Getting ready for the 2017-18 summer season

THE 2017-18 summer cropping season is only weeks away, and this is the time for farmers and policy-makers to prepare adequately.

While 2016-17 was hugely successful on the back of the Presidential Well-Wishers Agricultural Input Support Scheme and Command Agriculture, farmers and Government should learn from last season’s shortcomings and institute corrective measures.

A big lesson is that maize planting should start early for several reasons.

Firstly, long season maize varieties that were distributed last season have yield potentials of up to 16 tonnes per hectare.

Many farmers contracted last season can dream of getting anywhere near such yields if they start planting as early as October.

Secondly, it was difficult for most farmers who planted long season maize varieties to harvest on time and then plant winter wheat as maize moisture content was still high.

While long season varieties can have high yields, they also take time to mature and dry.

Farmers are, therefore, advised to plant them early.

Thirdly, a delay in planting a summer crop delays winter cropping, and this becomes a repetitive cycle.

Late-planted crops will always yield low harvests.

Farmers should also appreciate that they can make money from high yields and not average yields.

A maize farmer who harvests 12 tonnes per hectare gets a gross income of US$3 780 compared to just US$1 950 for an average yield of five tonnes per hectare.

It is, therefore, important to ensure farmers plant early.

This is only possible if adequate inputs are made available on time.

Government has assured farmers that inputs will be distributed in September; a month before summer. That is welcome news. On their part, farmers need to make adequate arrangements to plant early.

Land should be prepared on time.

Those on red soils are especially encouraged to start land preparations now as it becomes difficult to work on such soils once the rains set in.

After a heavy downpour, a farmer normally has to wait for a few days before going back to work the red soil.

Ideally, tillage should be done while the soil is still moist.

However, due to late maturing and, hence, late removal of crops from fields, most soils are dry and farmers have to find ways around this.

Rippers can be used to open up land, with a plough or disc following up.

A ripper will open up the soil to a very deep level, enabling other implements to be used on that soil.

However, it should be emphasised that farmers need to get diesel on time so that tillage begins on time.

Most equipment on farms has seen better days and is subject to frequent breakdowns.

Farmers should, therefore, take advantage of this planning period to service and look for spare parts.

Trying to repair a tractor after the rains have started is always going to be a nightmare.

Besides, once the rains are here, every farmer wants to plan with his/her tractors and other equip- ment at hand.

As such, no farmer is willing to hire out equipment before he/she finishes his/her own operations.

Farmers should also be contracted for areas they can handle.

Last season, some farmers became greedy and registered to grow large tracts of land, only to fail to achieve even half the targets.

Therefore, farmers should register manageable areas.

It should be easy this time around to assess a farmer’s capability based on last season’s performance.

Last season, many farmers tilled land on time, but faced an acute shortage of planters and had to re-disc several times while searching for planters.

Farmers are thus encouraged to book planters on time.

A four-row pneumatic planter can plant up to 15 hectares per day while a four-row mechanical planter can plant about 10 hectares per day.

Farmers with small areas to plant can still resort to hand-planting.

However, hand-planting tends to be uneven and poor at placing fertiliser and seed. It takes a lot of time, too. A hectare might require up to 10 labourers per day.

Lower plant populations are also likely to be achieved with hand-planting compared to machine-planting.

Farmers with access to irrigation facilities should also be encouraged to plant some of their maize using irrigation water instead of waiting for the rains.

A crop planted and irrigated during the last week of September or first week of October has about 30 days to grow before the rains come in late October/early November.

Such a crop is more likely to yield 16 tonnes per hectare and reach maturity on time before the rains disappear.

It can also be removed in time for winter cropping.

Poor weed control caused havoc last season, and a good number of farmers were not conversant with chemical usage.

It is time farmers researched deeper on the common weeds in their areas and the best chemicals to control them.

In addition, farmers should familiarise themselves with spraying techniques.

A correct herbicide applied incorrectly will prove ineffective.

Last season, Command Agriculture provided herbicides, but their availability was erratic.

Herbicides need to be applied timeously.

A farmer cannot apply some of them once the window period passes.

In some cases, farmers ended up taking the available herbicides when it was clear that these were not best suited to their situations.

One hopes the whole range of herbicides will be available on time this coming season.

It is also important to point out that pre-emergence weed control is always better than post-emergence weed-control.

However, if a farmer has to do post-emergence weed control, then it should be done on time.

Delays in applying post-emergence herbicides can result in failure to control weeds as most weeds are best controlled before they reach three-leaf stage.

Nevertheless, in order for a farmer to apply herbicides on time, he/she should have the necessary boom sprayers or knapsack sprayers.

Banking on borrowing sprayers is likely to cause inconveniences.

A 15-litre knapsack sprayer costs approximately US$12 while a new 600-litre (10-metre long) boom sprayer costs US$3 500. Two workers using 15-litre knapsack sprayers can spray 200-300 litres of chemicals per hectare per day.

While Government’s announcement that inputs for both Command Agriculture and the Presidential Well-Wishers Agricultural Input Support Scheme will be made available in September is welcome, steps should be taken to avoid unnecessary delays and bureaucracy.

The input distribution order should also be logical.

Last season, some farmers contracted under the dry land scheme collected medium to long season maize varieties before getting diesel for tillage and only got basal fertiliser late in December.

They complained that they spent a lot of time queuing for fertilisers as manufacturers ran out of the product.

Top-dressing fertiliser stocks were so bad that some farmers failed to top-dress their crops on time.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was asked to provide foreign currency to import inputs to manufacture ammonium nitrate late into the season.

Now is the time to ensure adequate foreign currency is provided to companies tasked with providing key production inputs.

The last-minute rush to secure top-dressing fertilisers should not be repeated.

Authorities should also eliminate unnecessary double-handling of inputs, especially bulk supplies like fertilisers.

Farmers should be encouraged as much as possible to collect fertilisers from fertiliser depots and not Grain Marketing Board depots.

Last season, some GMB depots were overwhelmed by large numbers of farmers who wanted to collect inputs.

It is, therefore, better to incur an extra transport cost in moving fertiliser from manufacturers straight to the farmer.

Besides, moving fertiliser from Harare to a farm, say 100km away, in a 30-tonne truck only costs US$300 or 50 cents per 50kg bag.

Last season, many farmers failed to apply lime after the contracted supplier failed to move it on time.

This is the time to arrange for lime to be moved so that it can be applied before land preparations start in earnest in October.

While a 50kg bag of lime costs US$6, moving it directly to a farmer in 30-tonne trucks over 200km will attract an extra US$1 at most.

However, a good number of farmers lack resources and resolve to move lime over a great distance and will simply forgo it.

The benefits of applying lime are astronomical and should not be compromised due to avoidable logistical inefficiencies.

Distribution modalities should also be simplified to avoid having farmers make numerous unnecessary trips to district, provincial and head offices to have documents signed.

Farmers should be provided with all input vouchers simultaneously instead of them going to provincial offices several times to get their vouchers signed.

Travelling all the way from Chikomba or Murehwa to get vouchers signed in, say, Marondera is cumbersome.

This year, Government has mobilised a combined US$600 million to fund both Command Agriculture and the Presidential Well-Wishers Agricultural Input Support Scheme.

With proper planning and execution and, hopefully, another good rain season, it is possible for Zimbabwe to achieve food self-sufficiency once more.