Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Matabeleland South Bureau Chief
UMZINGWANE-based A1 farmer Ms Thandekile Zhou is scoring big through climate smart agriculture where she is producing sugar beans, sunflower, traditional grains and maize.
She uses an integrated farming method which has helped her to ensure that she records a good harvest each year regardless of the amount of rains.
Ms Zhou has put most of her area under sugar beans where she has 4,5 hectares.
Her crop is at flowering, pod setting and mature stage.
She has started harvesting some of the crop. She also has three hectares under maize where she has planted four different varieties to ensure that she can harvest.
Ms Zhou also has 0,4 hectares under sunflower which is at maturity stage. She also has pearl millet, sorghum, groundnuts and roundnuts.
The farmer recently hosted a field day at her homestead at Malungwane Village in Ward 14 where she educated other villagers on her farming enterprise. She said she mainly focuses on producing sugar beans because of its resistance to dry conditions and high returns. Ms Zhou said she is expecting to harvest 440 buckets of sugar beans and she sells each bucket for US$25.
“This is my third year producing sugar beans and I have seen its benefits. It has high returns and the crop has been performing well especially during this time when we are experiencing poor rains as a result of climate change.
If I sell a bucket of maize I can get about US$5 but if I sell a bucket of sugar beans I can get US$25. The average yield for maize and sugar beans is almost the same per hectare which means that by producing sugar beans I get a bonus,”.
“For my sugar beans I grow NUA 45 variety. It’s highly nutritive as it contains protein and iron. It takes about 60 to 75 days to mature. I planted my first crop of sugar beans on 19 January and then I planted two other crops at two weeks’ intervals. I don’t plant all of my crop at once so that in case the rains are poor or heavy then there is a crop that can survive.”
Ms Zhou sells her sugar beans to boarding schools and community members. She said she has already received an order of 200 buckets which she will deliver once she has harvested.
Ms Zhou said there is a good market for sugar beans and it is her desire to get a bigger portion of land where she can increase her production. She said sometimes customers look for sugar beans after she would have sold all of them.
Under maize production Ms Zhou produces different varieties which have different maturing times so that she is assured of a harvest.
“With the effects of climate change that we are experiencing it’s important for farmers to adapt and take up climate smart agricultural practices.
I have three hectares of land under maize where I have planted four different varieties, the short term and long term. This helps me because if the rains come late or early and then go I will be guaranteed that one of my varieties will do well. If the rains are good throughout the season then it’s a bonus for me,” she said.
Ms Zhou said while she has limited space she ensures that she practices integrated farming where she plants a variety of crops for nutritional purposes. She received inputs under the Presidential Input Scheme which has helped her to maximise production.
In her farming, Ms Zhou manages weeds so that her crops perform well. She uses the ripping method to prepare her land to ensure depth.
She also has contours that assist with moisture conservation. Ms Zhou also has a herd of 25 cattle. She feeds her animals organic feed which she gets from residue after harvesting. She also dries the weeds that she removes from her fields and feeds her cattle.
Acting provincial director of agricultural rural development and advisory services for Matabeleland South, Mr Mkhunjulelwa Ndlovu said farmers had to pick lessons from the works of farmers like Ms Zhou.
He said it was important for farmers to shift and treat farming as a business in order to contribute towards ensuring food and nutrition security in the country.
“When we look at the farming being practiced by Ms Zhou we see someone who has embraced the initiatives and techniques which have been introduced by Government to ensure food security.
Farmers have to focus on cash crops and drought-resistant crops to ensure sustainability of their farming activities. Gone are the days when farmers should focus solely on producing maize as they did in the past.
A crop like sugar beans can give an average of six to eight tonnes per hectare while maize can give six to 10 tonnes per hectare but there is more money in producing sugar beans,” he said.
Mr Ndlovu said farmers also have to adopt climate smart agriculture techniques such as using organic manure and Pfumvudza/Intwasa. — @DubeMatutu
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