Mechanisation: Missing link found
Mechanisation: Missing link foundBy George Chisoko and Tabitha Mutenga
The rolling out of land and the provision of inputs to farmers without the support of a strong mechanisation programme has impacted negatively on crop production. While the Government has been relentless in its efforts to ensure farmers get land and inputs, the missing link has been mechanisation, which has rendered land preparation ineffective across the country.
The failure to prepare land on time because of the shortage of tractors has resulted in dwindling crop yields and consequently falling production. Government reckons that the absence of an effective mechanisation programme has been the major inhibiting factor to increasing crop production and as a result, is formulating a strategic document on mechanisation to address tillage problems at individual farmer level.
The strategic mechanisation document will be based on a survey to be undertaken by the Ministry of Agricultural Engineering and Mechanisation to assess the status of agricultural mechanisation in the country. The survey will look at the current state and capacity of machinery and equipment required in the short term (between now and 18 months), medium term (5 years) and long term (50 years, which is the horizon).
Most farmers have failed to meet planting deadlines because of the lack of tillage equipment. What the country needs is to produce adequate food and expand production for export to an increasing competitive world. This can be achieved by modernising agriculture through mechanisation with special focus on making individual farmers have access to tractors and other important machinery required for land preparation.
The Minister of Agricultural Engineering and Mechanisation, Dr Joseph Made, said mechanisation has to be undertaken within the horizon of 50 years because of the obvious implications such a mammoth programme would have on fuel requirements.
Fuel becomes the most critical factor when mechanisation is looked from the aspect of tractorisation. Without adequate fuel, the whole mechanisation programme is rendered futile. The mechanisation document is expected to be very comprehensive as it looks at every aspect of cropping, livestock, plantation and forestry as they relate to machinery and equipment requirements.
"We want to modernise agriculture in a very serious way. We are not only looking at tractors to do the ploughing and planting but on-and-off farm transportation. The decision to modernise agriculture is irreversible and we must take the lead on the African continent to mechanise on individual farmer level. This is a clear support of land reform,’’ said Dr Made.
In its quest to have a fully mechanised agricultural sector, the Government will not procrastinate by re-inventing the wheel but will go everywhere the country is welcome for machinery to complement what is available and where better technology is offered, the Government will not hesitate to hunt for it.
It, therefore, becomes the major thrust for the Ministry of Agricultural Engineering and Mechanisation to provide farming equipment — ranging from tractor-drawn equipment to animal-drawn — to achieve maximum productivity.
Mechanisation would reduce the major challenge of delayed land preparations, which drastically affect the expected production output. According to Seed Co sales and marketing manager, Ivan Craig, delayed land preparations do not affect food security only but the machinery’s life span is also reduced.
"If land preparation is done late, it obviously means the planting deadlines are missed and in wheat, planting a day after 15 May means farmers would lose 60kg/ha per day and in maize farmers would lose 50kg/ha per day," Craig said.
Without the yields, the country would continue to import food, hence the importance of mechanising agriculture on a large scale.
While it is important to mechanise agriculture for increased production, farmers should also focus on maintenance of their tractors, animals and other farming implements.
Ploughing late in the season would increase the wear and tear of implements, rippers, chisels and disc harrows are easily broken when penetrating the hard pan of the soil.
Also, ploughing depth is affected thereby reducing yield per hectare.
Efforts by the Government to mechanise the industry would lessen tillage problems faced by farmers although the District Development Fund and the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority have been providing tillage services to farmers every cropping season.
Efforts by these two institutions have not been enough because of the lack of sufficient tractors to till the large hectares of land needed every season for crop production.
The tillage unit needs to be boosted to meet the country’s tillage requirements.
Although it has been said before that the country would need 50 000 tractors, with the new drive to modernise agriculture, the capacity needed would exceed 50 000.
Dr Made said there was need to balance between new machinery and old machinery for the farmers, and increase the hectarage tilled every season.
Farmers have not been tilling their land on time, resulting in large tracts of land being under-utilised owing to the lack of tillage equipment.
The introduction of mass of ploughs for the A1 and communal sectors would reduce the current farm equipment crisis facing the industry.
In the process of mechanisation, tillage equipment are a priority, then planters become a necessity because of the shortage of labour on most farms.
