Local institute works on soil sampling and analysis to determine fertiliser usage

THE Matopo Research Institute Agricultural Centre of Excellence (MACE) is carrying out soil sampling and analysis for farmers so that they avoid buying unnecessary fertilisers and over or under applying of nutrients to the crops.

This comes at a time farmers are preparing for the 2022/2023 summer cropping season, with soil sampling a critical factor that influences the availability of essential nutrients for plants. Responding to questions from Sunday News Business, MACE research officer Ms Olivia Mukondwa said farmers were bringing their soil samples to the laboratory for analysis.

“Soil sampling and analysis are being done and farmers are encouraged to apply fertilisers as based on soil testing and analysis results. This will help the farmers desist from buying unnecessary fertilisers and to avoid over or under application of nutrients to the crops,” said Ms Mukondwa.

She said they were also doing soil seed bank analysis and rangeland reclamation in Matobo and Insiza districts. “Results show the presence of nonpalatable species in most wards which indicates the need for rangeland reclamation. Material for rangeland reclamation exercise were purchased and community grazing area will be improved. This will also see the number of species, quality of the veld and quantity of biomass increase, hence the increase in carrying capacity of the veld will be able to sustain the animals throughout the season,” said Ms Mukondiwa.

Ms Mukondwa said since there was scarcity of natural pastures for ruminants to graze on, the MACE was also doing chemical analysis for locally found feed stuffs and feed formulation. She said the available forages were less nutritious and lacked the basic nutrients required for animal growth.

“Farmers supplement their livestock during dry season with different feed stuffs such as cultivated forages, crop residues and industrial by-products. These have a significant impact on animal performance and productivity. Knowledge regarding the nutrient composition of different feed stuffs is key as it helps in preparation of balanced diets for livestock. Thus, we evaluate the nutritional composition of various locally available feedstuffs fed to livestock during the dry season.”

She said 93 samples were collected from the districts of Insiza and Matobo and analysed for chemical composition. Ms Mukondwa said farmers from both districts use different feed resources to supplement their livestock during the dry season, while most farmers made homemade feed mostly low in quality.

“A number of farmers also utilise leguminous crop residues, cereal stover and hay to feed their livestock during the dry season. Farmers were advised on how to formulate quality feed for use during the dry season using their locally available food stuffs.”

In terms of on farm feeding trials, she noted that feeding demonstration trials were also being done to demonstrate the usefulness of using the home-grown forage crops (legumes and grasses) to formulate feed for goats and cattle. Ms Mukondwa said farmers were using the forage legume crops that they would have harvested and animal performance was being monitored.

“Demonstrations were done across the two districts where farmers were growing forage crops such as lablab, mucuna, sun hemp and bana grass. Farmers were also taught how to conserve the feed stuff for later use especially during the dry season when the veld are poor and cannot sustain their animals.”

Ms Mukondwa said farmers were also taught how to make hay bales, silage using stove from crops, urea treated stover and nutrition blocks using locally available feed stuffs which are cheap, and have been using this knowledge to prevent the effects of poverty deaths in livestock.

Among others interventions that they were rendering to farmers to assist them improve their yields, she said these included soil and water conservation, infield water harvesting techniques, and low cost pest (push and pull) control methods. Others were promoting use of improved varieties for traditional grains through on farm demonstrations, participatory variety selection for improved adoption of crop varieties and breed improvement through artificial insemination for livestock.