adminSamuel Kadungure Agriculture Reporter
The District Development Fund in Manicaland has received $10 000 and an assortment of spare parts to repair at least 11 broken down tractors at a time demand for tillage services has drastically increased as the 2015/16 summer cropping season draws nearer. DDF is failing to meet or exceed tillage demand from farmers in Manicaland as most of its tractors and equipment are grounded.
At its peak in 2007 and 2008, DDF Manicaland, had at least five operational tractors per district, but its efficiency gradually deteriorated to the current level of having only four tractors in the whole province. The DDF is charged with the responsibility of providing and maintaining rural infrastructure within the communal, resettlement and small scale commercial farming areas of Zimbabwe.
It is funded by Government, but of late resources have not been coming as expected due to the current economic meltdown. Zimbabwe’s economy is anchored on agriculture and Government is making efforts to improve the effectiveness of DDF and other tillage players as well as developing partnerships between them.
DDF Manicaland head, Mr Robert Chawatama told The Manica Post that tillage services are expected to improve in a fortnight. “We have received $10 000 towards the repair of at least 11 tractors and 12 implements. We have a two-week target to make sure that the 11 tractors are on the fields. At the moment we have four tractors and this limited our functionality and impact on the ground,” said Mr Chawatama.
“In addition to the $10 000, DDF Manicaland also received 18 tractors tyres, 210 litres of engine oil and 10 tubes. The demand for tillage services is overwhelming especially now that tobacco farmers are preparing their fields. We are going to do the repairs in the next two weeks so that we assist the farmers ahead of the summer season. Our immediate target is to have at least two operational tractors per district,” said Mr Chawatama.
Agritex head for Manicaland, Mr Godfrey Mamhare, said farmers should not wait for the tractors, but use draught power to prepare their land. “Tobacco planting is at an advanced stage, with at least 2 000 hectares having been planted since the start of the tobacco season. The rains can come any time, and normally, farmers should be planting food crops by mid-November. Farmers should not wait for tractors, but use draught power because time is running out.
“We want the farmers to use short season varieties as they mature early,” said Mr Mamhare.
Mr Mamhare’s warning follows that the Meteorological Services Department in Zimbabwe has already forecast a late start to the 2015 /16 rain season for the whole country. The 2015 /16 season is expected to be short, starting in December and ending in February next year.
The Meteorological Services Department’s forecast follows the Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF)’s prediction that there will be normal to below normal rains in the whole Southern African region. Agriculture Minister, Dr Joseph Made, recently disclosed that Government had this year set aside $500 000 for cloud seeding, of which it had already paid $250 000 to the Met Depart for the exercise.
Cloud seeding is the process of spreading either dry ice, or more commonly, silver iodide aerosols, into the upper part of clouds to try to stimulate the precipitation process and form rain. Since most rainfall starts through the growth of ice crystals from super-cooled cloud droplets in the upper parts of clouds, the silver iodide particles are meant to encourage the growth of new ice particles.
Dr Made also said Government would allocate resources to DDF to augment its fleet and operations in rural areas so that together with tractors from Brazil, DDF would be able to assist a lot of farmers with land preparation. DDF charges 30 litres of fuel per hectare for the dry rate and $45 to till a hectare of land. It charges $30 to disc a hectare.
The dry rate is when the farmer provides fuel and pays for the tillage per hectare, while the wet rate is when DDF provides both fuel and the tillage service. Proper early land preparation will determine the quality of the harvest the farmer will get at the end of the next season.
Its major advantages are that it helps to reduce weeds, especially couch grass (tsangadzi) whose long creeping roots are exposed to the sun by tilling, thus reducing its incidence in the field; it destroys pests such as maize stalk borers in their pupal stage by exposing them to the sun and at the same time burying organic residue in the soil which is important in that it supports a lot of life in the soil such as worms and microscopic bacteria that help release food for the plants in a balanced way.
It also loosens the soil, making it easier for the plant roots to penetrate as well as improving the circulation of air in the soil which is critical for germination and growth.
It also involves care of the soil to ensure it contributes to the increased form of productivity, improves its capacity to retain water and allow circulation of air. A porous soil is much better for crops in that it allows air and such gases as nitrogen to reach roots of leguminous plants that fix it into the soil and are used for healthy growth of the relevant crops.
A winter-ploughed field is much easier to cultivate since most of the weeds would have been destroyed by the sun as stated earlier.
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