IT IS THAT BUSY TIME AGAIN
SOMEONE has to produce food and someone else has to eat, that is how the world and its inhabitants live.
Proverbs 6 and verse 6, 7, and 8 talks about the dangers of being lazy, “You lazy people, you should watch what the ants do and learn from them. Ants have no ruler, no boss, and no leader. But in summer, ants gather all of their food and save it. So when winter comes, there is plenty to eat.”
A busy time has come, it just showered heavily in some parts of the country and yet people are not ready to start land preparations. Yes, others have done their bit but supporting inputs has not as yet reached them. Problems in input delivery of the essential items to support their activities has affected their preparations.
According to our calendar, that is our agricultural farming season, land preparations should have started way back in October and when it comes to this month, it is just winding up and only ready for planting.
Various food crops have to be planted and on top of this is maize. For this to do well planting can be done any time after the good rains of about 50cm.
With this amount of moisture being received, it would allow the plants to have access to enough moisture to make the plants grow.
Sometimes innovative farmers can equally boost the germination by soaking the seed for roughly six hours to speed up germination. It is the rain pattern that would determine the crop planting.
Other food crops would follow as soon as the main crop is put in the soil. Planting is not just planting. Always plant the seed recommended in each area.
Therefore, it is important to consult the local agricultural extension worker for advice on the right type of seed to put in the ground. This has to do with our agro-ecological zones which have to do with rainfall that these areas receive.
Maize is our staple food and it is this maize that a lot of our people depend on as are the livestock that are kept, it is the main ingredient in the many feeds that are manufactured to feed the various domestic animals that are reared.
So with this, the farmer has a lot to do when it comes to food crops that the country needs. The time we are in now is to do our best especially on the part of the farmer to feed this country.
Other crops have to be grown such as sunflower, groundnuts and soyabeans. Well to do farmers can go for commercial crops such as wheat, cotton, tobacco among others.
Despite being a busy time does not mean that the farmer has to concetrate on one crop, different types of crops have to be planted so that a variety of the required food crops are available for human consumption
Gardening can be introduced by those farmers who cannot afford commercial irrigation on a large scale. The rainy season offers that kind of irrigation naturally.
For the garden beans, potatoes. Irish and sweet potatoes can be grown at this time. Bananas can be planted during this time because they need quite a lot of water and the rainy season would supply the needed water.
For pest control, should problems arise especially on garden crops, a mixture of one teaspoon about 5ml of salt and one table spoon of vinegar and mix with one litre of water and half teaspoon of liquid soap.
For this mixture one would target aphids, cabbage worms, caterpillars, snails, slugs and white-fly. This can be done in a spray form. The snails and slugs ordinary salt can be used by sprinkling on them this material.
Livestock, cattle can be sprayed or dipped with a recommended acaricide depending on the type of ticks found in the area. For beef cattle this is the time one expects calves to be born.
The demand for food is not so great by the time they need to graze, the natural grass would be in abundance hence their growth would be enhanced before the rainy season comes to an end.
Fish farming where possible can be introduced by farmers in areas where water is not a challenge. This activity would have an added income for the farmer.
Planning should involve technocrats from the Department of Fisheries. For small farmers this can be done on a smaller scale.
The rainy season should make everybody busy to at least grow something for home. Indeed, it is a busy time. See how the ants make themselves busy. We can learn something from them.