest in land and profit from it through tree planting
Acquiring land is a major achievement and valuable venture that every person struggles to have in a lifetime. Whereas many people have different reasons why they acquire land like farming, setting business empires and accommodation, at most times there is a challenge of putting this land for initial purpose which one bought it might not come all that easy mainly because of financial constraints.
And as such people tend to keep their lands idle for some years without a viable project or adding value. But land is like any other investment opportunity to profit from and grow economically. And one of the investment opportunities to profit from your land before developing it for either residential, accommodation or commercial building can be tree planting. Growing trees may not seem exciting but can be a surprisingly lucrative investment. Trees increase in value as they grow, the labour costs are low and require very little startup capital.
For example, planting scaffolds/building poles takes 1000 seedlings to occupy an acre of land and each mature scaffold costs a minimum of Shs 5000 and above. A scaffold matures between 2-3 years. This means you can earn over Shs 5 million in 2-3 years.
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The tree for electric poles can cost on average Shs 100,000 each and in an acre you can grow as many as 450 trees. These grow in just six or eight years meaning could earn over Shs 35 million.
With Shs 35 million you can even buy more than two acres of land, this makes business sense that keeping you land idle waiting for when you get money to develop it or taking risks of going for loans.
Like any other investments land also has challenges, and this at most times requires an expert or profession to guide you. For example appropriate tree spacing ensures that the trees attain sufficient moisture, nutrients and light to grow normally. Trees require standard spacing of 3 meters(450 seedlings per acre),building poles standard spacing 2 meters(1000 seedlings per acre) and electric poles standard spacing of 2.5 meters(640 seedlings per acre).
Farmers should be clear on the purpose to plant trees for it could be firewood, construction or transmission poles, timber or raw material for paper. Ideally, these end products should guide one of the tree species to be planted.
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It’s also important to procure quality tree seeds and seedlings from a credible source. There are also maintenance interventions like weeding and pruning should be undertaken at recommended intervals (depending on species).
Diseased trees should be eliminated and fires kept at bay to guarantee healthy trees, a bumper harvest and quality products like poles, timber and wood for fuel.
For any professional guidance on how to use your land profitably or adding value at Amity we always available to serve you.