With the help of the Agricultural Dealers and Manufacturers Association, the Ministry will provide a number of ploughs (tillage) and planters at district level.
"The farmers should have something to use for tillage before they seek help from tillage services provided by DDF."
If every farmer is to own a piece of tillage implement, it therefore becomes easy for them to jointly use the machinery as a group or hire out to other farmers in exchange of those implements they do not have.
Communal farmers need to be re-organised to effectively utilise the land using the implements provided.
Although animal traction remains an important and sustainable source of farm power, farmers using draught power should have appropriate equipment.
As farmers maximise yields, suitable implements should be used and various field operations have to be timed well according to crop needs.
Mechanisation has been identified with large farms and big farmers, but the ministry wants to ensure that communal farmers who have never owned a tractor should consequently own at least a small tractor as long as it is a four-wheel drive.
"As long as it’s a four-wheel drive, it can give the net output of a 90-horse power tractor."
Mechanisation helps save resources and enables an increase in output by raising crop intensity and yield per hectare.
Working together with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the ministry expects to import 1 700 tractors before the next season, with part of the fleet already in the country.
Besides the tractors, ADMA and the ministry are already working on the ox-drawn implements requested by the monetary authority.
These include 100 000 scotch carts, 100 000 ploughs, planters and cultivators.
However, these are not close to the national demand because there are over 900 000 communal farmers, 150 000 small-scale farmers, 15 000 A2 plus the old commercial farmers.
"Farmers will have to learn to use the available resources jointly for food security purposes."
The country has a loan facility with China and Iran to bring in 2 000 tractors, also with Algeria, Egypt, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and India.
The machinery and equipment to be imported stretches from tractors and green house equipment to milking machinery.
The efforts to modernise agriculture in the country, should be complemented by other sectors in the industry especially fertilizer companies and seed houses because after tilling the millions of hectares needed for food security the seed and fertilizer are a necessity.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, LAND REFORM, MECHANISATION, THE HERALD, TRACTORISATION, ZIMBABWE
posted by MrK @ 4:34 AM
3 Comments:
This is an EXCELLENT article, because this is about the way forward. This is what I have been saying all along. The types and sizes of land we are talking about need mechanisation, and specifically tractorisation, as well as rainwater catchment systems. Inputs like fertilizer can be made on the farm itself. Dr. Made is the right man for the job too. With proper mechanisation and some initial support, agriculture in Zimbabwe is going to take off in a way that for the first time since colonialism, will benefit all the people.
" Ploughing late in the season would increase the wear and tear of implements, rippers, chisels and disc harrows are easily broken when penetrating the hard pan of the soil. Also, ploughing depth is affected thereby reducing yield per hectare. "
But this is really old style farming. There are some types of farming that do not till at all. I don't know how commecially viable they are, but there has been a trend in sustainable agriculture toward shallower and shallower plowing.
Also, intercropping, covercropping and green manuring should limit the need for fertilizers (and completely eliminate chemical fertilizers), as well as prevent erosion. Harvesting only the needed part of the plant (maize cobs in the case of maize, for instance), and leaving the rest of the plant on the land undisturbed prevents erosion and adds to the organic content of the soil. This way, soil is built up over the years, instead of depleted.
Swales should help to keep most of the rainfall on the land and raise the water table. Artificial ponds should help eliminate the dependence of rainfall.
MrK,
Advances in no-till farming are being implemented in a wide variety of farm sectors, and are proving to be economically viable in the short term by increasing yields while simultaneously reducing input costs, and over the longer term by improving soil health and reducing topsoil erosion and associated costs.
Here are some useful online resources about no-till practices:
http://www.no--till.com/switchboard.htm
http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ESSD/ardext.nsf/17ByDocName/No-TillFarmingforSustainableRuralDevelopment/$FILE/NotillFarmingforSustainableDevelopment.pdf
http://www.croplife.org/librarycasedetail.aspx?case=6b2e51b2-bbb6-4ffb-ad84-cf0a4639598e
Thanks for all the links.
I would like to see how Fukuoka's methods would work commercially. 'Do nothing' agriculture seems almost too good to be true. :) But what do I know about buddhism?
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