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(TIMES) FARMING CORNER - Water is life, conserve it by harvesting it

FARMING CORNER - Water is life, conserve it by harvesting it
By WYSON SINKONDYOBWE

ALTHOUGH too much rain has caused havoc in some parts of the country, agriculturists believe water can be harvested and later on used for agricultural purposes. As they say, water is life, conserve it, this is a scheme the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is trying to put in place so that rain water is not wasted but reserved for later use.

Martin Sishekanu, the Chief land husbandry specialist at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives says the technology of water harvesting is cardinal in times like this when the country experiences too much rainfall. Therefore, farmers should consider it as a way of sustaining crops in case the nation at one point is exposed to dry weather conditions.

Water harvesting is a technology used to put up several measures of trapping the excess rainy water that may go to waste in fields. The practice is highly beneficial in dry areas or countries where rainfall is unreliable.

Mr Sishekanu states that the ministry decided to embark on the project as a way of managing food security that is targeted at reducing the vulnerability of the local community, particularly in Southern province where drought has persisted for some time. “The aim of the technology is to cushion the impact of dry spell in various parts of the country. If the water is harvested and utilised later, then the crop will be able to survive and farmers will be able to achieve better yields at the end of the exercise.”

This project supports the farming community to strengthen its ability to adapt to the changing climatic conditions. As a result, the government through the ministry of agriculture with its collaborating partners the United Nations Development Programme and Global Environmental Facility thought it could be wise to educate farmers on how to harvest water.

Additionally, the agriculturist based at Mulungushi house, which is the national headquarters for the agriculture ministry, pronounces that the ministry would like to see a situation where water which is currently left to be wasted and running through our fields thereby causing floods and destruction in some parts of the country, is harnessed in terms of either in-situ water harvesting which calls upon the application principles of conservation farming, or it should be stored in reservoirs like dams so that during the dry season this water will be made available either directly or through some conveyance systems to areas where some irrigation schemes can be developed.

He further says through this development, farmers will be grouped and organised in committees, through the help of agriculture extension officers, and these committees will be turned into farmers’ field schools where farmers will be able to learn the technologies required for them to do some adaptations of particular crops.

Moreover, the specialist notes that since farmers should capture water as it falls from the sky as rains, the ministry plans to work closely with the Meteorological department which is specialised in forecasting.
Other measures of trapping excessive rainy water that may go to waste in fields or streams in case of heavy rains are potholing, mulching and tied-ridging.

Potholing is the digging of holes between the rows so that the holes may trap excess water, and this might reduce the runoff water in the field. However, growers should realise that there is a difference between potholes and basins. A pothole is where a farmer digs out a mere hole which is not used for anything else apart from trapping water, while a basin is a hole dug with special instructions such as its shape and measurements, and later on, a farmer will apply fertilisers or lime and plant seed in it.

Mulching is another approach that may be used to trap water in the field, and it is the spreading of leaves, straws, peat moss or remains of crop residues on the ground around the plant to prevent water evaporation from the soil. Moreover, it lowers the speed of running water in fields; as a result it helps to maintain the soil fertility by trapping nutrients that may be eroded with flowing water.

Significantly, a field that is mulched is likely to maintain moisture for a longer period of time, as it reduces the rate of evaporation in the field whereas, a field which is not mulched is likely to lose a lot of water to an extent of endangering the growth of crops.

Tied-ridging is the making of ridges to trap water. A ridge is a long, narrow elevation of land such as a sweet potato ridge and has been implemented mostly by a fraction of small-scale farmers.

Furthermore, it has been observed that even the hunger crisis currently hitting some countries in the SADC region such as Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe due to drought experienced in the previous farming seasons, which led to crop failure would probably have had been mitigated if several growers had harvested the rainy water at a large scale.

The aim of the technology which can mostly be achieved at times like this farming season when we are experiencing some flash floods in some parts of Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi and other countries, is to lessen the impact of dry spell in these areas in future.

The technology can sustain crops for a number of weeks or months if it is done in an appropriate and effective manner.

With the rains on, farmers should set up the exercise of harvesting the freely given water as early as possible so as to prolong the life span of crops in case of a drought. Research indicates that growers who have been practicing the technology have had better yields.

Agriculturalists are convinced that once small-scale and commercial farmers adopt the technology of water harvesting, high levels of crop failure would be reduced-PALISAH

For more information
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Palisah News Agency
P. O. BOX 33984
Lusaka.
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Labels: FLOODS, RAINFALL, RAINWATER HARVESTING

posted by MrK @ 12:03 AM