Part 3 - Farm business survey questionnaire

FARM BUSINESS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

This questionnaire is different from the question papers of the first- year courses. You are not asked to answer questions about what you have learned in the course. You are asked to get a good knowledge of a farm.

If you are a farmer yourself, you work in the fields; you have animals and perhaps buildings for them; you have tools. The farm workers, the animals, the fields, the buildings, the tools make up what is called a farm business. The course has explained this. Read carefully. You are now going to make us familiar with your farm.

If you do not have a farm yourself, take your father's farm, or your brother's, or the farm of someone else. In answering the questionnaire, take only one farm.

HOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONNAIRE

· Be sure you understand each question. This booklet explains how to answer the questions. Reread pages 24 to 30.

· Next, take good note of what there really is on the farm. As asked, you must count and measure. Then write your answer.

· If the question speaks of something which does not exist on the farm, answer "no".

1. FARM LABOUR

The farm consists in the first place of those who work on it.

There is whoever has the land and the animals: he gives work and food to the family and he keeps the harvest.

There are also those who work for him on the farm.

Answer the following questions:

· In what village does the farm lie?
· Who does the farm belong to?

Is it yourself?
Is it someone in your family?
Is it some other person?

· Do you work on the farm yourself?
· Count how many people work all the time on the farm.

How many men?
How many women?
How many unmarried youngsters?
How many paid workers?
Total number of workers.........

· Are there other workers who come at certain times?

All these workers make the success of the business.

They bring labour to the business.

2. FARM ANIMALS

The farm business also includes the animals. Take a good look and count them.
There are livestock (cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys, horses, camels, etc,).
There are farmyard animals (chickens, ducks, guinea fowl, rabbits).
On the farm of Mr................... there are:

Which animals? How many males? How many females? How many young?

Cattle
Sheep
Goats
Pigs
Chickens

· Are there animals raised for food for people (meat, milk, eggs)? If so, which?
· Are these animals raised for sale, to earn money?

This year, was any money earned from the animals? How much? Reckon as follows:

Sale of animals + sale of milk + sale of eggs = total

· Are some animals used for farm work?
· Is food bought for the animals?
· Are medicines bought for the animals?

Animals are wealth: they are the animal capital of the business.

3. FARM LAND AND PRODUCTS

The farm business also includes the cultivated land. Let us see:

Mr.................and his wife may have a garden. They may have tree plantations. They grow crops for the family food, and other crops to sell. They may also have pasture for feeding animals.

1. The garden

· Has Mr . ................. a garden?

(If not, do not answer this question. Go on to the following question about tree plantations.)

· What is grown in the garden?
· Are any vegetables sold? Which?
· If yes, how much was earned in a year?

2. Tree plantations

Are there any plantations or fruit trees?

Each rectangle below represents one plantation or a group of trees. Write in the rectangle the answers to the following questions:

· What sort of plantation? (Coffee ...... oil palms, mangoes, etc.)
· What is the area of the plantation?
· How many trees are there?
· How many kilogrammes were harvested in a year?

· If anything was sold, how much was earned? ("Receipts")

3. Fields

· How many fields are there in the farm?
................. ................. ..................................

· Look at each field Each rectangle below represents one field. Write in the rectangles and say:
· What crop is grown in the field: "Field of .................
· What is the area of this field: "measuring................."
· How many kilogrammes were harvested in this field: "Harvest ................."
· If the harvest was sold, or part of the harvest, how much was earned?
(" Receipts")

Which of the products harvested in the fields and plantations were used for human food?

Which were used for animal food? .................
Which were sold to earn money? .................

4. Fodder crops for animals: pasture

Are fodder crops for animals grown?
Are there places kept for pasture?
The garden. plantations and fields contribute to production: they are the land capital of the business.

4. FARM BUILDINGS

The farm business also includes buildings. They are used for housing animals, for storing tools. Perhaps there are barns or paddocks. Look carefully and do not forget anything.

· At night where do the animals sleep? Include the livestock and the farmyard animals.
In the farm house? Which animals?

In a shelter? Which?
In the bush? Which?

In housing made for them?

· How many buildings are there for the animals? Which?
· What are the walls of these buildings made of? And the root?
· What it to be teen inside theta buildings?

It there a paddock for the animals in the daytime? For which animals?

How it the paddock made? What is to be seen in it?

If there a special place for storing working materials such as tools, fertilizers, pesticides?

What place is there?

· How many granaries are there for storing the harvest?

Buildings contribute to production.
They are also part of the farm capital.

5. FARM INSTALLATIONS AND TOOLS

To produce more, Mr.................has maybe made some improvement to his land by digging ditches or making little channels, or by doing other things.
In working, he uses tools. Maybe he has built some installations.
These installations and tools are part of the business.

Take a good look.
Installations: is there:
a pit for compost? .................a place for manure? .................a pit for silage?
.................a store of hay or oil cake?.................a well near the house and garden?
.................What is there for storing water?
What arrangements have been made to bring water to the fields or garden?
What installations, such as a dryer or oven, etc., are there for drying or treating harvest products? .................

What tools are used in production?

Pesticides and fertilizer: does the farmer buy fertilizers?
................. ................. ................. ................. ................. .................

For what crops? ................. ................. ................. .................
Installations and tools contribute to production: they are the technical capital of the business.