By planting 120 trees in 1 acre nearly 2400 kg macadamia nuts can be produced. By selling them around Rs 6000000 can be achieved. This post will give you a brief idea about macadamia farming profit and cost so that you can make your investment plan. Best practices will help you to start the cultivation. Remember, Macadamia tree needs nearly 10-12 years to produce fruits commercially around 15 to 35 kg yearly. So, plan for at least 10 years.
Quick overview - Profit per acre around 60 lakh, 120 trees per acre, needs good sunlight, starts producing nuts commercially after 10 years.
Macadamia nuts farming introduction
Macadamia belongs to the Proteaceae family and genus of four species of trees indigenous to Australia. It is native to North Eastern, New South Wales, Central and South Eastern Queensland. It is also known as Queensland nut, Bush nut, Maroochi nut, Hawaii nut and Bapul nut. In Australia this fruit is well known as bauple, gyndl or jindilli.
Australian macadamia seeds were first introduced in Hawaii. Hawaii is a constituent state of the United States of America. Hawaii is the 50th state of the USA which is known for first growing macadamia nuts commercially on a large scale. In 2015 Global production of macadamia was only 160,000 tonnes which is 180,000 short in tonnes. People often ask why macadamia nuts are so expensive? The less production of macadamia is one of the reasons for its high rate. South Africa has been the biggest producer of macadamia in the world since 2010.
Macadamia tree information
- Tree height - 2m to 12m or 7ft to 40ft.
- Leaf dimensions - Leaves are arranged in verticil of three to six. Verticil or whorl is an arrangement of leaves, petals, carpels that are wrapped around the stem or stalk. The leaves are 60-300 mm (2-10 in) long and 30-130 mm (1-5 in) broad.
- Flowers - Flowers are long and slender in shape; they are 50-300 mm (2-10 in) long. Individual flowers 10 to 15 mm long.
- Flower color - Macadamia tree flowers are white, pink or purple with four tepals.
- Fruit - Macadamia fruit is hard, woody and globose and it contains one or two seeds. It has a hard nutshell that needs good effort to crack. Macadamia tree bear fruit in the 4th to 5th year but on a very small scale. However, macadamia tree fruiting time needs patience and it bears commercial level fruits after 10 to 12 or 15 years.
How to start macadamia cultivation in India and project report
Project Report
Macadamia farming cost per acre
Macadamia plant cost - Rs 80 to Rs 200 per plant accordingly.
Macadamia plants in 1 acre - 120 plants.
Let's take the average price Rs 100.
Rs 100 x 120 plants = Rs 12000.
Planting material cost = Rs 12,000 (242.42 $AUD).
Labor cost - Rs 20,000 (374.04 $AUD).
Land preparation cost - Rs 15,000 (280.53 $A).
Fertilizer and manure cost - Rs 6000 (112.21 $AU).
Plant protection charges - Rs 5,000 (93.52 $A).
Miscellaneous cost - Rs 5000 (93.52 $AU).
Total Cost = Rs 63,000 (1,177.34 Australian dollar).
Macadamia farming profit
Macadamia price per kg 2023 - Rs 2500 per/kg to Rs 4000 per/kg and above accordingly.
An average tree produce 15 to 35 kg per tree per year.
Let's take 20 kg nuts production per tree.
Number of macadamia trees per acre - 120 trees.
Let’s find nuts produced by 120 trees in 1 year.
120 trees x 20 kg nuts = 2400 kg.
120 trees will produce - 2400 kg nuts in 1 year
Macadamia nuts 1 kg price Rs 2500.
Rs 2500 x 2400 kg nuts = Rs 6000000.
Profit = Rs 60 lakh (1,12,131.10 A$ or Australian dollar).
Net profit = Profit - Cost.
Net profit = Rs 60 lakh (1,12,131.10 $AUD) - Rs 63,000 (1,177.34 $ AUD).
Net profit = Rs 59,37,000 (1,10,997.62 $AUD).
Note - This is the assumption of project report and macadamia farm profitability may differ according to the market, availability and variety etc.
Macadamia yield per tree
- Macadamia needs 5 to 6 years to produce fruits commercially.
- Its production in India is 1 kg per tree for 5 years.
- Macadamia nut production in Australia is much better than India.
- The tree yields 20 kg per year after 10 years.
- An average nut production per tree is 15 kg to 35 kg nuts per year.
- Mature tree can produce 50 kg nuts per year.
Macadamia farming in India
To start macadamia nut farms in Australia, India or anywhere you need to grab the basic details. Details related the cultivation is given below:
Read this - Macadamia trees per acre and farm income
Spacing
With the spacing of 8 x 4 meters 120 to 135 trees per acre will be good enough due to much sunlight needed by the trees. So avoid the density in macadamia farming for good growth of the tree. With the spacing of 10 by 10 meter 70-80 macadamia plants can be planted in 1 acre and nearly 350 plants can be planted in 1 hectare.
Tree nursery contact number
- Macadamia nuts tree nursery karnataka contact number - 08048612105.
- Delhi, balaji nursery contact number - 8048724171.
How many macadamia trees per hectare
With the spacing of 8m by 4m i.e nearly 315 trees per hectare.
