Farming is no part-time job

MARANYANE NGWANAAMOTHO
Staff Writer | Monday August 30, 2010 00:00

Winter, the time when most farmers have completed harvesting, is the right time to start preparations of the field for the next season. 

It is the best time that farmers can take their soil samples to a research lab for examinations, a crop production officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Moidiwa Matsietsa, advises. 

She says that in winter, farms are less disturbed and it is the right time to test soils so that farmers are in a position to know what they need to buy for their fields.  This practise helps the farmer to know the type of soil he or she has on the farm and the type of the fertilisers needed in the required quantities.  'At the lab, they will test the PH of the soil, determine which fertilisers you will need and even the amounts that you need,' she advised. 

Results from the lab might be difficult for a farmer to interpret, but they are usually advised to take the results to their local extension officers or 'balemisi' who will help with the interpretation of the results. 

'Extension officers will help the farmer interpret results. Go with them to buy the fertiliser and even help them to apply it in the field,' she said. However, farmers are advised to always check with Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD) officials for the fertilisers before they buy them elsewhere.   'ISPAAD usually has the fertilisers, but if not available at a given time farmers are advised to buy for themselves,' she said.  Meanwhile, Matsietsa says the ministry is expecting the meteorological services to inform them when rains are enough for farming.

September is usually considered the beginning of the ploughing season. 'As you know, this is a dry country so we wait on rains before we give any dates,' she said.