Good rains raise hopes for bumper harvest
Pini Bothoko | Friday January 13, 2017 15:59
In an interview, North East District’s (NED) crop production officer Mercy Chilume predicted that farmers will have a bumper harvest due to the good rains.
She said the late December rains saved the day because ploughing is currently in full swing with 423.31 hectares already ploughed so far since the beginning of the ploughing season last month.
“The recent continuous rains have given farmers hope and if they can continue until next month, farmers might get better yields this year,” said Chilume.
She said within the district, farmers consider the rains as an opportunity to till lands that have not been ploughed for a long time.
She stated that due to continuous rains some farmers are faced with a challenge of water logging in their fields something that disturbs them from ploughing.
The officer advised that farmers should plough high breed crops with short-term maturity that could mature within three months before the winter season begins.
“We have been encouraging farmers to plough high breed crops because we fear that their crops may be hit by frost in winter,” said Chilume.
She said the best crops that farmers should think of ploughing at the moment should be sorghum, maize and beans but should make sure that they are high breed crops. Chilume said this year they have encouraged farmers to use conservation ploughing in which farmers use ripping machines for ploughing.
She said conservation farming produces high crop yields while maintaining the soil fertility and also conserving water.
Chilume said for years the country has been having unreliable rains something that has affected the country’s food security.
She said with the new ploughing method, they are confident that farmers will produce better yields during poor rains as the country rely on rainfall for irrigation.
“We encourage farmers to practice the modern methods of ploughing in order to maximise their yields. We have been encouraging farmers to cultivate the soil by October to prepare it for the rainy season,” said Chilume.
She said they have around 25 farmers at Zwenshambe who have ploughed using the ripping ploughing method. Chilume expressed a concern over delay in germination of sorghum within the district with the cause yet not known.
“Usually sorghum germinates after four to seven days but this season it takes a longer period of time and we are yet to establish what could be the cause. Other crops like maize, millet and beans are germinating well and we encourage farmers to plough them,” said Chilume.
In an interview with Mmegi, Tonota, Tutume and Masunga (TOTUMA) arable commercial farmers association chairperson, Priscilla Monthe said the recent continuous rains have not given them a chance to plough but they have given them hope for better yields this season.
‘”If the rains could at least break for a week in between they could allow us to plough but now the majority of the farmers under the Masunga and the Tutume area are yet to plough because their fields are still flooded,” said Monthe. She said their members under the Tonota area have ploughed in high numbers and their crops have started to germinate.
“Like every year, TOTUMA farmers have welcomed this year’s rains and are looking forward to ploughing. We are hopeful that this year’s hectares will be increased because some farmers who have not been ploughing are interested in ploughing,” said Monthe.
Monthe said just like the previous season the majority of the farmers have ploughed high breed sorghum called Pannar 8906 and Bekalarp maize with the assistance of Agric fountain.