Divisi
When to plant Maize in Barbacha
Bejaia, Algeria
C4 annual grass, wind- and cross-pollinated — buy hybrid seed fresh each season and isolate seed crops / sweetcorn from field maize by ~200 m.
| Fit | Moderate |
|---|---|
| When to plant | 22 Mar 2027 – 20 Jul 2027 opens in 25 weeks |
| Expected harvest | about 3.7 t/ha |
| Harvest | From 20 Jul 2027 to 7 Dec 2027, depending on the planting date |
| Ready to harvest | 120–140 days after planting |
| Work it takes | 82–165 days per hectare, by hand |
Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.
If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 21 May 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.
This season's rainfall outlook for Barbacha leans dry, so these dates sit later than the long-run average. Planting on the date you are used to risks germinating into a false start and having to replant.
Planting after 20 Jul 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.
What decides this in Barbacha
| Rain and temperature | 96% |
|---|---|
| The soil | 96% |
| The lie of the land | 30% |
For maize in Barbacha, the lie of the land is the tightest of the three at 30%. You cannot flatten it, but you can farm it: plant along the contour rather than up and down, ridge or tie ridges to hold water on the slope, and expect shallower rooting than the crop would manage on flat ground.
The 2026/27 season in Barbacha
| When the rains are expected | September 2026 to May 2027 |
|---|---|
| Rain in a typical year | About 635 mm |
| This season's rain | Leaning dry — January, February, November and December look short of rain. Plant at the early end of the window, favour quicker and more drought-tolerant crops, and keep moisture in the soil: mulch, and weed early. |
| This season's heat | Hotter than usual — about +1.1 °C over the growing months. Heat makes the same rain do less, so a dry spell bites sooner: do not plant late, and shade or mulch what you can. |
| What that supports | enough rain for one full main crop, warm, with a cool spell that slows winter growth |
| Ground this covers | One kind of ground throughout. |
last updated 18 September 2026
Sloping ground holds back about 65% of yield here.
What maize needs to grow here
| Soil it likes | well-drained sandy loam, loam or clay loam soil |
|---|---|
| Soil sourness (pH) | Happiest between pH 5.5 and 7.5 |
| Spacing | 75 cm between rows, 25 cm between plants |
| Feed it most with | sulphur, zinc and magnesium |
What it takes to grow maize in Barbacha
| Planting material | About 53,000 plants per hectare |
|---|---|
| Nitrogen (N) | About 59 kg per hectare |
| Phosphate (P₂O₅) | About 30 kg per hectare |
| Potash (K₂O) | About 22 kg per hectare |
| In the shops | A basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. A nitrogen top dressing — urea or AN — goes on once the crop is established. |
| Hand work | 82–165 days per hectare, by hand |
These are the nutrients a maize crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.
What to watch for
Grow Maize with a plan, not a guess
Everything above describes Barbacha as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.
This calendar moves
Planting windows shift with the forecast. Leave your email and we'll send what changed, and a note when planting time nears — a couple of emails a month at most.
Frequently asked questions
Will maize grow well in Barbacha?
Barbacha rates as moderate for maize.
When should I plant maize in Barbacha?
Typically 22 Mar 2027 to 20 Jul 2027, forecast-adjusted.
Is this exact for my own field?
No — these are readings taken across Barbacha, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.