Varieties
- Tetraphylla - Edible variety.
- Integrifolia - Edible macadamia variety.
- Dwarf macadamia tree - This tree is ideal for pot and limited space, dwarf tree can be grown easily at home as well.
- Daddow macadamia tree - This tree is intensive and expanded by shape and size.
- A4 macadamia trees - a4 macadamia cultivar is a special and precious tree that is used in commercial macadamia farming.
Best soil
Well drained sandy loam light soils are the most preferable soil for macadamia cultivation. However, this plant can also grow in free drainage soils but drainage conditions are best for commercial production. Moreover, for successful commercial Macadamia farming in New Zealand, Kenya, India or globaly minimum depth of 0.5 meters of friable and well drained soil is indispensable. To minimize the chances of trunk canker disease it is necessary to dig the pit around 1 meter.
Avoid soils - Soil with heavy clay or rocky soils.
Soil pH level - Soil pH level should be between 5 to 6.5.
Temperature requirements
- Yearly temperature for macadamia 20°- 25°C.
- Average day and night temperature difference - 8°C.
- Summer temperature average - 25°C - 30°C.
- Average winter temperature below 19°C.
- Macadamia tree temperature winters 20°.
- Blossoming temperature for night below 19°C.
Growing conditions
- Macadamia tree prefers subtropical conditions.
- The trees like high summer and low winter temperatures.
- Sandy loam soil with a good drainage system Is preferred for commercial macadamia cultivation.
- Sandy loam soil should contain pH level ranging from 5.0 to 6.5.
- Australian macadamia nut trees from subtropical rainforests like high humidity and rainfall regions for transparent and consistent growth.
- These trees belong to tropical regions therefore they need full sun to produce fruits.
- Some trees have upright growth and some have lateral growth.
- The plants are not comfortable in heavy clay soil, so avoid the soil during macadamia cultivation.
Propagation methods
Propagation of macadamia nuts can be done by seeds or by cuttings.
One thing you should know is that the cutting propagation method is much faster than the seed propagation method. Seed propagation takes 10 to 12 years to produce fruits whereas macadamia cutting propagation takes 4 to 6 years to produce fruits. Before starting macadamia plantation in India you should choose the best variety and there are only two varieties that are edible both are given below
Best macadamia cultivars
Tetraphylla and Integrifolia both these varieties are edible.
Seedlings
Purchase the seedling from your trustworthy nursery.
Select tetraphylla and integrifolia macadamia varieties.
Drill a hole according to the root ball of the seedling i.e dip as root balls of the seedlings.
Growing from seed
Macadamia germination process takes 3 - 5 weeks. Select a seedling with a developed root system reaching at the height of 5cm along with a couple of leaves and transplant them to a large polybag. 10 month to 1 year old seedlings with a diameter of 1 - 1.4 cm can be used as rootstock.
Fertilizer requirements
Mulch and animal manure can be used throughout the year during the period of the first four years.
8:10:5 NPK ratio fertilizer, don't exceed 10 pounds fertilizer per tree.
Organic fertilizer - Rotted cow dung, mulch, leaf mulch compost, granular plant food. Grow green manure crops such as clover between orchard rows and this will improve nutrient values.
Best fertilizer for macadamia
- Algae fertilizer.
- Mulch.
- Cow dung.
- Dung.
- Rock meal.
- Compost.
- Grow trefoil in your macadamia farm.
Pest and disease control
- Pests
- Macadamia nut borer.
- Tropical not bother.
- Stink bug.
- Macadamia disease
- Huskspot.
- Raceme blight.
- Slow and quick tree decline.
- Stem canker.
Facts about macadamia nuts
Image credit - pixabay.com
- Allan Cunningham was the first European to face the macadamia plant in Australia.
- Ferdinand Von Mueller gave the scientific name macadamia.
- Ferdinand von Mueller named macadamia in his friend's name.
- Dr. John Macadam was his friend and John was a scientist and secretary in the Australian philosophical institute.
- Walter Hill was the superintendent of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Australia and he saw the boy eating the kernel without any side or ill effect. That boy became the first non indigenous person to eat macadamia nuts.
- King jacky was the first known macadamia entrepreneur and he was native to the Logan River clan which is situated south of Brisbane Queensland.
FAQ
How long do macadamia nuts take to grow?
These trees can produce fruit for 4 to 6 years.
How long does it take to grow from seeds?
Seed propagation takes 10 to 12 years to produce fruits.
How long does macadamia cuttings take to produce fruits?
It needs four to six years to produce fruits.
What is the best macadamia variety in Kenya?
Taita taveta 1 and 2, kiambu 3 and 4, meru 23 and 24, kirinyaga 15 and muranga 20.
How many macadamia trees per acre?
It depends on the spacing some farmers use to plant 70-80 plants with the spacing of 10 by 10 meters and some farmers use to plant 120-135 macadamia plants with the spacing of 8 by 4 meters. It is recommended don't go for dense plantation because it needs full sunlight and during dense plantation their branches will touch and disturb each other and good spacing is required in macadamia tree plantation.
Read more on fruit farming