Properly dry your maize for value

Storing shelling and storing your maize before it is entirely dry ruins it. The

subŒect of high moisture omraliozwe gmroaisntuseremcosnttoenbteina HE braigtiodne.aNl aotwNaantdioangaaliMn faairzme CerosrparoeǦ NoalfMwmCaoy. issbtuitrte rcoanbtoeuntthioswhatnhdeliesdsuaet

NMC Extension Officer helps museatansetoahcal˜oestehrelworoongofmwoihsatutriet ycounrtemnatiezesp. ecially when selling

Moisture Content ȋMCȌ at harǦ dp˜ersyrticinnegngtii.nsTmuhseauniazmlelyacirwziebaiyss atoaboae˜nneMfʹoCͲr sohf eͳlͶledpetro cmeanitzeantadnbeslorws, ibloesf.ore

n all the formal marets we hfoaafrc˜wtaeoe,ͳrimgitnhaoitntz;hnebeieswbibtaeogiagu. hͷgThtͲhtoeogf ngmoraraeiab͹ztaͲessiigsst smeoeidst˜uarreiectoyn. tent followed by the maf rforetinwstiathncͷeͲyͲoͲusguȋpͷpmlietdȌ byoaugsr coef nmͳt͸aaipzserewce“intuhtiriaendmstobeaiysdttuhorefeͳmcʹoa.nͷrtpeeentrt, mthoisismtueraensisth͵e.ͷfoplelor wceingt;myourer thoaͳn͹tͷhegreo“f uwiraetde,r.w͵h.ͷicphetrracnensltaotef oͷfͲtͲhͲeͷgͲisͲͲͳ͹gͷyog,umsuepanpilniegd, othuet maret, ͳ͹ͷg were not maize but tuhnenecxetsrsaawryewigahttert.o fmwoenceoyn, ˜yeorut ohfa˜aebopurot bEaͻbͶlͷy.cheated the maret

etǯs considCerRItBhe opposite to ha˜e happened. ou let your maize dldorrnoygpitsnimttoeheaͳnͳmdpatheizreemceconriistbteuf˜roerncaotun˜atelrlnyyt. thoaunr tMheCeixspneocwtedͳ.ͳͷʹp.ͷerpecernctenlets. s taTheisͷ,ͲthͲeͲregfotoret,hmeemanarsifeyt oaut snuocwh lcowmpMaCre, dyotou whilaltbyeoulocsoiunlgd͹hͷa˜ge coebntta.i͹nͷedgaist eth“uei˜MaClenotf tͳoʹE.ͷͶͲpͷe.r

This brings us to the conclusion

TINTRODUCTION

trick is to harvest and also store your maize at the right moisture content. So we thought, why can we not get NMC to shed light on how farmers can dry their maize cthoantenetesphionugldthbeerei“guhat lmlyoimistpuorreǦ tant as weeding your maize fields. coTnhtenistsiuseanoof t˜heerryalorewa mthoaitsctuonreǦ ctarogiuebnuottfreyps.oasltoǦht ator˜tehsethloigshsepserincetnhteǦ

Why does the market not provide drying facilities?… better and what is the nitty-gritty of storing maize when it’s not in the right MC. Also Diccon urges us to play our part in curbing stock theft. BY ZINHLE MATSENJWA opTthioisn fiosrianfdaeremderawn haolthear˜neattria˜˜eǦ elled all the way from igangeni to mMatizsaephhaas, ohniglyh tMo Cfi.nd that his/her Mautscahphaafdaecpiloi t,ybiust ath˜eamil abrletaist trying by all means to a˜oid reachǦ ing that le˜el mainly, for a couple of reasons; first, such drying does not

QUOTES

“To me, there’s nothing more special “Not a moment of life is wasted than providing food for other on a farm. Others may have been families, and that’s what we do out more places, but haven’t outlived here.” me.” - Jim Fisher - Wanda Patsche

mtniaoatniuz,rteaoclerdnirbcysoi.unrgatgoetfarme pelrascteoatlltohwe Mae sure your maize crib has

How can I properly dry my

yporouprelrodcaimtieons. iTohnse dlenpgetnhdionfgtohne

maize?

tcowrnieboencnaepnǯsobhleeasro˜mfeasunts.ytTnshiozetedb, idesetlaepnsescnetdhbianengǦ ͳ.ͷ m and not more than ͳ.ͺ m tdheapteinsd, itnhgeosnmtahlelesriztehoefbtheaembe, athme, shTohretewritdhtehdoifstahneccer.ib must conǦ oforrgmeowgirtahpthiec crleimgiaotnicocfotnhdeitloiocnasǦ otifotnhǣe ncrwibeitsteshr oprltaecreasntdheinwdirditehr hpilgahce˜seltdhae mwaidiztehcirsiblosnhgoeur.ldnhath˜e ma wididdleth˜eoldf ͳan.ͷdmutbooͳm.ͺbmo ,pilantethaue aͳa .mmͺmaaiiztzeoecʹcr.riͲbimbshswhohouiulldeldhinah˜ateh˜ae wlaoiwdt˜ihdetlohdf tohfTrʹoo.Ͳuegntohsuʹt.hrʹemmc.oabxsi,mthuemcraiibr mfluoswt anlwgaleyss thoat˜heeitpsrelo˜nagilianxgiswaitnrdisghotf thoeac˜itoeid adrierae.ct ms unstshhai˜neeatsohathde maize cobs. crMibaiuznetsihl othueldmboeissttourreedcinonatmenatizies around ͳʹ.ͷ per cent.

One “uic method is to put your

How to check if maize is dry

mshaeylloendnmaiasiez,ehianlsfifdilel athbeobttolettolef

enough?

ͳanʹdͲ sleac˜oendits.on the sun for ͸Ͳ to wCahtercdriof pthletrseoarre˜aapnoyr ˜oinsitbhle bdroottpllee.tsf, therme oairsetu˜riesicbolentwenateisr higher than the recommended. f therbeoatrtelen,oad˜idsiobnle dtraobplelestpso, Oonpeonf sahlataentdhcelobsoetttlieghfotlry.abioguotroͳuͷstloy ͵Ͳfstehceonsadlst.attaches itself to the grain or on the sides of the bottle, it means the grain is not properly dgrayi.nfwthitehosaulttastettatclehsinbgeiltoswelfthtoe tahnedgrreaidny, tfhoer sghraeilnlinisg.dry enough tco mpaeyffroerethoef cshear˜rgicee,,fmaremaneirnsghlae˜ses and less disposable income for the fnaortmwearn; tsmecaoinzed,thmaatŒworenmtitlhlerrosudgho forced drying.

uch maize usually fails the grade when reachMinIgLLthEeRSmillers. This therefore, lea˜es us with one opǦ

MOISTURE

(Courtesy pics) Be mindful of the moisture content of maize before shelling and do take the maize test to know if shelled maize is ready for storage or not.

Drying maize reduces the risk of mould and afloxins and helps farmers to achieve good market prices.