Maravi

(HERALD) Farmers don’t be caught napping

Farmers don’t be caught napping

IT’S only a few weeks before the rains start falling and preparations for the next cropping season have gathered momentum.

The skies are already threatening. We have said it before and we will repeat it again. We should not be caught napping when the rains start falling. Farmers should by now have completed planning the necessary logistics in preparation for the season to avoid last minute hassles.

Planning is of utmost importance in agriculture and under normal circumstances, farmers start stocking up for the next season as soon as they receive money after selling their harvest.

Most farmers should by now have completed land tillage. There is no more shortage of fuel for tillage as diesel is easily accessible at most filling stations.

We are happy to hear, as we reported on Wednesday, that Zimbabwe will not import maize seed this summer cropping season as the country has produced enough and is self-sufficient.

Seed Co says it has trebled production from 7 000 tons in 2009 to 21 000 tons this year.

This is more maize seed than is required by the country.

We also like to commend some fertiliser companies who have made available the product during the past few weeks.

Early land preparation has many advantages. It helps farmers to plant with the first effective rains and ensure good germination. This also helps to get high yields at the end of the cropping season.

The annual seasonal forecast by Sadc weather experts is now regarded as possibly the most critical factor in deciding what farmers should grow and when.

Scientists have been refining their models and the level of accuracy achieved in recent years is quite remarkable, sufficiently so that few would now plan a season without this data and even fewer would disregard the forecast, hoping that it is wrong.

According to Sadc weather experts who met in Harare recently, as far as Zimbabwe is concerned, most of the country will have fairly good rains.

In other words, the rainfall is likely to be a bit like last season, although we can only hope that the fall off after New Year is not so severe and is closer to the "normal" rather than the "below normal" part of forecast.

As we have stated before, many farmers are ready for the first rains and an early start and must take advantage of this, relying on expert advice in their districts as to when enough rain has fallen to plant.

Those with irrigation equipment would be well advised to get this into good repair and ready, especially for the second half of the season.

Weathermen may be wrong, but since the error could be forecasting more rain than is received just as much as forecasting less, wishful thinking should have no place in the planning.

Farmers and farm planners need to take that into account and ensure that with most likely good rainfall, they can harvest the largest possible crop.

Labels: AGRICULTURE

posted by MrK @ 1:47 AM