Estimation of Cost and Net Return of Maize "Zea Mays L." Production under Different Tillage, Irrigation and Sowing Practices in New Halfa area, Kassala State, Sudan

The objective of the study is to estimate the cost and net return of maize (Zea mays L.) production under four tillage practices, two irrigation intervals and two sowing methods. To find out a reasonable formula which can reduce the cost of land preparation. The study depends on both primary and secondary data,. primary data was collected by mean of a field experiment conducted for two consecutive seasons (2009/10 and 2010/2011). The secondary data collected from different related sites. The result indicated that the chisel plow recorded the highest field efficiency (84.83%) and fuel consumption per hour (8.03 L/h). The disk plow scored in the highest value of fuel consumption per hectare (17.29 L/ha). The disk harrow recorded the lowest values field of efficiency (71.41%), and fuel consumption (5.07 L/h). The combination of chisel plowing, manual seeding, and (14 days) irrigation interval recorded the highest grain yield in both seasons (8.7 and 10.8 ton/ha) respectively. The highest maize net return (2969.72$/ha) was obtained by the package of the chisel plowing tillage treatment, (14 days) irrigation interval, and manual seeding, while the lowest net return of (1395.39$/ha) was obtained by the combination of disk plowing (21 days) irrigation interval and manual seeding.