Agro-Tech Book - Agriculture Support Programme

are used to operating machinery. Electric motors are cheaper and more ef�cient than diesel
engines for providing power.
Cake
Cake is the remainder of the seed after it has been crushed and the oil extracted. It still
contains small amounts of oil and is a valuable feed for animals. It can be broken into small
particles and fed to chickens or mixed with meal and fed to pigs and cattle. Meal is valuable
and can be sold to other farmers.
SUNFLOWER PROCESSING BUDGETS
Cost of running the press.
The cost of buying the machine is the biggest hurdle in running an oil pressing business.
The cost of the press must be covered by sales of oil before the press stops working from
being too old. A Yenga should be able to process 15 tons (300 bags) of sun�ower in its life.
If the owner has borrowed money to buy the press, and is paying interest, it should be paid
off as soon as possible. Here we assume that no money was borrowed.
If the press costs K540,000, and processes 15 tons before it is useless, it means that
K1,800 (15TX20bags=300bags --– K540,000/300=K1,800) is needed from each bag to pay
for the press.
It also costs money to keep it maintained and repaired. This may be K75 per bag.
The running cost of the press is then K1,875 per bag without counting interest.
Interest may be 60% per year and if we assume the life of the machine is 2 years, then the
interest payable will be approximately 60% if repayments are spread over the 2 years. This
would amount to (0.6X540,000)=K324,000
Thus, the cost of interest, per bag processed = K1,080 --- (324,000/300= 1,080)
In addition the owner may be paying a worker to operate the press. This may be K3,000 per
day during which one bag can be processed.
Therefore the cost of operating the press to process one 50 kg bag will be K5,955
(1,800+75+1080+3000=5,955)
Cost of the seed
E.E.O.A.
A press owner may process his own seed or buy it from someone else; either way it has a
cost. It will be cheaper at harvest than later in the year and may range from K15,000 to
more than K25,000. Assuming that it cost K20,000 per bag the total cost of processing the
oil and cake will be it will now be K25,955 --- (20,000+5,955)
How much oil will be produced?
The Yenga press is not as ef�cient as a mechanical screw press at extracting oil and the oil
content of the seed is also variable. You can expect about 10 to 13 litres (13 to 17 bottles
of 750 mls) from a bag of seed.
The sale of this oil must cover the cost of processing the bag.
12
• If 13 bottles are produced for sale, then the selling price per bottle must be at least
(zero pro�t) K1,996.54 (K25,955/13 bottles)
AGRO-TECHNOLOGY: Farming and Processing Equipment